Connecting Condenser Shotgun mic...

A

akshayinbox

New member
Hello.

I bought a MAXIM MX300 (might be a local manufacturer) Shotgun Electret Condenser mic. for recording vocals.
It has a AA (1.5V) battery provision and probably an inbuilt PreAmp.It's got a very long wire/lead (XLR to 1/4" with a 1/8" adapter).

I want to plug it in my laptop in its soundcard / line-in. Or USB. I use FL Studio as DAW.

My question is with such a long wire there would be attenuation (weak signal) and I might not get desired results.

So, Do I necessary need to buy a preamp (external)? I'm confused since mic may have an inbuilt preamp due to 1.5V battery in its housing.
I have a MIDI keyboard (CASIO CTK4000) so can I use it for providing "phantom power" (plug in there, and connect keyboard via USB to laptop. I saw Method 3 here: etcetera.co.uk/Support/howto/howtoConnectMic.shtml )

Please help. I'm kinda new to this. If yes, which pre-amp? and I hope shotgun is fine for vocals?

Thank you very much! :)
 
akshayinbox said:
Hello.

I bought a MAXIM MX300 (might be a local manufacturer) Shotgun Electret Condenser mic. for recording vocals.
It has a AA (1.5V) battery provision and probably an inbuilt PreAmp.It's got a very long wire/lead (XLR to 1/4" with a 1/8" adapter).

I want to plug it in my laptop in its soundcard / line-in. Or USB. I use FL Studio as DAW.

My question is with such a long wire there would be attenuation (weak signal) and I might not get desired results.

So, Do I necessary need to buy a preamp (external)? I'm confused since mic may have an inbuilt preamp due to 1.5V battery in its housing.
Click to expand...

No, the battery is there to power/bias the electret microphone capsule, which will have a small amplifier attached to it to bring the signal up to standard microphone output voltages..

Attenuation in the cable will be minimal as the length is not likely to be more than 150 feet, even then if it is driving as a balanced cable still no real issues.


I have a MIDI keyboard (CASIO CTK4000) so can I use it for providing "phantom power" (plug in there, and connect keyboard via USB to laptop. I saw Method 3 here: etcetera.co.uk/Support/howto/howtoConnectMic.shtml )

Please help. I'm kinda new to this. If yes, which pre-amp? and I hope shotgun is fine for vocals?

Thank you very much! :)
Click to expand...

Using your keyboard to connect the mic via usb is probably preferable to using your sound card input.

However get yourself a preamp that allows you to connect an xlr cable to it it and get yourself a proper xlr to xlr cable to connect the mic up with.

A Shotgun mic is good for picking up sound at distance (that is what they are designed for). it will be ok for vocals but may be too sensitive (i.e. respond with large output for very little sound) and so need some attenuation applied to it in the input gain stages of the preamp.
 
Last edited:
Hi bandcoach,

Thanks for ur answer.

But, my friend said MIDI keyboard with a linein when connected to PC via USB would only act as a "MIDI controller" and transmit notes/sequence, which sounds right...
So, is it possible?
 
Just read the manual: looks like you will need to buy an interface.

Plenty of options for that, check out the threads in this section of the forums.
 
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