Mz-rh10 Mic Input

[Jaylaca]

I just received my MZ-RH10 Hi-MD player today from Datavis. This is my first MD and it's amazing how great the unit seems so far.

I'm kind of shocked at the complaining I've read on the size of the unit, I don't see how you could make it any smaller, and why would you want to? It seems to shrink the unit would make it more fragile than it already is.

The menu will be something for me to learn, but the button layout makes sense and the display rocks!!!

I scoured the manual for information on the mic input for how it's wired. It's a 1/8" stereo (TRS) minijack mic in. But there's no info about the Tip-Ring-Sleeve wiring.

I have a Shure VP-88 stereo mic which uses a 5-pin XLR connector. I wish to make a nice mic cable that goes from XLR to minijack.

All I need to find out for sure is the wiring for the RH10. Usually Tip is hot, Ring is Negative, and Sleeve is ground. But 'sometimes' a company will not keep to this standard and reverse the Tip & Ring.

Thanks,

Jason

[dex Otaku]

You're thinking of a balanced mono TRS connection, which no MD/HiMD recorders have, to my knowledge.

The connection on your RH10 is an unbalanced stereo mic jack, which follows the same layout as any standard stereo 3.5mm jack, with the exception of plug-in power which I believe is applied to the sleeve [common ground].

[Christopher]

I just received my MZ-RH10 Hi-MD player today from Datavis.  This is my first MD and it's amazing how great the unit seems so far. 

I'm kind of shocked at the complaining I've read on the size of the unit, I don't see how you could make it any smaller, and why would you want to?

←

Cool unit, welcome to the forums.

"Picky" reviews that seem a little over the top [which is about 99% of all electronic related reviews] that are on the internet must be taken with a grain of salt. Most of the time it's complete and inane b.s. - for example, my girlfriend's new Inspirion 9300, a dream of a laptop, was tore up in a few reviews floating around the internet on certain points that are really not even worth mention but are amplified so much in reviews that it's projecting a perspective that isn't even valid.

[Jaylaca]

You're thinking of a balanced mono TRS connection, which no MD/HiMD recorders have, to my knowledge.

←

There is no "balanced mono TRS connection"

A TRS connection is a balanced connection and can pass a stereo or mono signal.

A mono minijack is only TS (tip-sleeve), and you cannot use a stereo mic with such a connection (probably get just one side of the mic).

A balanced signal requires a shield.

A stereo signal requires a separate path for Left & Right channels + common, that's 3 wires. Which, in effect, would be using the shield, and therefore be an unbalanced stereo signal, but the minijack must still be TRS.

I can logic that the shield is common, but just want to get the Left-Right correct.

Thanks for your reply.

Cheers,

Jason

Edited April 9, 2005 by Jaylaca

[ozpeter]

Tip is left, ring is right, sleeve is earth.

You sound a bit confused about balanced connections. Your five pin XLR handles a balanced stereo connection (common, left hot, right hot, left neg, right neg (or whatever terms you wish to use) - the three connections available with a trs connector can only support a balanced mono signal, not a balanced stereo signal (because only three paths are available, not five). If you could handle a stereo balanced connection on three pins, they wouldn't bother with the five pin XLR connectors on balanced stereo mics, would they?

I'll give you a tip (pun not intended) - buy a prewired stereo minijack to 2 x rca lead, chop off the rca connectors and replace with a five pin xlr female - saves the tricky job of soldering up the minijack, unless you are pretty good at that kind of thing.

[dex Otaku]

There is no "balanced mono TRS connection"

A TRS connection is a balanced connection and can pass a stereo or mono signal.

TRS = Tip Ring Sleeve.

This is neither inherently mono, nor stereo, nor balanced, nor unbalanced. It's just a connector with three contacts - TRS.

The most common use of this connection in professional equipment is balanced mono [almost identical to bantam connectors].

The most common use of this connection in consumer equipment is unbalanced stereo [l + r + common ground].

And yes, TS plugs are commonly used in consumer equipment for unbalanced mono connections.

The mic input of your recorder, as with the mic inputs on virtually all camcorders, minidiscs, stereo cassette recorders, and the like - is an unbalanced stereo TRS connection with the same basic layout as any stereo 3.5mm plug/jack. Just like I already said.

[jadeclaw]

All I need to find out for sure is the wiring for the RH10.  Usually Tip is hot, Ring is Negative, and Sleeve is ground.  But 'sometimes' a company will not keep to this standard and reverse the Tip & Ring.

←

Since noone really answers your question,

on MD-Recorders, Tip is left, ring is right, sleeve is ground.

If your Microphone uses a balanced connection, then connect the positive wires from each capsule to the hot contacts of the plug.

The negative wires are connected together with the shield to the sleeve.

If you experience noise and/or distortion, place a 1 mikrofarad capacitor in series with each positive wire.

Reason: The MD places 1.5 Volts through a ~ 2KOhm-Resistor on the inputs as a supply for Electret-type capsules.

Some dynamic microphones don't like that.