Hi Robert, thanks for your thorough response. I have now tested several
microphones that I have had for some time, just to see if any worked. I
tested one computer headset, one computer microphone, and one older
tape-recorder microphone. I connected all of them to the channel one
XLR microphone input on the Behringer by using an adapter that converted
the 3.5 mm plug to a 3-pin XLR plug. The first two did not work at
all. Oddly, the older tape-recorder microphone did work to some
extent. If I turned up the gain and level, I could hear myself clearly
with some white noise. I also have a current Audio Technica ATR 2100
USB/XLR microphone, which I have only used by USB on my computer. I
have been told by Zzounds, where I bought the mixer, that this will work
perfectly with the mixer, but I do not currently have an XLR cable to
connect it. My next step is to purchase an XLR cable and test this
Audio Technica. I believe all of these are dynamic microphones. I did
my testing both with and without the phantom power. None of them seemed
to need it. I wish the Behringer manual had been clearer on the types
of microphones that would work with it.
Rich De Steno
On 3/15/2016 4:02 PM, Robert Nelson wrote:
Rich,
I also have a Behringer mixer so I am familiar with the mixer controls. I have
Rode, MXL and $20 Dick Smith microphones with XLR connectors that work well
with the Behringer. It is possible that the mixer has a faulty circuit. In
that case, I hope you have the original packaging and can return it under
warranty to get a replacement unit.
The good thing about the Behringer mixers is that they are simple and
straightforward to use.
You said in your original message that you have tried several computer
microphones with XLR connectors.
What did you have the microphones plugged into on your computer? The only
computer devices which I know to have XLR connectors are external sound
cards/interfaces. If that is so, did the microphones work when plugged in
there?
>From the point of view of troubleshooting, do you have a microphone with a 6
millimetre jack you can plug into the unbalanced socket below the channel 1 XLR
socket? The microphone would have to be a dynamic unless you have a condenser mic
with a built-in battery to supply power.
I am assuming here that you have done such fundamental things as turn up the
master volume and the headphone volume. Now, don't sigh with frustration, even
experienced users have been known to overlook such fundamentals.
Going back to troubleshooting ... have you tried to plug the microphones into
channel 2?
On the subject of dynamic versus condenser microphones, unless you are going
to record performances of live music, you should use dynamic microphones. This
is particularly true if you are recording podcasts at home.
Condenser microphones are great for picking up every subtle quality of live
music but they are so sensitive that they will also pick up every subtle
quality of the dog next door barking at the same time. With a good cardioid
dynamic microphone, you will probably not even know there was a barking dog
next door.
I hope this helps,
Bob Nelson
-----Original Message-----
From: Pc-audio [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Rich De Steno
Sent: Tuesday, 15 March 2016 9:20 PM
To: PC Audio Discussion List <[email protected]>
Subject: Choosing a Mixer Microphone
I recently purchased a Behringer 1202FX mixer. I plugged several
different computer microphones into the XLR jack on channel one, but
none of them work. I hear nothing, but I do hear the line-in inputs.
What type of microphone do I need for a mixer like this. I am only
interested in using it for speech, not music, and I don't want to spend
more than I need to. I found nothing in the manual that excludes any
particular type of microphone, so I don't understand why these cheap
computer microphones don't work.
