Headphone Out into a Mic Input?

[DrNewcenstein]

Before I break something, is it safe to run a Headphone Output into a Microphone Input? Trying to run my rig into my camera since it can't do streaming capture, and it'd sync better if the audio and video record to the same source (i.e. the camera).

I have done it "the hard way" before, but there's a reason it's called "the hard way" :lol:

Still, the hard way is better than the expensive way, which means I'd like to avoid melting my camera or my mixer.

 

[Funkfingers]

Re: Headphone Out into a Mic Input?

What are the impedance values for the headphone output socket and microphone input socket(s), respectively?

 

[DrNewcenstein]

Re: Headphone Out into a Mic Input?

Can't find mic input impedance in the manual or spec sheet. Specs for the mixer do not isolate the headphone jack, but give 50 Ohms for the output impedance overall.

Better safe than sorry, I guess. I'll just do it the hard way.

 

[koshikas]

Re: Headphone Out into a Mic Input?

impedance matching aside, if you can control gain on both headphone out and mic-in, i think you can experiment bringing up the levels

 

[DrNewcenstein]

Re: Headphone Out into a Mic Input?

Luckily the camera has a mic level display, and I can control the headphone output level from the mixer. I just didn't want the impedance to be so mismatched that I cook a $600 video camera or my mixer :lol:

Might email JVC and see if they can tell me what the impedance is. Unless I can stick a meter on the cable into the mic input and tell from that? But I think that would only let me measure an output, right?

 

[koshikas]

Re: Headphone Out into a Mic Input?

from the little know-how i know impedance mismatch would result only in distortion of the sound, and no you cannot measure impedance by a simple ohm meter.

 

[DrNewcenstein]

Re: Headphone Out into a Mic Input?

I cooked a headphone amp some years ago by running the headphone jack to a pair of Acoustic Research AR2-As. It literally was smoking and melting as I watched.

 

[treyhaislip]

Re: Headphone Out into a Mic Input?

I've done it before, not the best results but it can be done

 

[DrNewcenstein]

Re: Headphone Out into a Mic Input?

Hmm. Looking at external mics for camcorders, I'm seeing they have a 200 Ohm output range, so assuming the headphone out is only 50 Ohms, I should be ok.

 

[DrNewcenstein]

Re: Headphone Out into a Mic Input?

Been experimenting with it, and it looks like there's no way to get quality audio into the camera through the mic input. Sounds great through the monitors and even in crappy headphones, but even store-bought tracks fed into the camera sound like an old transistor radio.

Looks like it's gonna hafta be done the old-fashioned way of hand-synching the audio with the video. Yeesh.