The Record The Crystalume Caper

MarkE19

The issue with using the headphone out to the speaker is that it is an amplified output but only at a very low level.
If the speakers have their own amp then you could blow the amps input - unlikely as it is only low powered headphone feed, but it is possible.
Or if the speakers have no amp of their own the headphone amp is unlikely to be powerful enough to drive them.

Let me have another look at hte mixer and see if it has any other outputs.

Mark.

MarkE19

OK I've had a look and the good news is that there is another stereo output. The 2-Track phono is a recording loop so you could feed the outputs to the speakers via an amp rather than using the headphone output.

Mark.

JCAllison

Hey Mark,
The XENYX502 Documentation shows that "PHONES" means "HeadPhones".

The Altec Lansing Speakers HAVE their own integral Amplifier.

All right.

All right. THAT was what was going to be done ORIGINALLY. The reason that it COULDN'T be done is that there DOESN'T exist at this location a Cable with Two Male RCA Jacks TO a 3.5mm Stereo Female into which would fit the 3.5mm Male Jack which goes TO the Speakers.

There DOES exist at this location the EXACT OPPOSITE of the Cable emphasized in Bold in the paragraph above. The Cable that IS here has Two Female RCAs to a 3.5mm Stereo Male, which is useless in this application, as the RCA Females won't fit the RCA Females on the 2-TRACK OUTs, and the 3.5mm Stereo Male won't fit the 3.5mm Stereo Male that goes TO the Altec Lansing Speakers.

So correct me if this is wrong, but what is actually needed to do this optimally is: a Cable with Two Male RCA Jacks to a 3.5mm Stereo Female, which WILL connect TO the 2-TRACK OUTPUTS, and TO the Altec Lansing 3.5mm Stereo Male Jack.

So if THAT is correct, we'll once again be on track to getting this set up.

There is NOW a couple of more things that need to be dealt with. Will put them in the next post.

As always, thanks for taking the time to advise on this. It is much appreciated.

JC

JCAllison

Hey All,
As you may or may not recall, we wanted to be able to listen to the Sound that is going to the Panasonic Camcorder using HeadPhone. We also wanted to be able to narrate into the Camcorder through a HeadWorn Microphone WHILE recording the MP3 Audio to the Camcorder from The Scryer.

To that end, a HeadPhone/Microphone set up was purchased. It arrived, and is a VERY nice piece of equipment, BUT there is a situation that may or may not work, and which may or may not even BE workable.

It turns out that the HeadPhone/Microphone Set has a USB Connector.

The XENYX502 has an XLR Female MIC INPUT, and a 1/4" Female Mono LINE INPUT Port. The Documentation says that only ONE of these TWO can be used at a time.

So it may be that the HeadPhone/Microphone Set cannot do what we want to do. Any comments on this are welcome.

Next: Want to connect The Scryer to the Sceptre X33 TV. There are Cables here to do that, and am going to have to figure out how to connect them.

Next: A bit of a side note... The Lens Caps that have been adapted to The Crystalume Lens Assembly were slated to have Colored Gels installed in them. THAT turned out to be a fiasco! It was, after realizing the futility of attempting to do such a thing, decided to obtain a number of 2" Clear Glass Discs that will fit into the Lens Caps, and use Stained Glass Window Paints to provide the color. Have found and ordered two sets of three, 2" Clear Glass Discs. They are scheduled to arrive next Friday.

So NOW, we are going to be ordering the proper Cable listed in Post 103 today. AND will be awaiting the arrival of the Clear Glass Discs on Friday.

We are making implacable progress, but as has been quite common in this project, it's like swimming in frozen honey!

Will keep you all updated if, when, and as progress occurs.

Anyway, hope you are all doing well. Take care.

JC

MarkE19

You have 2 options here
1. try to find a phono to phono stereo pair to make use of the female socket lead.
2. Buy a 2 male phono to 3.5mm stereo jack lead
Either option should give you the same result, but there is a chance you have a phono to phono lead already so wont have to buy anything more.
Really? The headphone & mic unit I have has 2 3.5mm jack plugs on it and not USB. Check what you ordered and see if you can get it exchanged for the right one - Amazon returns are very good in the UK so hopefully the same in the USA.

Now a heads up for the coming week.
Tomorrow I go on holiday for the week so my time on here will be very limited. So if I don't post a reply don't panic, I haven't got bored and walked away.

Mark.

JCAllison

Hey Mark,
Alas, there is no combination of Cables and Adapters that will do what we want to do. So have ordered an "Option 2" Cable. It should be here next Friday.

Yes. But it is my own fault!

The Headphone&Mic Unit that you referenced is a:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Microsoft-2AA-00009-LifeChat-LX-2000-Headset/dp/B009NOX1EQ/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1531073135&sr=8-2&keywords=skype headset&refinements=p_89:Microsoft

It was from the UK. When I found it in the USA, there was an LX2000 Model, which has two 3.5mm Mono Male Jacks. But there was also an LX3000 Model which had a more substantial Headphone Setup. See here:

https://www.amazon.com/Microsoft-JUG-00001-LifeChat-LX-3000-Headset/dp/B000J4WPW8

I clicked on THAT Model when ordering, not noticing that it had a USB Connector. OOPS!

Am just going to keep the LX3000 for use with The Scalder, and will order another Headphone&Mic setup with 1/4" Jacks (because the "Headphones OUT" and the "Mic IN" on the XENYX502 are both 1/4" Ports). That should make it all copacetic.

Thanks for the "heads-up". Won't have to worry about YOU now.

Temperatures here are above 101 degrees w/ 98% humidity (because of the moisture coming North off of the Gulf of Mexico, which mixes with the humidity from the respiration of the Pine Forest). But the temperatures are supposed to go down into the mid-90s starting tomorrow. Am fine with the weather as long as there is nothing very physical having to be done. If there IS physical stuff that HAS to be done, it is done in short bursts interspersed with rest periods in the air-stream of the Box Fans.

Anyway, thanks for the adroit response. Hope you are well. Take care.

JC

Terfyn

This may interest you:-
Sennheiser PC 3 CHAT Lightweight Telephony On-Ear Headset
from Amazon.
I have used mine since March and have found it very good.

JCAllison

Hey Mr. Terfyn,
Nice to see you again. Thanks for the reference. Alas, by the time I had gotten your post, had already ordered THIS:

Califone 3066AV Deluxe Multimedia Stereo Wired Over-the-head Headset, 3.5mm Plug 10356212002 | eBay

Supposed to be here next Monday, July 30, 2018.

As an aside, have had some questions arise over connector nomenclature, and connection protocol, and you seem to have a handle on this kind of thing...

When referring to: Male 3.5mm; Male 1/4"; Male RCA; or Male XLR Connectors, have seen them called "Jacks", and "Plugs" (among other names). Also, they seem to have different names for their genre', such as in calling a 3.5mm Connector an "Audio", or calling an XLR Female, an A3F (Audio 3 'prong' Female) and an XLR Male, an A3M (Audio 3 'prong' Male).

Also, when referring to Female 3.5mm, Female 1/4", or Female RCA Connections, have seen them called "Ports", "Sockets", and "Plugs" (and etc).

Read somewhere that Buddha (or it might have been Lao Tzu, or maybe Confucious) said: "The beginning of wisdom is learning to call things by their proper names." So to clear things up in my mind, what is the proper (if there actually IS one) term for a Male Connector, and a Female Connector?

And this next question will become evident once the equipment get here, but in the meantime, in the JPG of the above referenced Headphone/Microphone Set that was ordered earlier, the 3.5mm Male Connectors seem to both be STEREO (but I could be wrong about this). And while the Headphones NEED to be stereo, the Microphone doesn't.

There are here, TWO, 3.5mm Female TO 1/4" Male Stereo Adapters.

When the 1/4" Stereo Male TO 3.5mm Stereo Female Adapter is connected to the XENYX502's Headphone OUT Port, and the Headphone's 3.5mm Male is connected to the Adapter, THAT will give a Stereo signal to the Headphones.

The question becomes: When the second 1/4" Stereo Male TO 3.5mm Female Adapter is connected to the XENYX502's Microphone IN Port, and the Microphone's 3.5mm Stereo Male is connected to the Adapter, will the XENYX502 see it as a MONO signal?

Inquiring minds want to know!

Anyway, things are moving along here at a bewildering pace (even though it is sometimes like swimming in frozen honey). If the weather would just cool off a bit (which is supposed to happen tomorrow when the temperature will go down from today's 102 degrees to 95 degrees), things would be a bit more pleasant. Hope this finds YOU doing well. Thanks for the response, and reference. Take care.

JC

Terfyn

The mic is mono but the sockets you are feeding are stereo to cater for a stereo mic. So with a mono mic the signal is fed to both channels at the same time. You get the same signal on both channels and the sound from the mic appears centrally between the speakers/headphones etc.

All the inputs are, effectively, mono inputs and the mixer combines them into a left and right stereo pair. The XLR input is also mono but, you will note with this input, a PAN knob which allows you to locate the mono signal anywhere across the stereo field.

JCAllison

Hey Mr. Terfyn,
All right. This is good to know.

Some NEWS... The Caliphone Headphone/Microphone Set that was ordered on Monday, July 23,, 2018 was (wonder of wonders) delivered on Tuesday (yesterday) July 24, 2018 by UPS. Have to say that it is an EXTREMELY nice piece of equipment. Was correct about the 3.5mm Jacks appearing to be Stereo. Fortunately, there are here TWO, 3.5mm Female to 1/4" Male Adapters with which the Caliphone Headphone/Microphone Set will be connected to the XENYX502 Mixer's Headphone OUT, and Microphone IN Sockets. So we're all set up with THAT.

So all this is going to work out REALLY well. Will be able to control every NEEDED aspect of the Audio Recording. Also have to say that YOUR recommendation of the XENYX502 yielded a REALLY spiffy Unit. Nicely made, and it does a LOT.

We are still awaiting the: TWO RCA Mono Males to 3.5mm Stereo Female Adapter Cable, which will connect the 2-TRACK OUT Sockets on the XENYX502 Mixer to the Altec Lansing Speaker System. Checked USPS Tracking this morning, and it said that the Item will be at the local Post Office Tomorrow, Thursday, July 26, 2018, by 8:00 p.m.

The Clear Glass Discs arrived on Monday, July 23, 2018. The NEW Lens Caps were prepared by using a Craftsman RotoTool to remove the Thread Ridges, and then they were painted Black yesterday. The Glass Discs will be installed and epoxied in today.

Got the cache of Stained Glass Window Paints out of storage, and though it was kind of a PITA, got all the Screw-On Lids to come off. Put them all back on with a wrap of Tape around them to preclude leaking.

Am going to be making up NEW Color Wheels, along with applying the Stained Glass Window Paints to the Glass Discs in the NEW Lens Caps.

Anyway, it appears that everything is coming together nicely. Even the weather is cooperating, with temperatures down into the low 90s. As usual, thanks for the assuring response. Hope this finds YOU doing well, and taking excellent care.

JC