impedance adapter

[bahaha]

Hi everybody, i was hoping someone here could help me out with this problem. I have 5 Shure LX3 wireless receivers that need to be connected to our mixer. The LX3's will be in a rack backstage and there is cable already run to FOH. The LX3's output is high impedance and needs a 1/4" male connector, while the existing cable is XLR female and will go into a low impedance input on the mixer. I have done a decent amount of searching and this is what i've come up with so far:

http://www.radioshack.com/product.as...5Fid=274%2D016 connected to http://www.radioshack.com/product.as...5Fid=274%2D015

or

http://www.shure.com/accessories/a95u.asp

As far as i can tell, these do what i need. The problem is cost. $115 from radio shack and almost $200 from shure. Do these accomplish what i need, and is there a cheaper way. I can't solder but i might be able to find someone who can. Also, this post, http://www.controlbooth.com/ftopict-1367.html, talked about resistive summing networks used for a similar purpose, if that's any help. If you have any advice or know of any other options, don't hold back. Thanks in advance.

[cutlunch]

You seem to be on the right track . I don't know what quality the Radio Shack convertors are, hopefuly someone can tell you.

The other option is to use DI's to do the conversion. These come in units from one channel to many. You may already have some or could possibly rent.

As for cost, if the LX3's are owned by the school you will probably have this problem again so tell the teacher it's an expense that will pay for itself over time.

[bahaha]

Thanks. I checked out DI's. They seem like a good option but not really feasible for our school due to cost. I'm glad when they buy us new batteries, let alone over $100 worth of adapters. I'll proably go with the radio shack adapters unless anyone knows for a fact that they're poor quality.

[TechnicalDirector3-W]

I have had problems with radio shack adaptors in past, in out company we sell and use a lot of Hosa products,

http://www.hosatech.com/hosa/products/PXF-100.html

I believe this is what you are looking for, if you can get your hands on this I think you would be better off, I just do not trust those radio shack adaptors much anymore.

[mbenonis]

Do not under any circumstance use a simple quarter inch to XLR cable. The issue here isn't the type of connector used, but rather the impedance of the output of the mic receiver. Basically, the high impedance output of the receivers will degrade the signal if the cable or wiring is over a few feet long. It must be transformer isolated from the mains with an impedance converter in order to work properly.

Just use this Radio Shack adaptor: http://www.radioshack.com/product.as...t%5Fid=274-017. Use a patch cable to attach it to the receiver. I own one of these personally, and it works great for a quick fix (I once used it to attach a guitar to the mains and it worked great).

[PATech]

For high to low impedance conversions at my school we use Pro-Co Sound DB-1 direct boxes. We have a bunch of them around. They list for $106, but you can find them for around $60.00. Sure, it's not a nice Countryman DI box, but it works well. This is really an investment, and you'll get the best audio quality possible.

All the best.

[bahaha]

Thanks a lot everybody; you've all be very helpfull. It looks like i'll be going with the radio shack adapter. Not the best, but a good compromise for our situation. At mbenonis: I'm so glad you posted. I had never though of using the other version of the adapter. Our patch cords will now connect to that adapter instead of the mixer. I also won't have to worry about a heavy double adapter hanging off of the LX3's for the next 10 years.

[bahaha]

It's me again. I was wondering if a direct box would be better than either of the adapters i listed in my first post, even if it was a fairly cheap box. I'm refering to the EDB1 from Whirlwind in particular. http://whirlwindusa.com/dirbox.html#edb1 Feel free to mention any other similar direct boxes. Thanks.

[RelativeMischief]

imo any DI box is better than a Radio Shack transformer. With DI's you have a number of things you can use them for if you have a free one, and they have more options on them than a transformer (ie ground lift, pad on some, filter, 1/4"and XLR outputs etc...) even though esentially they do the same thing.

[bahaha]

Alrightey, thanks for the help. I think i've got a plan now.