XLR - XLR cable vs XLR - minijack cable

[SandyBay]

If would I connect my XLR microphone to the PC via XLR - minijack cable it will have worse quality of recording than XLR - XLR cable or not?

[Kilrah]

Depends of the quality of the audio input of your motherboard and whether it's better / worse than whatever XLR interface you'd be using instead. 

[SandyBay]

1 hour ago, Kilrah said:

Depends of the quality of the audio input of your motherboard and whether it's better / worse than whatever XLR interface you'd be using instead. 

Do you mean sound card or just a hole for a connector?

[Kilrah]

What "hole"?

I'm talking of whatever you'll be plugging the mic to.

[saintlouisbagels]

3 hours ago, SandyBay said:

If would I connect my XLR microphone to the PC via XLR - minijack cable it will have worse quality of recording than XLR - XLR cable or not?

Uhh, does your XLR microphone require phantom power from a music interface..?

[HenrySalayne]

20 hours ago, SandyBay said:

If would I connect my XLR microphone to the PC via XLR - minijack cable it will have worse quality of recording than XLR - XLR cable or not?

XLR is a balanced connector with phantom power (generally 48 V), the 3.5mm mini jack is an unbalanced connector with a bias voltage (5 V).

 

Only dynamic XLR microphones are somewhat compatible with a mini-jack, but it's mostly jerry-rigging. The 5 V bias voltage could damage or destroy microphones (it's unlikely) and you lose the benefits of the balanced connection.

 

tl;dr

Use a proper XLR input (for example on a USB interface) for a XLR microphone.

[SandyBay]

On 7/20/2023 at 3:56 PM, Kilrah said:

What "hole"?

A hole into which I plug audio connectors.

On 7/20/2023 at 3:56 PM, Kilrah said:

I'm talking of whatever you'll be plugging the mic to.

Then what are you talking about that? I confused a little bit.

On 7/20/2023 at 4:04 PM, saintlouisbagels said:

Uhh, does your XLR microphone require phantom power from a music interface..?

I have no idea. The name of the mic which I'm considering to buy is HyperX ProCast.

On 7/21/2023 at 9:54 AM, HenrySalayne said:

Use a proper XLR input (for example on a USB interface) for a XLR microphone.

Do you mean XLR - USB-A cable? I'm afraid then I will lose the quality of recording.

[saintlouisbagels]

51 minutes ago, SandyBay said:

I have no idea. The name of the mic which I'm considering to buy is HyperX ProCast.

It requires 48V phantom power.

You must buy a music interface if you want to use this microphone.

Something like the Focusrite Scarlett Solo. This isn’t my expertise so you could probably Google for better options.

[HenrySalayne]

1 hour ago, SandyBay said:

Do you mean XLR - USB-A cable? I'm afraid then I will lose the quality of recording.

No, I mean an audio interface. This can be an XLR to USB cable (which is a very simple audio interface with a single input), but it doesn't need to be.

I would recommend something like a Presonus io24. It also has a decent headphone amp and some nice DSP features you can use to tweak the sound. And as mentioned before, you absolutely need some form of audio interface with phantom power if you want to use the HyperX ProCast.