Can I send mic-level audio out to body unit of wireless lav?

Question

I'm hosting an event in an auditorium with a number of audio feature's I like, and some that get in my way. The room is controlled by a Creston system -- which is simply a black box to me, and I'd like to mess with that as little as I can.

There are a bunch of audio inputs in the room -- but this event will involve Zoom, and not all the inputs are currently in the Zoom feed. Essentially, I have the audience mics that are gated by the front of house mic, which is a wireless lav. This is fine, but I need more mics. They can only give me one.

The audio engineers are working to figure out how tough it would be to tune the room if they added an aux input to the Zoom feed. That's obviously the right answer, but I don't know if it can be accomplished in time, so I'm asking about plan B.

I have a six-channel mixer that I can set the outputs of at mic level. If I have the right adapter, can I just plug that output into the input jack of the wireless body pack?? This would give me all the mics I need on the Zoom feed without dorking around with the system, if it would work. I think the connector on the body pack is a mini XLR, but it might be a funky Lemo. It's a Sennheiser. I know they also have Rode's units around, and I can see if they can swap out the Sennheiser with a unit that has a TRS mic jack.

I know. This is what I deserve for trying to get something done in days when I should have left weeks.

Answer 1

AKG wireless senders have mini-XLR unbalanced inputs (also known as TA3F plugs on the cable side). Connections are 1-ground, 2-signal, 3-plugin power. Plugin power is 4V through 4kOhms if I remember correctly. For a mic-level signal that doesn't need plugin power (electret condenser capsules need it, but your mixer won't), just wiring 1 and 2 of the mini-XLR plug should be what you need. The senders have a gain trim pot when you open them, so you should even be able to accommodate line level signals if that's better for your noise levels.

I've seen Cordial offer prewired cables with 1/4" TS plug (I think) on the other side for this purpose but according to their wiring diagram (at least they have one!), they shorten 1 and 3 on the mini-XLR which would seem to unnecessarily impact battery life. Possibly can be rectified by opening the mini-XLR and rewiring (if you are lucky, cutting one wire is enough).

But making your own adapter is also reasonably simple.