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I have a Zoom H4n Pro and I am trying to connect my PC 3.5 speaker plug to the H4n Pro's XLR connections. I want to do this because I want to record voice calls. I need to use the XLR and not the Ext Mic connection because using the Ext Mic disables the voice microphones on the device and I need to use them to record my side of the conversation.

Now, to connect the PC 3.5 speaker plug to the XLR I am using these two connectors:

The sound passes through and gets recorded but with it there is a huge humming sound. I suspect the XLR is expecting an unpowered source and the PC plug is probably powered but I have no idea if this is the case or if it could be resolved by reconfiguring the H4n Pro.

Thanks for any help.

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Sorry, but this is wired about as wrong as it's possible to do:\

You're running stereo into balanced line, then splitting the balanced line & hoping to get stereo back. That is not going to happen. Also you're trying to run a line-level output into a mic-level input. That's going to burn something out if you're not careful.

This is the pinout for the H4n [I already inlined the pinouts for your two cables into your question, so you can see just how this is never going to work.]

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All you need to do this is one cable, TRS stereo to two TR mono [this will just run unbalanced without any further futzing].

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Info from https://zoomcorp.com/media/documents/E_H4n_Pro_QuickGuide.pdf

Some background reading on how balanced line works - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balanced_audio

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  • Thank you @Tetsujin. For the reply and for the reading tip. I suppose you are talking about a cable like this: amazon.fr/…. But how would I then plug that to the XLR connectors? I was looking for a couple of TS female mono to XLR addapter but I cannot find it anywhere.
    – Fabricio
    Mar 26, 2021 at 17:25
  • Forget my last comment... I just realized that the XLR female connectors also take the 6,5mm jacks in the middel hole.
    – Fabricio
    Mar 26, 2021 at 17:28
  • You don't want XLRs at all & I'm not sure why you still think you do, even after my answer.. Those sockets take either XLR or standard jack; one is mic level, the other is line level. You want line level, so you want jacks. Running line level into mic inputs is "not good".
    – Tetsujin
    Mar 26, 2021 at 17:28
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    It was mostly ignorance of my part... :-) I already cleared that in my previous comment. Thanks a lot.
    – Fabricio
    Mar 26, 2021 at 17:34

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