tascam dr40 jack converter question

[Jaykee]

I've just bought a Tascam dr40 and I'm trying to plug in some microphones I have knocking around into the external ports. (I'm planning on recording a podcast) but I can't seem to find the external signal i have followed the instructions and it displays that it is recording from the external mic but nothing seems to be being recorded, I've tried with and without phantom power am I missing something or is the mic just not suitable?

adaptor: Balanced XLR to 1/8 Female Adapter, Devinal Mini-Jack (3.5mm) Female to 3-pin XLR Male Cable, 3.5mm Stereo TRS to XLR Male Transforming Cord Converter

Mic: COMICA CVM-D02 Dual-Head Lavalier Lapel Microphone Omnidirectional Condenser

[Hugh Robjohns]

Those types of lavalier mics generally require something called 'plug-in power' which is normally available on the 3.5mm mic sockets of phones, laptops, dictation machines etc.

Plugin power usually provides a powering voltage of between 1.5 and 3V on the tip and ring connections, referenced to the sleeve.

The XLR inputs of your recorder can't provide that. They can provide 48V phantom, but that's way too much.

So... assuming that you haven't managed to blow up your lavalier mics in the process, what you'd need is a proper 3.5mm to XLR converter that also converts phantom power to plugin-power. That means an active box of electronics, and not just a simple cable - -although some adapters do manage to get everything into an extended XLR plug.

There are many alternatives available, with a good few listed here:

https://www.thomann.de/gb/phantom_adapters.html