Mic In Question

[sunny]

I just bought a XLR to 1/4" TRS cable and as soon as I started using it I noticed that there was a noticeable buzz unless I touched the tip of the cable. If I turn off the external source and mic buttons, the noise goes away. Is the noise supposed to be there or did I get the wrong cable?

[Dj_just_jeff]

1/4 to xlr? XLR to 1/4 I don't understand how u are hooking it up.
It sounds like a grounding issue.

[sunny]

I just hook up my sm58 to the XLR and then the 1/4 to the mic input. I think there is something wrong with the mic so I'll check out my friends to test it out.

[Jim Y]

You don't want a 1/4" TRS jack - just a mono one. The TRS is balanced like the mic's XLR and plugged into the 404's mono socket will be half disconnected letting noise in (and losing some signal too).

Jim

[sunny]

So the cable I should get is the XLR to 1/4" TS unbalanced right?

[Jim Y]

Correct.
Although if you or someone can solder you only need to move the wire to the ring contact in the TRS plug to the screen contact . Or if it's easier, solder a short link wire between pins 1 & 3 in the XLR end.

Jim

[sunny]

Hmm I just used my friend's sm57 and the sound is noticeably cleaner. Is the problem still the cable or maybe just my mic? Would the sound be better if I switched to the TS cable?

[Jim Y]

You should use an unbalanced TS jack whatever mic is used.

If a mic happens to work with the TRS, that either means it's not balanced, has been modified to be unbalanced or a has grounded output transformer inside. Either way, a TS jack will work properly with any mic however it's wired.

Jim

[cartesia]

could be a ground loop in your power setup.. anything plugged in in your room/house has the potential to cause a hum... Me, if I get a hum in my mixer, I have to unplug my laptop's power cord.