XLR in and outs to pedal? HELP!

[sevenisthenumber]

I have a friend who plays percussion and I want to make a 3 in 1 kinda thing for him but it needs to have XLR ins and outs. What is the best way to do this?

[jkokura]

XLR's are a lot like TRS - it's got a tip, a ring and sleeve. If you look up which is which for the XLR that you're working with, and what kind of expectations the effects have then you should be able to make it work a lot like your normal 1/4" jacks. Research man, or at least provide more details to us than you have.

Jacob

[John Lyons]

XLR is not usually just a connector pin-out type issue.
XLR is often balanced (maybe +4db) and or microphone level.
What is going into the pedal signal wise?
And where is the signal going after leaving the pedal?
You need to match operating levels...

[Fender3D]

Even more if you have condenser microphones, you must provide +48Vcc too
anyway, pin 1 is GND pin 2 and 3 are signal,
if you follow USA standard, pin 3=+ pin2=-
if you follow EU standard, then pin3=- and pin2=+

[sevenisthenumber]

it is going to be a mixed mono signal of different drum mics from a sub mixer into the circuit. No need for phantom.

the pedal will be:
rebote delay
reverb
some type of  EQ / tone knob (ideas?)

then out into an XLR snake channel then to front of house.

[jkokura]

What an interesting idea. He'll then have delay repeats and reverb on his drum signal? Pretty cool I guess.

I would say that if it's being mixed to mono, not stereo, to use a 1/4" mono out from the sub mixer and then use a DI box after going through the effects. Don't go to XLR's, just use 1/4". That way, the pedal could be used for all sorts of things and not just this setup...

You might need to adjust the effect circuitry to accept Line Level signals by the way. There's definitely a difference between using an effect pedal on a guitar signal vs a Mic signal. Someone else might be able to give more input on what you have to do, but make sure the Delay and Reverb can handle the line level signal. IF they can, check what level signal they put out also - it may be that you don't even need a DI box after the effect, but just a 1/4" to XLR cable.

Jacob

[sevenisthenumber]

I really want to do the XLR thing just to save on cables and DI... Any ideas or direction here??

[John Lyons]

I really want to do the XLR thing just to save on cables and DI...
How is using XLR connectors saving cables?

You will need to make your pedal Line level as mention above.
And also provide a line level output to the console, AND make it
balanced in and out. A lot of design and rework of the circuits
you mention.

[jkokura]

Way cheaper and easier to buy a rack size effects unit and use it on the summed channel on the sub mixer - and then send the mixer output to the main board. Waaaaay cheaper because of the work John mentioned - the time and effort involved... And it may be even cheaper to get that effect rack used on the main sound board, cause then you don't need the sub mixer...

Jacob

[sevenisthenumber]

I really want to do the XLR thing just to save on cables and DI...
How is using XLR connectors saving cables?

You will need to make your pedal Line level as mention above.
And also provide a line level output to the console, AND make it
balanced in and out. A lot of design and rework of the circuits
you mention.

What i ment was I would love to not have a DI and a 1/4" patch cable to the DI and so on...

[John Lyons]

Why would you need a DI anyway?
Direct Injection boxes are used to convert mono instrument
levels to balanced mic inputs to the console.
If he's got a submix of mics then it's most likely balanced and
line level anyway. Add your FX at the front of house console or at the
submix console directly via aux/FX send/return or Insert.

[jkokura]

That's what I was trying to say. Yes you say you want to use XLR cables and you 'could' make it work, but the amount of time and effort you're spending in switching a guitar effect to a Line Level effect would be better spent using something actually designed for what you want to do. You don't need to send the signal 'through' an stomp box to the main sound board, you 'should' use an effects processor as an insert effect on the summed drum signals. It will work better, based on my experience.

If you want to have your drummer control this, I would suggest doing it at the submixer, but if you want the front of house engineer to control it I would recommend you do it at the main board.

Jacob