Lavalier mic into acoustic amp

Shawn

I'm a total non-techie. With that being said, I have a question about microphones and amps. I have an Audio Technica Lavalier Consdenser Mic which I can plug directly into my computer for recording, and it works great for that purpose. Question is...can this type of mic be plugged directly into an acoustic amp (with an 1/8 to 1/4 plug converter of course)? I tried to plug it in one day at a local guitar shop, but couldn't get any sound out of it, so I'm not sure if it's just not compatible or if I'm just not doing something right.

Oh, and yes, I did turn the power on to the mic (since it requires a battery being a condenser mic). Any thoughts?

MichaelHorowitz

Generally most acoustic amps have an XLR input so you wouldn't need a converter. As long as the mic is being powered it should work. Plenty of people use lavalier mics like the Audio Technica and the completely awesome DPAs into acoustic amps with great success.

Shawn

Thanks for the info Michael. It's so weird, as the microphone works perfectly fine when plugged into the mic input on the computer, but wouldn't work on 3 acoustic amps I tried in the store. The only thing is that my mic doesn't have an XLR input...it has a 1/8" jack, which is why I need the converter. I've tried plugging it into the jack input, but couldn't get any sound, so I'm wondering if I need to by a 1/8" or 1/4" jack to XLR converter instead.

This really is doing my head in :? ...LOL

MichaelHorowitz

Which model Audio Technica mic do you have? The PRO 70 and 831B are the most popular models and both have a power module with an XLR output so all you'd need to do is have an XLR cable. I've never heard of an AT lavalier mic that terminates in a 1/8" plug but they may have some version that has that configuration. There may be some sort of mismatch in the converter you're using which would explain why you can't get any sound out of it.

Shawn

It's an Audio-Technica ATR-3350 microphone. It has excellent sound for a cheap price. I bought it primarily for recording purposes on the computer, and have only recently taken an interest in trying to see if I can amplify it.