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COMMUNITY : FORUMS : TECH


phone into a microphone

i was thinking about trying to turn an old phone into a microphone for a music performance or something? correct me if im wrong and i probably am but, a small crap microphone is a telephone would work would it? i was thinking if i left the whole phone in tact but made the cord come from the phone base into a microphone jack, how would i connect a microphone jack that has 5 legs to a 2 wire phone microphone? it couldnt be done could it? It would work if i just bought a crappy microphone and moved and fitted it into a telephone so it has all the circuit or what ever else is in one already in it I apologize if most of that doesn't make sence

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thunderbirdESQ says: Jun 8, 2010. 1:13 AM
or if you arent like super passionate about DIY ethics and you have 20 bucks you can buy a XLR to RJ11 Phone Jack In Line Adapter
26
LinuxH4x0r says: Oct 13, 2008. 11:12 PM
You'd probably want to get a decent mic in there if its for a performace. Try using the small clip on unes used with wireless transmitters
craig3 (author) says: Oct 13, 2008. 11:14 PM
ah, so just really make it look like your singing into the phone? thats a good idea actually, better than my stupid phone idea
26
LinuxH4x0r says: Oct 13, 2008. 11:27 PM
Yep, just use the shell as a case for the mic
craig3 (author) says: Oct 14, 2008. 1:07 AM
yeah, i got the idea from the video clip too burn bridges by the grates, in the video the singer sings into a phone to an opposite version of herself, and i through it would be a cool idea to try it
50
gmjhowe says: Oct 14, 2008. 7:36 AM
I was about to say that, you could also wire up a cable that uses the standard phone cable...
craig3 (author) says: Oct 15, 2008. 12:07 AM
the cable and jack i was talking about is called an XLR connector, not a phone cable or a small microphone jack http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XLR_connector

Their the jacks they use at my school in the hall where we play most of the time
3
Sandisk1duo says: Oct 14, 2008. 8:00 PM
Buy a pair of headphones and do this
229
randofo says: Oct 14, 2008. 3:09 PM
That was one of my first projects. I got ya covered:

http://www.instructables.com/id/Telephone-Handset-Microphone/
10
gmoon says: Oct 14, 2008. 5:48 AM
Like an old rotary dial telephone handset?

The old phones used carbon microphone, and lots of musicians have utilized their limited fidelity for special F/X. In fact, most audio editing software has a "telephone plug-in," to degrade audio for the effect.

Just disassemble the handset, remove the headphone element, and connect a new cable to the mic element (or splice the end of the existing cable.)

The carbon mic won't be balanced. You'll need an unbalanced input for the board, or an unbalanced-to-balanced converter if you only have XLR inputs. You could build the converter (basically a mic transformer) into the handset.

You can do the same with any cheap mic element (phone mic, computer mic, etc.), not just a carbon mic...
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