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Hey guys,

I work in a theatre (ok, ok, I'm a lighting boy :D ), and out of curiosity I was just wondering if it is possible to hook up standard stereo headphones with a boom mic (separate jacks for audio in and mic out) to the "cans" system.

I'm not exactly sure of the brand of "cans" we use, but I know that the "headset in" is XLR. I only know the basics of audio and how it all works, and obviously know that most Audio XLR is 3-pin, but how does this work for incoming and outgoing audio?

Sorry if this is the most stupidest question ever asked on these forums, but if I don't ask I'll never know!

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TVPostSound Wed, 03/29/2006 - 08:45

A headphone with a mic attached to it is called a "Boomset"

I understand your question, as most "Boomsets" are sold with unterminated ends. (No connectors)
There should be 2 cable sets coming out of it, the mic side will use the XLR, and the headphone side of it will use a 1/4" balanced plug.

Does that help???

anonymous Wed, 03/29/2006 - 23:12

Hey guys,

Sorry.... I had a closer look today and its actually 4-pin XLR. My bad!! I'm guessing that two pins would be for the headphones and two for the mic, but does anyone know which one's which??

I'm a bit hazy on the system, but it is a backstage comms system that runs in a loop like lighting DMX.

Probably doesn't help anyone but yeah, thanks for the help so far. I'll try and take a picture of it in the next few days.

Kev Thu, 03/30/2006 - 13:53

it could be anything in there

you need to look inside the XL
... it could still be a left and right with a mic all on a single earth return but with a twin shielded cable
... all on 4 pins

does the system talk and listen at the same time
or is it just one at a time ?

RTS vs Clearcom

and another talkback system popular a few years ago was Drake
Drake is now in the hands of ClearCom as far as I know