CosmicCharlie24 - Posted - 02/28/2025:  05:12:34

Hello All - I have a mic/petal riddle I can’t seem to solve. I installed a mic in my openback for playing out at open mic nights. The mic has an XLR input. I use a cable with a male XLR to plug into my mic with a 1/4 inch jack to plug into the bar amp. For the most part it works pretty well. However sometimes when I play solo the sound seems a little raw. So my guitar buddy loaned me a chorus petal to play around with and I kind of like it on certain songs (obviously I’m not a purest). The petal can be used with a 9v battery which is what I need when playing out. The problem arises when I use the battery and plug my 1/4 inch jack into the petal input. The petal won’t pick up or recognize the balanced Jack. Thus the petal won’t function. The petal will only work with an unbalanced 1/4 inch jack. I’ve tried a handful of different petals and the result is the same. The really odd thing is that the petal works when I use a DC 9v plug in as a power source. I don’t think anyone makes a cable with an XLR male end and an unbalanced 1/4 inch Jack ( that kind of defeats the purpose of the XLR input).

So does anyone know of a work around or a petal that would function with a battery and a balanced input 1/4 inch jack? Thanks!!!

Edited by - Texasbanjo on 02/28/2025 08:03:38

B0bIII - Posted - 02/28/2025:  07:01:54

Wrong impedance maybe? If the mic is Lo-Z you'll need a line matching transformer to make it play well with guitar amps and pedals.

aaronoble - Posted - 02/28/2025:  11:33:54

I'm not expert, but pedals are typically designed for instrument/ guitar signals which are stronger than typical microphone signals (In addition to the impedance match problem).
There are pedals designed for vocals, though; one of these might work, depending on your microphone.

Keith Billik - Posted - 02/28/2025:  17:22:13

quote:

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Originally posted by CosmicCharlie24

Hello All - I have a mic/petal riddle I can’t seem to solve. I installed a mic in my openback for playing out at open mic nights. The mic has an XLR input. I use a cable with a male XLR to plug into my mic with a 1/4 inch jack to plug into the bar amp. For the most part it works pretty well. However sometimes when I play solo the sound seems a little raw. So my guitar buddy loaned me a chorus petal to play around with and I kind of like it on certain songs (obviously I’m not a purest). The petal can be used with a 9v battery which is what I need when playing out. The problem arises when I use the battery and plug my 1/4 inch jack into the petal input. The petal won’t pick up or recognize the balanced Jack. Thus the petal won’t function. The petal will only work with an unbalanced 1/4 inch jack. I’ve tried a handful of different petals and the result is the same. The really odd thing is that the petal works when I use a DC 9v plug in as a power source. I don’t think anyone makes a cable with an XLR male end and an unbalanced 1/4 inch Jack ( that kind of defeats the purpose of the XLR input).

So does anyone know of a work around or a petal that would function with a battery and a balanced input 1/4 inch jack? Thanks!!!

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I would try something like this:

elderly.com/products/hosa-low-...225576000

If I'm understanding your problems, this *should* solve both of them, as the reason the pedal doesn't work is that the battery needs a TS plug to complete the circuit and power the pedal.