10 Different Types of XLR Audio Adapter Cables

If you’ve ever been tasked with shooting an event with a live sound feed from a single mic on a podium, you may have run into a startling realization: no soundboard has XLR outputs. We’ve definitely been in situations where we wished we had an XLR audio adapter of one kind or another in order to plug directly into whatever obscure setup the venue had. Here are a bunch of different XLR splitters, adapters, and accessories that can make your job easier if you’ve ever run into this type of situation.

XLR Splitters
XLR cable splitters are very handy if you have a situation where the feed only outputs from a single port, or where all the ports are already in-use. With a splitter, you can allow two cameras or devices to share the same outgoing port.

GLS Audio 6 Inch Patch Y Cable Cords, XLR Male To Dual XLR Female Cables, 6 Inch Y-Cable Cord Splitter XLR-M to Dual XLR-F

Hosa YXM121 XLR Female To Dual XLR Male Y Cable

XLR Barrels or Gender Changers
Here’s a really useful piece of gear for any documentary film audio kit: an XLR barrel coupler. It allows you to string together two XLR cables if you need to make them longer. Super handy! They come in male to male and female to female variants.

Hosa GXX144 XLR Male To XLR Male Gender Changer

Hosa Gender Changer XLR Female to Female Adaptor

XLR Adapters
Sometimes, you might need to connect your camera to a device that doesn’t have a normal XLR output but instead has a 1/8th inch jack or something similar. Here are some XLR adapters that can help get the job done:

HOSA GXP-143 XLR Female to Balanced 1/4 inch Male Adapter

Hosa XVM-110M Right Angle 3.5mm TRS to XLR3M 10 Ft

HOSA GXP-143 XLR Female to Balanced 1/4 inch Male Adapter

Seismic Audio – SA-Y6 – 6 Inch Splitter Patch Y Cable – 1 XLR Male to 2 RCA Male

XLR USB Adapters
Sometimes it’s handy to be able to plug your XLR microphones into a computer to record voiceover narration or something similar that way– bypassing the camera altogether. With USB XLR preamps, you can do just that.