"Polar" wrote ...
I am using a mini condenser electret microphone for research that I
would like to connect to the balanced XLR input of a mixer. Ideally, I
would like to power the mic on the mixer's phantom power.

I tried connecting the - and ground of a hacked XLR cable and hooking
up the mic's leads accordingly (as suggested by some websites), but
the
noise was too dramatic. So, I'm unsure what the best solution is.
Should I buy an unbalanced to balanced converter? Is there a simple
"hack job" solution? Should I just splurge for some more expensive
balanced mics?

I'm not incredibly knowledgable on the subject, so any words of wisdom
would be greatly appreciated.

http://www.uneeda-audio.com/#phantom
This is a collection of info about modifying PZM
microphones, but the circuits apply to most electret
condenser mic capsules such as the one you likely
have.

A kit for powering electret from phantom power....
http://www.uneeda-audio.com/#pzm

More information about powering electrets...
http://www.epanorama.net/circuits/mi..._powering.html