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Dynamic mics into phantoms?
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| EnerJen |
| Is plugging dynamic mics or other mics beside condenser mics into phantom power boxes possible? |
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| Percy |
| Why would you want to plug a non-phantom powered mic into a phantom power box? What could you possibly hope to gain? |
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| Percy |
| quote: | AC/DC
What’s that you say? You don’t know your AC from your DC? Audio is considered an Alternating Current, a.k.a. "AC." (So is 120-volt "wall" power.) But electronic circuits need Direct Current (DC) to turn them on, from batteries or power supplies. Like a speaker in reverse, a dynamic mic consists of a coil of wire suspended in a magnetic field. When vibrations move the cone or "diaphragm," the energy stored in the magnet is transferred to the wires. (A Dynamic mic is passive and needs no power.)
A DEDICATED SUPPLY
The preamplifier inside Vacuum Tube microphones requires both plate and filament voltages. Power and audio are delivered via special, multi-conductor cables and non-standard connectors from a dedicated power supply. Only then does the mic-level signal appear at a standard three-pin XLR connector. Transistorized microphones require much less power and can operate from a battery, hence the idea for phantom power, a system of distributing a DC voltage through a standard mic cable. All condenser mics (except electrets) requires a fairly large, but low current DC polarizing voltage that is applied to a diaphragm — similar to a drum head, but thinner and plated with a molecularly thin conductive layer that is typically gold. The signal is not strong enough to venture into the outside world without an internal buffer / preamp (active electronics) that also requires power.
(Excerpt from Phantom Power by Eddie Ciletti)
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| Dj Thy |
| quote: | Originally posted by Percy
Why would you want to plug a non-phantom powered mic into a phantom power box? What could you possibly hope to gain? |
On some cheaper mixers, phantom power is switched on or off on groups of channels, not channel per channel. If for instance you only need 4 condenser mics that need power and the rest dynamic, but your mixer has common phantom power on 8 channels, you have no other choice to plug dynamics in phantom power enabled channels.
Enerjen, just be sure to use balanced microphone cables (+, - and separate shield), as phantom power relies on that. Only on VERY old dynamic mics phantom power is dangerous, but all the recent dynamic mics are designed to cope with that (they reject the current). So don't fear breaking them, as long as you use balanced cables.
As for other mics, most condenser use phantom. Electret can either be powered with batteries, but most of them can use phantom power also. So no problem there either. The only ones you shouldn't plug into phantom power enabled ones are old Tonader mics (they require 15 V, and have no protection against the 48V phantom). |
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| Percy |
| The 48V phantom...ARRRRG |
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| Percy |
| quote: | Originally posted by Dj Thy
On some cheaper mixers, phantom power is switched on or off on groups of channels, not channel per channel. |
That wasn't the question.
| quote: | | Is plugging dynamic mics or other mics beside condenser mics into phantom power boxes possible? |
And again I state, what could you possibly hope to gain from doing that? |
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