phantom power?

[timandjes]

I'm looking at some condenser mic's for recording a drum set onto a Tascam 4 track porta-studio. Some of the mic's I see say they require 48 v phantom power, some 24 v phantom power, and some don't say phantom power at all. What is phantom power and how do I know what I need? Unfortunately, with the exception of my Tascam porta-studio, I don't have the paperwork that came with my other sound equipment because it was a gift. Can anybody help?

[Track Rat]

Phantom power is DC power that's injected from some mic preamps and/or mixers to power condensor microphones. If your mixer doesn't have it, you have a few options if you want to use condensor mics.
Option one; Buy a stand alone mic preamp that does have it. Thay'll run you from just under $100 to more than $3000 but if you're tracking to a porta studio, the less expensive models will work just fine.
Option two; Find a condensor that will run on battery. I'm not recommending these mics to you but some of the models that will run this way are AKG C-1000, some of the CAD mics, etc.
Option three; There are units on the market that will just inject phantom power that you put in line between your existing mic pre in your porta studio and a condensor mic but I personally don't like this option much as the units I've seen that are affordable are cheesey.

[VOXVENDOR]

Im with Track Rat on this....

Stay away from the little standalone phantom power unit..

If your gonna go to the expense of spending a few bucks for phantom power, you might as well just get a cheap little pre....

It's bound to be better than what is in the Port-a-studio.....