Phantom power on stereo mic

  • Thread starter Thread starter MaartenC
  • Start date Start date
M

MaartenC

New member
Hi,

If I use a stereo microphone, such as the Rode NT4, do I need to enable phantom power on both channels the microphone uses?

I tried enabling phantom power on one of both channels, and then on both channels. Both ways seem to work fine, but I was wondering if there was some reason that one of these would be preferable?

Thanks,
Maarten
 
What are you plugging it into?

I don't have any devices that have independent phantom power on channels, just global.

The manual doesn't say but one would be fine, as you're experiencing.
 
It's plugged into a Focusrite Liquid Saffire 56, which has independent phantom for every channel..

I'm guessing it's okay to use phantom on both channels, since that's would be the case on most audio interfaces.

But then again I'm wondering if enabling both phantoms would ask more power from the phantom power supply, leaving less phantom power (current/energy) for the other channels, resulting in a insufficient supply if all 6 other connected mics would be using phantom?
 
I don't think you need to worry - any device with phantom should be constructed to allow all its channels to use it and provide sufficient current to them all.

Cheers
 
Just use phantom on both. It can't hurt anything. Phantom power, by nature, kicks in when you need it, and doesn't kik in when you don't. You can just leave it on for all your channels, even if some of them don't need phantom. Doesn't make a difference.
 
I'm pretty sure that you have to have both channel phantom on so that both capsules see phantom.
It's just a guess for I don't own one to tell you for sure but it just makes sense to me, and like RAMI said if it doesn't need it there will be no consequences.







:cool:
 
RAMI said:
Just use phantom on both. It can't hurt anything. Phantom power, by nature, kicks in when you need it, and doesn't kik in when you don't. You can just leave it on for all your channels, even if some of them don't need phantom. Doesn't make a difference.
Click to expand...

In a recent presentation by Wes Dooley of AEA, the folks that make upper-crust ribbon mics, he stated that it's not a good idea to have phantom power on mikes that don't need it if they use output transformers. The reason being that the trannies become magnetized, diminishing their performance.
 
That's not a cheap mic, you might try contacting customer support at Rode, if they're worth their salt they'll get back to you with an answer.
 
buzzard bass said:
That's not a cheap mic, you might try contacting customer support at Rode, if they're worth their salt they'll get back to you with an answer.
Click to expand...

With out a doubt I e-mail them all of the time and they are very good at getting back to me with in a working day. Very good people over there! ;)








:cool:
 
RRuskin said:
In a recent presentation by Wes Dooley of AEA, the folks that make upper-crust ribbon mics, he stated that it's not a good idea to have phantom power on mikes that don't need it if they use output transformers. The reason being that the trannies become magnetized, diminishing their performance.
Click to expand...

Well, you learn something new every day!
 
The manual to my Edirol capture states to ensure you don't use phantom power unless needed. The manual says phantom can cause a dynamic mic or playback device to malfunction or cause damage to the mic. The Fostex manual also states to only use phantom power with condenser mics.
 
I also recommend contacting Rode customer support (which is great, BTW, at least in the USA). There are 2 possibilities that come to mind. One, you may be supplying only 24V to each capsule with either channel's phantom engaged (which is enough to make most mics work)- or.. if the 9V battery is installed, the battery may be supplying the phantom power to the capsule that's not being supplied externally. When you find out from Rode, let us know, 'cause it's a new one on me.-Richie
 
RRuskin said:
In a recent presentation by Wes Dooley of AEA, the folks that make upper-crust ribbon mics, he stated that it's not a good idea to have phantom power on mikes that don't need it if they use output transformers. The reason being that the trannies become magnetized, diminishing their performance.
Click to expand...

buzzard bass said:
The manual to my Edirol capture states to ensure you don't use phantom power unless needed. The manual says phantom can cause a dynamic mic or playback device to malfunction or cause damage to the mic. The Fostex manual also states to only use phantom power with condenser mics.
Click to expand...

Well, like I said, you learn something new every day. I'm not disputing what you guys read. But, I should have a bunch of ruined dynamics if that's the case. My TASCAM 2488 only has one Phantom switch for channels 1-4. I plug 2 condensors and 2 dynamics into those 4 channels, never had a problem. In fact, it goes against anything I ever thought I knew about phantom power.
 
RAMI said:
Well, like I said, you learn something new every day. I'm not disputing what you guys read. But, I should have a bunch of ruined dynamics if that's the case. My TASCAM 2488 only has one Phantom switch for channels 1-4. I plug 2 condensors and 2 dynamics into those 4 channels, never had a problem. In fact, it goes against anything I ever thought I knew about phantom power.
Click to expand...

The statement was that performance was diminished not that the mics would be rendered inoperable. Wes Dooley has far more experience with microphones than most of us so I'm inclined to take him at his word when it comes to care and feeding of them.
 
RRuskin said:
The statement was that performance was diminished not that the mics would be rendered inoperable. Wes Dooley has far more experience with microphones than most of us so I'm inclined to take him at his word when it comes to care and feeding of them.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I'm sure he knows more than I do, too. On the other hand, there are a lot of experts that indulge in "audio voodoo", swearing that cables should go in a certain direction and all kinds of weird shit like that. This is the first I've ever heard about phantom affecting the performance of a non-phantom mic. While I don't have enough knowledge to dispute it, I'm not going to change what I've been doing because of it either.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top