MKL 2500 Power

[jmw]

I bought a used Octava MKL 2500 and had the company confirm that it was Russian made, but I got one of those Chinese made power supplies and the hum is terrible. I was wondering if it is even necessary to use it. Is it possible just to use the phantom power on my mixer (Mackie Onyx 1620)? If possible, any drawbacks to doing this?

Thanks.

jw

 

[MichaelJoly]

The MKL-2500 is a true, high voltage plate microphone. It must be powered from an appropriate power supply - either the original Russian manufactured one or a Chinese one that does not introduce ground loop hum. It cannot be powered from a phantom supply. OktavaUSA sells new Russian power supplies but the Chinese ones can be made to behave better.

 

[dgatwood]

I bought a used Octava MKL 2500 and had the company confirm that it was Russian made, but I got one of those Chinese made power supplies and the hum is terrible. I was wondering if it is even necessary to use it. Is it possible just to use the phantom power on my mixer (Mackie Onyx 1620)? If possible, any drawbacks to doing this?

According to http://forum.cakewalk.com/tm.aspx?&m=575625&mpage=3, you need to jumper pin 3 from the multi-pin connector to the nearby unjacketed ground wire and the hum should be fixed. You might also consider replacing the audio wires with shielded cable, though this is probably not necessary.