Phantom Power testing.

[chernman]

I have recently purchased an Oktava 319 and wanted to give it a try. It is my first mic that requires phantom power. (long story short) I am getting no sound. I plug a dynamic into the same input and it sounds great so I know the channel is working. I have never used the phantom power on my board so I don't know if the mic is screwed (it IS an Oktava) or if my board has some how had its phantom capablities disconnected. Short of getting another mic, is there a test I can perform to check one or the other? Should I be getting even a faint signal with no power going to the mic?

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[vox]

To get phantom power you need to use an XLR cable, a two connector cable won't work.
If your board has phantom power capabilities it should have a switch, probably located on the back of the board somewhere or on the top right hand side near the 'Master' controls of the board.
What kind of board are you using? Not all small boards have phantom.
You should be able to test for phantom with a multimeter, plug an XLR cable into the channel input (make sure the trim and channel volumes are down to be safe) check the free end of the cable for power, usually between 12V and 48V.

 

[chernman]

I have a CAD Maxcon II board with phantom power switches on each channel. The board was recently rebuilt and there is still some work left to do. I just don't know if phantom power is one of the things that still needs fixing so I was looking for some sort of test. Or, is there another way I can test the mic w/o using the mixer? I've swapped out the cable so I know that isn't the problem.

I will try your multimeter test and see if that gives me my answer.

Thanks again!

 

[leutholl]

To get phantom power you need to use an XLR cable, a two connector cable won't work.
If your board has phantom power capabilities it should have a switch, probably located on the back of the board somewhere or on the top right hand side near the 'Master' controls of the board.
What kind of board are you using? Not all small boards have phantom.
You should be able to test for phantom with a multimeter, plug an XLR cable into the channel input (make sure the trim and channel volumes are down to be safe) check the free end of the cable for power, usually between 12V and 48V.

Yes, that's actually the best test. Because the electronic design of the phantom supply is very complicated and "well built", there are some console you have to plug a mic as a load (although its a very light one), before you can messure any voltage.

AND: Don't shortcut it. Althought the outputs are high-impedance (that means that you can draw only less current from each socket - but you get a stable voltage.) it's not very healty for the console. Consider the cheap ones...

Get attention: 48 V DC is near the voltage-limit, enough to break throught your skin to 'electroshock' you.

If you connect a condenser mic without a phantom supply, you'll get no audio signal from it.

You can verify wheter your board is low-end of mid/high-end. If the phantom is 48 VDC it's good. There are many boards whith less than 48VDC. Let's say 12 V or so. The higher the voltage the more linear your mic will send signal...

Sorry for my english...

 

[chernman]

Thanks for all the help. My phantom power is working fine on my board and it turned out to be a shoody mic. No REAL surprise there.

Again, I really appreciate the response, you answered a lot of the questions that I have.

Mark