phantom power

[mikeandronda]

Well my singer has a mic that needs phantom power, my board has phantom power but if I switch it on it will be on all channels......so how will this effect the rest of my mics that dont need it??? I know newb question.....sorry

 

[punkin]

Most modern mics today don't care if phantom power is on the circuit. Just be sure that you don't switch it on until all the mics are plugged in. The biggest risk is that you could have phantom power on and then plug the mic in...there's a possibility of shorting a couple of the pins during the connection which could fry the mic.

With that said, I have heard stories of people with older ribbon mics which instantly go up in smoke when phantom is applied (I have no personal experience with that).

What mics are you planning to use?

Anyone else with something to add?

 

[mikeandronda]

hmmmmm

Well I cant say for sure what he is using......I know its a nady my other mics are nady dmk drum mics and a crappy audux.....I know low quality but....its what we heve to use as of now........We are hoping to do a bit of recording through the board of the whole band for writing purposes( not recoding for anymore yet) Do you think it should be ok? Thanx alot for the help thus far.

 

[tourettes5139]

I think you'll be fine running phantom power through those mics.

 

[dgatwood]

Well I cant say for sure what he is using......I know its a nady my other mics are nady dmk drum mics and a crappy audux.....I know low quality but....its what we heve to use as of now........We are hoping to do a bit of recording through the board of the whole band for writing purposes( not recoding for anymore yet) Do you think it should be ok? Thanx alot for the help thus far.

As long as there are no ribbons, you're probably fine. I'd take a multimeter and make sure all your cables are wired correctly, though.

 

[hungovermorning]

phantom power!

I've used a phantom power unit with non phantom units (shure sm57 and an rs 25) and been fine. If you're really worried about it, it might be worth it to pick up a phantom power unit:
AKG:
http://cgi.ebay.com/AKG-2-Channel-P...84434928QQcategoryZ113484QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
a nice shure one : http://cgi.ebay.com/SHURE-2-Channel...7384599142QQcategoryZ1287QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
The one I'd buy which has 4 imputs and is a Crown, something that will probably outlast your board:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Crown-ph4-phant...85131310QQcategoryZ113484QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

These come in handy when you start using overhead condensers for miking drums or acoustic guitars and all that fun stuff. I ended having to buy one off someone from the board who was nice enough to art with theirs and they're great. You never regret buying it!
best,
scott

 

[Adam P]

My console only has a global phantom button, and it works just fine with every mic I've used with it.

 

[dgatwood]

I've used a phantom power unit with non phantom units (shure sm57 and an rs 25) and been fine. If you're really worried about it, it might be worth it to pick up a phantom power unit:
AKG:
http://cgi.ebay.com/AKG-2-Channel-P...84434928QQcategoryZ113484QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
a nice shure one : http://cgi.ebay.com/SHURE-2-Channel...7384599142QQcategoryZ1287QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
The one I'd buy which has 4 imputs and is a Crown, something that will probably outlast your board:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Crown-ph4-phant...85131310QQcategoryZ113484QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

These come in handy when you start using overhead condensers for miking drums or acoustic guitars and all that fun stuff. I ended having to buy one off someone from the board who was nice enough to art with theirs and they're great. You never regret buying it!
best,
scott

Similarly, if you need to disable phantom on one channel, connect a pair of impedance matching transformers together. The phantom power won't make it past the first transformer. Alternately, you could use an audio isolation transformer if you have one.