phantom power

[Jeff_B]

I have a question about phantom power... i just got some sdcs. so i have had them up a lot and was wondering about leaving them plugged in. does it matter that they sit around with the phantom power on... does this lower the life expectancy ? should i turn phantom power off whenever i dont use them, or does turning it on and off a lot wear on the mics. or does it not matter either way ?

thanks!

 

[Shadow_7]

I would imagine that it's like a lot of other things. And more of a hot / cold issue. As long as they're climate controlled they should last a good long while. Although certain plastics revert back to oil with age. Certain metals rust over time. And other distortions inflicted by gravity over time. Ever see a 40yo window? Glass is a solid, but a solid is little more than a slow moving liquid when put up against the adversary of time. Having the phantom power on all the time probably isn't very good for it's lifespan, but I doubt it is as temperamental as the shutter on a camera. It's probably more like my computer, if I'm using it once at least every four or so hours, leave it on. If I'm leaving town for two weeks, turn it off.

 

[PhilGood]

It doesn't hurt them to leave them on. The components for most phantom power mics will probably last longer than the life of the mic being useful to you. There are studios that leave tube mics running round the clock because its the heating up and cooling down that hurts the life of the tube. FET mics don't have that heat problem.