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panang
New member
what kind of mics won't work on 12v phantom power?
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Emeric
New member
Maybe a rephrase, what kind of mic's need phantom power to work? - Condensor microphones. Ones that don't - dynamic microphones. The dynamic's can still be plugged into a board or preamp that's providing phantom power, assuming the wiring is right.
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panang
New member
no what i mean is, what kind of condenser mics will not work with 12v phantom power, because they require 48v phantom power?
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Emeric
New member
Oh i see, I misunderstood. This indicates a range of voltage the mic will operate within, - like 12 to 48V DC. Take a look at some spec sheets from various manufacturer's http://www.akg-acoustics.com http://www.shure.com 48V is like a top value, I've seen some mic spec's that will indicate 9V to 52V - all depends on the mic.
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panang
New member
thanks.
i'm worrying about it because most mic preamps put out 48v, but the one i am thinking of buying puts out 12v.
12v is very near the lower range of many mics, isn't it?
presumably they stop working alltogether below that... so are there any differences in the sound depending on the voltage used? is the typical condenser mic more sensitive / sound better at 48v? or what?
(i would have thought the high voltage standard was adopted for a reason, like maybe it produces more signal? and then you have your electret-condenser mic elements -- that operate on low voltage, but that have to be compatible with the 48v phantom power, so the voltage must be dropped internally, meaning that if you go to 12v, it gets dropped even more... )
so i guess the question is, for those of you that have used both 12v and 48v phantom power supplies, do you ever notice any difference with any of your condenser and electret mics? if so, is the difference associated with particular brands or models? or is it rare for a mic to work fine at 48v and not at 12v?
i'm worrying about it because most mic preamps put out 48v, but the one i am thinking of buying puts out 12v.
12v is very near the lower range of many mics, isn't it?
presumably they stop working alltogether below that... so are there any differences in the sound depending on the voltage used? is the typical condenser mic more sensitive / sound better at 48v? or what?
(i would have thought the high voltage standard was adopted for a reason, like maybe it produces more signal? and then you have your electret-condenser mic elements -- that operate on low voltage, but that have to be compatible with the 48v phantom power, so the voltage must be dropped internally, meaning that if you go to 12v, it gets dropped even more... )
so i guess the question is, for those of you that have used both 12v and 48v phantom power supplies, do you ever notice any difference with any of your condenser and electret mics? if so, is the difference associated with particular brands or models? or is it rare for a mic to work fine at 48v and not at 12v?
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Emeric
New member
I can't see that it would make any difference, I would guess these spec's are just to acommodate the various manufacturers. I would assume it goes through some type of voltage divider when it hits the mic anyways. But I don't know for sure.
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panang
New member
actually now that i've been looking at a lot of spec sheets,
i have figured some of this out:
1) many high quality mics require 48v +/- 4v phantom power. so i assume my preamp that puts out 12v phantom power is probably not going to work for these.
2) some mics give two specs for their internal battery power, versus 48v phantom power. the maximum SPL, and hence dynamic range, can be 25dB higher with 48v phantom than with the battery. i'm not sure if this applies to the case of low voltage phantom power versus 48v.
i have figured some of this out:
1) many high quality mics require 48v +/- 4v phantom power. so i assume my preamp that puts out 12v phantom power is probably not going to work for these.
2) some mics give two specs for their internal battery power, versus 48v phantom power. the maximum SPL, and hence dynamic range, can be 25dB higher with 48v phantom than with the battery. i'm not sure if this applies to the case of low voltage phantom power versus 48v.