Problems with Phantom Power

B

bryanzera

New member
I'm trying to mic my acoustic guitar. I get everything set up. Cables routed, everything in place, etc. I snap in front of the microphone (DON'T TAP ON THE MICROPHONE! IT MIGHT HURT THE DIAPRAHGM!) to see if I'm getting any signal.

Nada.

The mic I'm using is an ECM8000, which requires phantom power. I check to see that my mixer has phantom power turned on, and it does. I try a different channel with no different results. I jiggle the cord at the mixer and I get a signal. As soon as I drop the cord, I lose the signal. I replaced the ECM8000 with an SM58 to test it, and without jiggling the cord, I get a signal.

Now, I'm pretty sure that phantom powered mics actually have power pumped thru the ground channel, whereas dynamic mics just use the ground for ... well, grounding.

Could it be that my ground connections on the mixer are faulty, or does it look like the cord is the problem?
 
i would definitely suspect the cable. it may have a bad connector. if you have a multimeter you could test the phantom voltage.
 
No other mics ... just the SM 58. I will try another cable tonight ... I can't believe I didn't try that at first ...

B
 
ah i feel stupid .... didn't see that you had tried it already with a dynamic. i'd suggest using a multimeter to see how many volts of phantom power you're getting. what kind of a mixer are you using?
 
Are you using XLR-XLR cables? If not, this is probably why the SM58 worked and the ECM8000 didn't. Phantom Power only works on XLR-XLR connections.
 
Used another cable, and the ECM8000 worked flawlessly. Going to take the other cable back to the store. Think they have a warranty on them. I hope so at least.
 
Actually I've had a similar problem (I think) . I tried hooking up a Oktava Condenser I was borrowing to my small mixer and got no signal. After freaking out for a few minutes thinking I had ruined my friends Mic, I looked at my manual, and found that I didn't have enough volts. The mic needed 48v phantom, I think I only had 20 or 24 volts. Hooked up an outboard pre & the mic worked great! Whew!:rolleyes:

BTW have you succesfully used this mic with this mixer before? If yes then obviously this isn't the problem.
 
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