Question #2 ... Phantom Power, or Other?

I

ianda

New member
Here's my second question of the day. With any setup of mics, I know that I'll need some source of phantom power. My question is whether or not it's better to pick up a single-job power supply (phantom power and nothing more), or a different type of product.

Either way, what would you run between the mics and the recorder/mixer?

Thanks,
ianda
 
I have a similiar question, I'm getting an NTK for example, would I be better of using my mixer's phantom power or the supplied power supply, is there some kind of special power requirement maybe?

Eric
 
UPDATE to last post.

I guess I should have been a little more specific. My current mixer (Roland VM-3100) has two channels with phantom power. I'm looking to power the other six channels for mic inputs.

Hopefully, within a year, I'm looking to upgrade to a Roland VS Digital Workstation ... hopefully the VS2480CD, but probably the VS1680CD. From what I can tell, those also have two channels with phantom power. The rest will have to be powered ... so I'm looking for the best solution for now AND later.

Thanks,
ianda
 
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You could go with a Mackie 1402 mixer, which has 6 very decent (not great, but better than Roland) mic pres, and which can supply phantom power. I read an artical once where Lou Reed was recording a record on a Mackie 8-bus, which has the same mic pres, and he said that, though the Mackie pres where not the best for anything they recorded, they where very close, in every case, to the pres he did use (Summits, APIs, Neves). Just a thought.

Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Ganhdi
 
If I read their literature right, the Rode NTK is a tube mic, so you hafta use their power supply; you can't just plug it into a phantom powered board. It doesn't use phantom power.
 
I'll second Light's suggestion about Mackie's pres. They're not the best but they're very good. Unless you have high end pres, the Mackies will probably be better than what you currently have. They're defintely better than the ones in the Digi001.
 
Kingston, 48v of phantom power is not enough to feed the tube in a tube mic, such as NTK, which uses a power supply and a multi-pin cable to feed the power back to the mic. While a little cumbersome, this setup makes a tube mic very useful for feeding the signal to a board or recorder that doesn't produce phantom power. In general, tube mics are used to produce "warmth" which is really selective distortion. Most people use tube mics primarily for vocals, and while essential as a piece of your mic cabinet, they're not the most versatile mics ever made. I know some people use them for instrument mics, but I haven't had good results using them for that application.
If you're just starting with condensers, I would consider some affordable non-tube condensers for my first choices. My choices are Studio Projects C1/C3 for voice, and Oktava MC012 for instruments. You could get both of them for a little more than half the price of an NTK. Other good affordable mics which I have not used but are highly recommended by experienced engineers on this board include AT4033, a versatile workhorse, and Marshall MXL603, a very inexpensive small diaphragm mic, like the MC012, good for instruments and overheads.
I'm not saying I don't like NTK. I own one and I like it a lot. Only that for my first condensers, I would choose ones less expensive and more versatile.-Richie
 
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