Klas wrote,
> >What do I mean Plug In Power?? It is a mini phantom-power giving DC to the
> >microphones.
And Wayne responded,
>That's what I thought you might be asking, but I wanted to make sure. I
>know of any portable MiniDisc recorder (other than HHB's, which is much
>larger) that provides phantom power. This is true of a lot of the
>portable DAT recorders as well. As a general rule of thumb, if it doesn't
>have XLR connectors, it probably doesn't provide phantom power. The
>recorders still might provide some sort of bias voltage, but I typically
>think of phantom power as 48 VDC (Although a lot of microphones can work
>on a range of voltage other than 48 volts).
You didn't understand what Klas meant when he said "mini
phantom-power." "Plug in power" is a system that I believe Sony
invented in the early 70s, and is now pretty much ubiquitous in
mini-stereo mic inputs. The input supplies a couple of volts to bias
the FET impedance converter in an electret mic capsule. It's just for
the FET, it isn't used to polarize the capsule, which is permanently
polarized in an electret mic. So it's -like- phantom power, in that
the mic inputs feeds power to the mic, but it -isn't- phantom power.
Pro mikes need XLR connectors and real phantom power. Consumer
electret mikes without batteries are designed to work with plug in
power. Two different species.
While I'm on the subject, there's also T power or A-B power, the
first through-the-XLR condensor mic powering system, invented in the
60s. There are a lot of T-power Schoeps mics still in use, and some
Sennheisers, too, but manufacturing of that type stopped soon after
phantom power caught on. T-power is not compatible with phantom power
or plug in power, it's yet another species. You'll see T power as a
selection on equipment made for the motion picture industry, like
Cooper and SQN mixers.
-Dan Dugan
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