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Phantom voltage for condenser element mics

KE7FD
KE7FD Member ✭✭
in Peripherals & Station Integration

I know this has been asked of the 6400, but regarding the 8400, to use a condenser microphone requires an applied DC voltage to work whereas a dynamic element does not. I see in the manual there is 3 volts available to be turned on, but typically phantom voltage, in the audio world is 48 volts, or at least in the realm of XLR phantom voltage supplies. I'm looking at an XLR condenser microphone, I just don't know if most of these will work with 3 volts from the 8400. It's been a very long time since I've worked with studio microphones.

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Comments

  • Geoff AB6BT
    Geoff AB6BT Member ✭✭✭

    The 3 VDC supplied by the Flex is meant to power electret microphones. It is applied to only one pin of the (unbalanced) mic input.

    The 48 VDC phantom power is used on mics with a balanced outputs. The 48 VDC is applied to both pin 2 and pin 3 of an XLR connector through a 6.8 k Ohm resistor.

    So, I believe you are going to have to use an external phantom power supply.

  • KD0RC
    KD0RC Member, Super Elmer Moderator

    Yes, Geoff is right, you will need 48 volts if that is the spec for the mic (be careful, people often interchange the words condenser and electret). Probably the easiest (and safest) way to get it is to buy a mic pre-amp that has the option of supplying 48 V.

    If you don't already have a condenser mic, you might want to get a dynamic or electret mic that will work directly with the Flex. There are some that are very high quality and you can save some complication and desk space by not needing the pre-amp.

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