fatmuttony Posted March 14, 2006 Report Share Posted March 14, 2006 I was reading a comparative review of the M-Audio MicroTrack compared to 2nd Gen HiMD Recorders (here) and it says:Like MD units, the MicroTrack has an 1/8" input with 5V plug-in power for electret microphones. But unlike MD, it also has phantom power for use with professional condenser mics.Now, I thought that the phantom power a condensor mic needed was somewhere around 48 V. How can a battery-operated device (running on 5V DC input) provide this sort of phantom power to a condensor mic? Or am I just missing a trick, as usual? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roamer Posted March 14, 2006 Report Share Posted March 14, 2006 Actually, the MicroTrack only provide 30V, which is a bit far from the 48V, and may or may not work depending on the mic. Otherwise, there are external devices that provide phantom power from a battery like this one:http://www.denecke.com/prod04.htm#PS2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fatmuttony Posted March 14, 2006 Author Report Share Posted March 14, 2006 Ok, another silly question. Is phantom power DC or AC? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greenmachine Posted March 14, 2006 Report Share Posted March 14, 2006 (edited) DC, an alternating voltage would be audible and useless for constantly polarizing the plates. Edited March 14, 2006 by greenmachine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fatmuttony Posted March 14, 2006 Author Report Share Posted March 14, 2006 DC, an alternating voltage would be audible and useless for constantly polarizing the plates. Right, got it. So, then, how does a 5V supply make 30V of DC voltage available anywhere in teh circuit? Isn't this impossible? I mean, in a DC circuit, every resistance will show a voltage across it, and the sum of all voltages dropped across resistances should add up to the supply, right? So, how can a 5V supply make 30V available at any point? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dex Otaku Posted March 14, 2006 Report Share Posted March 14, 2006 Right, got it. So, then, how does a 5V supply make 30V of DC voltage available anywhere in teh circuit? Isn't this impossible? I mean, in a DC circuit, every resistance will show a voltage across it, and the sum of all voltages dropped across resistances should add up to the supply, right? So, how can a 5V supply make 30V available at any point?By wasting power .. one way is to first convert the DC input voltage to AC .. then you can step it up using a transformer. There are other ways, but this is usually the simplest.Oops, forgot the part about converting the AC back to DC again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fatmuttony Posted March 14, 2006 Author Report Share Posted March 14, 2006 By wasting power .. one way is to first convert the DC input voltage to AC .. then you can step it up using a transformer. There are other ways, but this is usually the simplest.Oops, forgot the part about converting the AC back to DC again. Aaah! But of course. I bow to you master, your kung fu is indeed better than mine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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