Topic: Powering at853s

[hoyt]

So I screwed up a tape a few weeks ago because I had left the dip switches in my power box in the wrong setting.  I was pretty pissed and wanted to throw the powering box away.  The box provides 9v, and my mp2 is 12 or 48 phantom powering.  So I just assumed I needed to keep that power box in the line.  But then a friend told me he had taped 853 > mp2 with the 12v phantom on, and no power box.  Is this ok to do?  Seems the 12v would be bad on mics that used a 9v powering.

Thanks,

--hoyt

[John Kelly]

Depends, you probably have the Sound Pro's at853s, in which case I would not power them with phantom power.  If you had the at853r's (the ones direct from Audio Technica) they terminate in XLR connectors and are supposed to be powered by phantom power...  

Keep the battery box, just make sure you have the settings right

[nickgregory]

the sound pros mics have been rumored to "fry" with anything more than 9 volts applied to them

[John Kelly]

See, I heard the opposite rumor, that they work just fine on phantom 12v, but I've never had the balls to try it with my 933s...

[nickgregory]

who knows, the truth lies somewhere in the middle...kinda like usual I guess

[hoyt]

I thought the way phatom powering worked was that the mics pulled from the power box, so that the mics would only pull the 9v it needed, not fry on the 15, but I obviously don't really know...

Hmmmm, what to do, what to do....  Maybe I'll let someone else try it first.   Who's up for being a hero?  

--hoyt

[Brian Skalinder]

Hmmmm, what to do, what to do....  Maybe I'll let someone else try it first.

Uhmmmmm...you could just call Sound Professionals and ask.

[nickgregory]

in talking with SP in the past I can tell you they are adamant to not send those mics any more than the 9 volts built into their batt boxes....something about the way they wired them....Brian is right though, give them a call and ask....this is definitely not a new question for them

[drumminj]

I thought the way phatom powering worked was that the mics pulled from the power box, so that the mics would only pull the 9v it needed, not fry on the 15, but I obviously don't really know...

Okay, I'm going slightly OT here, but I'd like to test/sharpen my physics knowledge.

If you apply a voltage differential to something, it will pull the *current* it needs, based on the resistance the mics provide.  However, the voltage drop is constant, unless there's some kind of regulator built into the mics.  So the mics will "see" whatever voltage you apply to them, and presumably have a fixed resistance, so since V=IR, the current they draw will fry them.

It's been a while, so I could be off-base.  Regardless, I'd call or email Sound Pros.  They've always been incredibly nice and helpful in my dealings with them.

The at853r's have a power module built into the XLR connectors.  Sound pro's version with the at853 capsules do not have that.

J

[Sean Gallemore]

not trying to be an ass, just a heads up.  The mp-2 actually provides 15 or 48V phantom power

[leegeddy]

you can only provide phantom power to AT853 via their AT Phantom power module (AT8532) and a phantom power supply (preamp, etc.).

a 9v battery power from SP is not phantom power.  

i use 48v phantom to my AT853, and it works fine.  here's my setup:

AT853 (not SP) > AT8532 Phantom Power module > Beyer (48V Phantom power) > ........

i would think that you would fry the capsules if you provided 48v of non-phantom power.

marc

[hoyt]

not trying to be an ass, just a heads up.  The mp-2 actually provides 15 or 48V phantom power

Yeah, I just reazlized I mis-typed that in my first post, but got the 15 in a later one

i would think that you would fry the capsules if you provided 48v of non-phantom power.

That's all I've found on the SP site (that 48 will fry them).  But nothing about how they will run on 15v of phantom power.  I've yet to call them, been busy at work at all day, but I'll call them on my way home in a few.

--hoyt

[leegeddy]

not trying to be an ass, just a heads up.  The mp-2 actually provides 15 or 48V phantom power

Yeah, I just reazlized I mis-typed that in my first post, but got the 15 in a later one

i would think that you would fry the capsules if you provided 48v of non-phantom power.

That's all I've found on the SP site (that 48 will fry them).  But nothing about how they will run on 15v of phantom power.  I've yet to call them, been busy at work at all day, but I'll call them on my way home in a few.

--hoyt

hoyt;

i think you're still not understanding the difference between the SP "battery pack" voltage and phantom power voltage.  the AT853 works fine with 9 to 52V phantom power. actually AT853 works BEST with high phantom power. the dynamic range is increased, max SPL is definitely increased by supplying phantom power rather than battery power.

phantom power is applied to a balanced connection. a simple mini-plug (unbalanced) will not work for phantom power.

marc

[Sean Gallemore]

I'm concerned with the run time on my mp-2 using 15V vs. 48V phantom.  I've tried doing the calcs using the given resistors specs but I'm not sure if my numbers come out correct.  Help in any direction is appreciated

[dklein]

The current draw tends to be quite low so I wouldn't expect much impact.  There's always the home test