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GMC Forum _ Recording _ Dynamic Mic - Phantom Power

Posted by: spdalton Oct 20 2007, 08:16 PM

Just a quick question,

if a dynamic mic is plugged into a channel on a desk that has got phantom power on, will this damage the mic?
Or will it simply not work until phantom power is switched off.

Posted by: Andrew Cockburn Oct 20 2007, 08:43 PM

QUOTE (spdalton @ Oct 20 2007, 03:16 PM)

Just a quick question,

if a dynamic mic is plugged into a channel on a desk that has got phantom power on, will this damage the mic?
Or will it simply not work until phantom power is switched off.

Depends if you are using a balanced connection or not. If you are not using a balanced connection there will be zero effect as the phantom power comes down a connection you aren;t even using. If you do have a balanced connection, the Phantom power will most likely not damage the mic, just stop it wirking until the power is turned off.

Posted by: tonymiro Oct 21 2007, 07:45 AM

+1 with Andrew.

Overall though even if it doesn't mess up your dynamic mic it's not a habit to get in to if you can avoid it.

Cheers,
Tony

Posted by: Majickal Jan 23 2008, 11:51 AM

short answer: NO

Some consoles have phantom in groups of 4 - 8 channels, so this can be unavoidable. Avoiding putting phantom volts into a dynamic microphone is the best course of action if possible. But if there is no alternative, don't spend the session worrying about it, there are plenty of more important things to worry about It will [b]not[/v] stop the mic working.

more info can be found >>>: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phantom_power

QUOTE

With phantom power, the supply voltage is effectively invisible to balanced microphones that do not use it: e.g. most dynamic microphones.