Phantom power supply

[avkid]

Does anyone know how to cheaply make a 9 volt phantom power supply?
-Thanks,
Phil

[mbenonis]

Phil, take a look at this: http://www.new-line.nl/default.asp?i=61

It's not really complicated, and could probably be built in fifteen minutes or so. You can purchase any parts needed from DigiKey. They stock almost anything electronic, and sell at low volumes.

[soundman1024]

I would consider a 9v battery if I had 5 minutes to make a rig to do the job. Would that technically work..it is 9v DC.

[Andy_Leviss]

No. The minimum phantom voltage to be in spec is 12V, but even that is too low for a lot of microphones. Some won't work at all, and others just don't sound nearly as good unless they get the full 48V.

[avkid]

The manuals for both of the mics I use say 9-52 volt phantom power required

[mbenonis]

Can you tell us specifically what mics you are planning to use?

[avkid]

two Audio Technica AT857QMa

[mbenonis]

<talking to self>Hmm, that looks a lot like the talkback mic we have...</talking to self>

I'd imagine it would work then, but there's only one way to find out for sure. As long as the phantom power source is wired correctly, it shouldn't cause any damage to the mic - but double check the wiring before you proceed!

[avkid]

do i need a circuit board to put theses components on?

[Andy_Leviss]

If the mic is happy with a 9V supply then yes, in theory, if you wire up an adapter properly it will work, although I can't say how long. You could just take a 9V battery clip from Radio Shack and wire it to a male XLR connector, and also wire that in parallel to a female (basically, the battery clip is ending up as one side of a Y).

In fact, on the Rat Sound website, they note how in a pinch you can use the Rat Sender part of the Rat Pack test set as a phantom supply by Y-ing it in line with your mic, since it's basically just a 12V battery wired into an XLR connector as a phantom supply would be.

It's not the best solution in the world, but in a pinch it'd work if the mic is happy with that low a voltage. I'd be afraid of it dropping below a usable voltage pretty rapidly, though, especially if 9V is already at the low end of the usable voltage scale. You might see about wiring two or three batteries in series, perhaps, to boost the voltage, or if it does work well on 9V than in parallel to increase the longetivity.