Whats the purpose of a mic preamp wtihout phantom power?

[KevWest]

I bought one of the Behringer Xenyx 502 mixers a few months ago as a temp solution for my hardware until I could decide what sound card I wanted to buy. I actually really like the sound I am getting and decided that I want to run my mic through it and test out the preamps before I decide to buy a new mixer instead. I look at the channel and I notice that the damn thing has a mic input Behringer says it has prestine mic pres but theres no phantom power to power the damn thing! I am curious what is the purpose of a mic pre if it doesn't support phantom power. Do they sell seperate phantom power units to use with these things or something this is annoying as hell lol. Something told me I should have bought the next model up and what do you know that guy has Phantom power. This is annoying as hell lol.

[sears]

I'll sell you my Stewart phantom power unit.

[KevWest]

I am going to upgrade the mixer itself thank tho but its still annoying I am curious why they do this is there any benefit to it

[aussie_techie]

they did it to save money. you can get external phantom power units but i doubt the pre is even worth it, just find a new console.

[KevWest]

i actually like the console and i will get a new one i just dont get why u would do something of that nature. it makes no sense it makes the mic pre useless. I want to fly to germany find the person who's idea it was to do this and kick him in the nuts with my best shot

[aussie_techie]

you can still use dynamics

the AEA TRP is a high end pre without phantom

[JohnRoberts]

They routinely leave features out of cheap products to make them more cheaply.

There are a lot of dynamic microphones that don't require phantom power.

So there are cheap mics that work with the cheap mixers.

If you look for them, you can probably find a small mixer with phantom, now that you know to look for it.

JR

[peeder]

I use my TRP for tube condensers, dynamics, and ribbons. It's one of the best value preamps in the world.

Actually I should get another one and have 4 across for toms.

[A LaMere]

With lower end pieces like that they remove the phantom thinking that most lower end users will use it with dynamics.... I think....

If you're looking for a new cheap board... the newer Allen and Heath ZED is a fantastic bargain...

[KevWest]

Originally Posted by A LaMere

With lower end pieces like that they remove the phantom thinking that most lower end users will use it with dynamics.... I think....

If you're looking for a new cheap board... the newer Allen and Heath ZED is a fantastic bargain...

i dont want usb nor are any of their mixers anywhere near what i can afford

[tINY]

I was actually thinking about this the other day.

You can make a significantly better pre-amp on a budget if you don't put phantom power on the thing. A lot of the expense of a good, phantom-capable pre-amp goes into making the phantom power not kill the diff-amp and paying for expensive components to keep the noise down while supporting phantom power.

I have another solution, myself....




-tINY

[SkyLogic]

Thats what happens when you by Behringer sh*te!
I'm sure theres a switch on the back of the unit (by the PSU input) that supplies Phantom to all the channels though.

[SkyLogic]

ok, maybe there isn't. lol. Nevermind

[donsolo]

Let me name a few mics that we all use that don't require phantom power:

SM57
Royer 121
MD421
RE20
Sm7B
e609
Audix i5
SM58
ANY vintage Ribbon (there's only 1 ribbon I know of that won't break if you run phantom power through it)

none of these are cheap crappy mics...

Audio technica makes in-line phantom power for like $20 a channel. Get a couple 3 of those and you're set.

I just took offense to the whole "They must figure you're using cheap mics"

I find most CHEAP mics are those $100 condensers that are noisy and oversensitive. For $100 you get into some really nice dynamics (i5, SM57, even the 609 is 120 new)

I'd rather have a few in-line boxes than phantom power across the board. Ribbon mics will break if you run Phantom power through them.

[peeder]

Originally Posted by donsolo

Ribbon mics will break if you run Phantom power through them.

Actually very few old ribbon mics still remain wired that way...most of the old ones are rewired by now and my understanding is no new ribbon mic has this problem.

digital audio service - Dienstleistung für Musikproduktion, Postproduktion, Broadcast

[aussie_techie]

Originally Posted by donsolo

Let me name a few mics that we all use that don't require phantom power:

SM57
Royer 121
MD421
RE20
Sm7B
e609
Audix i5
SM58
ANY vintage Ribbon (there's only 1 ribbon I know of that won't break if you run phantom power through it)

none of these are cheap crappy mics...

none of them are crappy but none will be able to shine through a behringer pre and the beh pres ive used would never be quiet enough for an SM7 or ribbons.

Originally Posted by peeder

Actually very few old ribbon mics still remain wired that way...most of the old ones are rewired by now and my understanding is no new ribbon mic has this problem.

digital audio service - Dienstleistung für Musikproduktion, Postproduktion, Broadcast

yep when everything is wired properly few ribbons will have a problem with phantom, but things do get mis wired so its safer to not use phantom on any ribbon when it can be avoided. its always good to know that if phantom is left on that it wont harm the mic.