Condenser Microphone Not Working. Please help.

[MysterySlender]

So I have a condenser (Alctron-MC320) and a mixer (Behringer XENYX Q502 USB) and I used both of them together for a while, A couple days ago my mic just decided not to work. (I need to turn the gain and volume of the mic to the max to make it work and even then it barley works and the static / white noise is much louder than what it picks up. Now maybe I caused any damage to my mic or there is not enough power for the mic (My mixer only delivers 18v phantom power) or it because I dropped the wall adapter of the mixer and now my mic doesnt get enough power.

I don't know what to do. Should I buy a new mic? a new wall adapter? or I will get a true 48v phantom power supply?

Thanks for the help!

 

[mortemas]

Does the spec sheet for the microphone say it needs 48v phantom power? That could be your problem right there. Do you have access to another mixer with P48? Try it with that to see if the problem is your mic or your mixer.

 

[MysterySlender]

does the spec sheet say it needs 48v phantom power? That could be your problem right there.

Phantom Power Requirement: 48V Phantom power

But until now it worked quite ok.

 

[mortemas]

I've seen some 48v mics work with 18v and others don't. I think you might have been getting lucky on the 18v. If you have access to another mixer with P48 try it on that to see if the mic still works. If it does, you'll need a new mixer with P48 or a P48 injector to hook up to your existing mixer.

 

[MysterySlender]

I think you might have been getting lucky on the 18v. If you have access to another mixer with P48 try it on that to see if the mic still works. If it does, you'll need a new mixer with P48 or a P48 injector to hook up to your existing mixer.

What if I don't have access to a 48V phantom power supply?

 

[mortemas]

OK, I found it. That mixer should have switchable 18/48v power. Check the switch to see if it is in the wrong position.

 

[MysterySlender]

OK, I found it. That mixer should have switchable 18/48v power. Check the switch to see if it is in the wrong position.

I don't think we are talking about the same mixer...

I made a mistake and my mixer provides 15v phantom power and there is no switch on it.

 

[MysterySlender]

I just checked my wall adapter with my multi-meter and its shows 0V...
my mixer is on the LEDs are on...

 

[mortemas]

OK, must be for a different model Xenyx. I saw someone answered a question about phantom power on Amazon's Q502 page and their answer is wrong. I will check the Q502 manual instead. I see the phantom on/off switch in pics of your mixer. Are you saying your power supply is not good? If the LEDs on the mixer are on, then there is at least some power getting to it. Is your meter set correctly for the type of output of the power supply? Is the power supply output AC or DC? Do this: If your mixer LEDs are on, let's assume for now that the power supply works. Take your meter, set it for DC voltage measurement, and put the probes in PIN 1 and PIN 2 of the mic input XLR jack. You should see the phantom power there with the meter. Let me know what you see.

UPDATE:
This is from the manual:

MIC

Each mono input channel offers a balanced microphone input via the XLR
connector and also features switchable +48/+15 V phantom power supply for
condenser microphones. The XENYX preamps provide undistorted and noise-free
gain as is typically known only from costly outboard preamps.

◊ Please mute your playback system before you activate the phantom
power supply to prevent switch-on thumps being directed to
your loudspeakers. Please also note the instructions in chapter
2.3.5 “Phantom power and LED displays”.

 

[MysterySlender]

OK, must be for a different model Xenyx. I saw someone answered a question about phantom power on Amazon's Q502 page and their answer is wrong. I will check the Q502 manual instead. I see the phantom on/off switch in pics of your mixer. Are you saying your power supply is not good? If the LEDs on the mixer are on, then there is at least some power getting to it. Is your meter set correctly for the type of output of the power supply? Is the power supply output AC or DC? Do this: If your mixer LEDs are on, let's assume for now that the power supply works. Take your meter, set it for DC voltage measurement, and put the probes in PIN 1 and PIN 2 of the mic input XLR jack. You should see the phantom power there with the meter. Let me know what you see.

UPDATE:
This is from the manual:

MIC

Each mono input channel offers a balanced microphone input via the XLR
connector and also features switchable +48/+15 V phantom power supply for
condenser microphones. The XENYX preamps provide undistorted and noise-free
gain as is typically known only from costly outboard preamps.

◊ Please mute your playback system before you activate the phantom
power supply to prevent switch-on thumps being directed to
your loudspeakers. Please also note the instructions in chapter
2.3.5 “Phantom power and LED displays”.

I just checked again with my multi-meter and I used the wrong pings to measure... My mixer outputs 15v phantom power.
and there is NO switch on it I can ensure it.

 

[MysterySlender]

I've seen some 48v mics work with 18v and others don't. I think you might have been getting lucky on the 18v. If you have access to another mixer with P48 try it on that to see if the mic still works. If it does, you'll need a new mixer with P48 or a P48 injector to hook up to your existing mixer.

I'm just gonna get this one:
https/www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00EK1OTZC/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1

 

[mortemas]

Ok, but typically you would try to isolate the problem first before spending more money. If you have a friend or coworker with another mixer that has P48 you should make sure your mic works before buying the new preamp. According to web pics of your mixer, there is a red switch for phantom power right on the face of the mixer. The manual is, in fact, not very clear about 48v versus 15v function. Two possibilities here: there could be some kind of auto-sense to set the right voltage automatically, OR as I believe the person on Amazon may have suggested the phantom switch is 15v when Up and 48v when pressed Down. Just for kicks, test the voltage again with the Phantom switch in both positions and see what you get with the 2 different settings.

EDIT: Sorry, I just reviewed your earlier message and I see you don’t have access to another mixer right now. This is an example of poor information on Behringer’s part, I think. The pdf manual is for 4 different mixers in the family which includes yours. I think the larger mixers support 48v and only your small mixer supports 15v due to its size. Thus, the manual says 48/15 but it is not detailed enough and makes it very frustrating to get the right info. A comment about q502usb on YouTube said 15v for your mixer and that’s exactly what you measured with your meter. Sorry for the confusion. You should be fine if you get the preamp you linked to.

 

[MysterySlender]

Well, let's start with that that I'm sure my mixer supports only 15v I checked it online and with multi-meter.
The second thing is that apparently, my friend has a 48v mixer I connected my mic to it and it worked fine so I bought the preamp.

Thanks for your help mortemas you helped a lot.

 

[mortemas]

Awesome!