Phantom power question

[xy]

Archived from groups: rec.audio.pro (More info?)

Hello everyone,

I'm hoping some of the veterans could chime in here.

When getting ready to use a condenser mic, this is typically what I
do:
1) make sure the preamp/mixer is off and the gain is set to zero
2) plug the condenser mic in with the xlr cable
3) turn the mixer on
4) turn phantom power on
5) wait a few seconds, then slowly bring the gain up and snap fingers
near the mic lightly and look for the meters to indicate signal

When powering down:
1) turn gain to zero, turn phantom off
2) wait a few seconds, then turn mixer off
3) wait about two minutes, then unplug the mic from the xlr cable

Am I being too careful here? Particularly with power-down, I like to
wait about 2 minutes after phantom is off to unplug the mic (so that
there is no residual power which could "shock" the mic and damage it).

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.audio.pro (More info?)

xy,

> When getting ready to use a condenser mic <

That works for me, and it beats gettng a loud pop in the speakers.

> 3) wait about two minutes, then unplug the mic from the xlr cable <

That's a little paranoid I think. Five seconds should be adequate for the
power supply capacitors in modern solid state gear to drain.

--Ethan

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.audio.pro (More info?)

In article <6c38b64b.0408202329.340ca91b@posting.google.com> genericaudioperson@hotmail.com writes:

> When getting ready to use a condenser mic, this is typically what I
> do:
> 1) make sure the preamp/mixer is off and the gain is set to zero
> 2) plug the condenser mic in with the xlr cable
> 3) turn the mixer on
> 4) turn phantom power on
> 5) wait a few seconds, then slowly bring the gain up and snap fingers
> near the mic lightly and look for the meters to indicate signal
>
> When powering down:
> 1) turn gain to zero, turn phantom off
> 2) wait a few seconds, then turn mixer off
> 3) wait about two minutes, then unplug the mic from the xlr cable
>
> Am I being too careful here?

A little, but extra care certainly doesn't hurt. It's a pretty good
idea to have phantom power off and gain down (at least monitor gain)
when plugging in a mic (which includes the cable and both its ends).

Turning the gain down before turning off either phantom power or
unplugging a mic is a good idea. But to avoid unexpected pops in the
speakers you should turn the power amplifier off before you turn off
the mixer. This is probably a good reason not to turn off the mixer
ever time you plug or unplug a mic unless you're closing up shop.


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