3/16/2017 WildlifeSoundRecordingSociety|MicrophonePowering

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MicrophonePowering
Capacitormicrophonesrequireapowersource.Thiscanbesuppliedeitherasabatteryinthemikehandle,ordownthecablefromtherecorder.

Inpractice,youarelikelytocomeacrossthesethreemainmethodsofsupplyingpowertothemicrophone.

1.Internalbattery
2.PlugInPower
3.48VPhantomPower

InternalBattery
Thesimplestmethodyouputabatteryintothemikeandswitchiton.Amicrophonedoesn'ttakemuchpoweranda1.5Vbatteryisusuallyfine.TheATR55and
MKE300usethismethod.Theadvantagesarelowcapitalcost,andawelldefinedpowersourcespecunderthecontrolofthemanufacturer.Untilthebatteryrunsdown,
thatis,whichisthedisadvantageofthismethod,particularlyasittakesaparticulardisciplinetoswitchthemikeoffafteruseandtomakesureyoualwayshaveafresh
replacementtohand.Thisdisadvantageisparticularlysevereinaprofessionalcontext[1],soyouwillseldomfindthispoweringmethodinhigherendmikes.The
microphonewillstarttolosesensitivity(yoursignalwillgetsofter)andmaygetmoredistortedornoisyasthebatteryrunsdown.Itisnicetohavesomeindicationofa
goodbatteryonswitchon.ThisusuallytakestheformofaLEDlightingmomentarily[2]onswitchonifthebatteryisgood.

Pluginpower
Themicrophoneispoweredfromtherecorder.Electretcapsuleslendthemselvesverywelltothismethod,whichwaspopularisedbySonyMinidiscrecordersinthe
1990s,butiscommononmanyconsumeritems,suchasPCsoundcardswhichuseavariantofthisontheirinputs.Youcanreadatechnicalexplanationbutessentially
theadvantageisyouonlyhaveonebatterytoworryabout,whichistherecorderbattery.Therecorderalreadyhasabatterylevelindicator,andtheextradrainof
microphoneisverysmallcomparedtotherecorderload.

Thedisadvantageofthismethodisthatthevoltageandcurrentlevelsarenotdefinedinaspecification.OlderMDrecorderstendedtosupplymorepowerthanSony's
recentHiMDrange(atleasttheMZNH700andRH1Itested)anditispossibleforthemicandrecordertobemismatchedsothemicrophonedoesnotperformatits
best.Thehighsignalhandlingcapacityofthemicrophoneislimitedbythelowpluginpowervoltageof1.5to5V.Thisisnotusuallyandissuewithwildlifesound
recording,butcaneasilybeaproblemwithmusicrecording,particularlyfortheconcerttaper.Becauseoftheseissues,somepeopleuseaseparatebatterybox(see
thetechnicalexplanationfordetails),givingbetterlargesignalhandlingatthecostofgettingthedisadvantagesofamicrophonebatterytoworryabout.

Phantompower
ProfessionalsystemsusuallypowerthemicrophoneusingP48phantompower,wherethebalancedsignalcables(XLRpins2and3)carrythe+verailandthescreen
(XLRpin1)theve.Unlikepluginpower,thisisspecifiedinastandard(partofIEC61938)

Thestandardalsospecifiesthevoltagesandmaximumcurrentdrains.Notallequipmentiscapableofsupplyingthemaximummiccurrentdrainof10mAspecified(the
specusedtocallforamaximummicdrainof2mA)butthisdoesnotseemtobeaproblemforthesortofmicrophonescommonlyusedinwildlifesoundrecording.

Ifyoudon'thaveequipmentcapableofsupplyingP48poweryoucanstilluseP48mics,withanappropriateoutboardphantompowersupply.Youcanfinddetailsofhow
togoaboutdoingthatonthispage.TheseusuallyareXLRthroughunits,presentingtheoutputasamaleXLR,usuallybutnotalwayswithouttheP48power,anda
femaleXLRforthemicwithP48power.AsmallDCDCconverterinsidegeneratesthe48Vfroma12Vinputorinternalbatteries.

Othersystems
Aswellas48VP48phantompower,IEC61938specifiesa12Vvariant,P12.Therewasinthepasta24Vvariantbutthiswasnotwidelyadopted.P48ismorecommon
thanP12,thoughthelatterfindsfavouronsomelocationequipment.YoushouldonlyuseP48micswith48Vpower,andP12micswith12Vpower.Somemics,likethe
SennheiserK6andK6PwiththeMErange,arespecifiedtooperatefrom12Vto48V,sotheycanbeusedwithP48,P24orP12.

YoumaycomeacrossanoldersystemcalledTpowering,whichputthepowersupplyinserieswiththesignalcables.ThisisnotcompatiblewithP48poweringor
anythingelse.YoushouldmakesureyoumatchtheTpoweredmicwiththecorrespondingTpoweredpowersupply.

Somemicmanufacturersandmostvalvemicrophonesuseaproprietaryhighvoltagepowersupply,onceagainmicandsupplyneedtobematched.Digitalmicrophones
(wherethesignalisdigitisedatthemicrophoneandthedigitalsignalissentdownthemicrophonecable)seemtobetrendingtowardsalowvoltagehighcurrent
phantompoweringstandard(AES422001)using10Vat250mAormore.Thismaybecomeanissueinwildliferecordingsituationswherelongrunsofcableofmoretha
100maresometimesencountered,duetovoltagedropinthecable.

backtomicrophones

RM

1.Losingorhavingtoreshootashowbecausea1batteryhasgoneflatwhenyourtalentandengineeringtimerunsat10000sanhourisnotsomething
professionalscanlivewith.
2.Youdon'twanttheLEDonallthetimeasitwilldrawmorepowerthanthemike,shorteningbatterylife.

WSRS2015

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