Do You Really Need Phantom Power Supply When Using Mic?

DJ Gear & Hardware Hardware: Controllers, Mods and Gear
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Do You Really Need Phantom Power Supply When Using Mic?

'Sup DJTT,

I want to purchase a BM-800 condenser mic for training my speech for my podcast show in the future. It is noted that said mic require a 48v phantom power for the clearest and loudest recording possible. I want to either plug the mic on my laptop’s jack, or my controller Vestax VCI-400 mic inputs (XLR that doubles as 1/4").

FYI : The BM-800 mic comes with XLR plug, and packed with XLR to 1/4" cable.

Now, as someone who never own a mic before, I have no idea if I really need the phantom power supply for maximum recording quality. Since the power supply can be pricey, I wonder, does a laptop jack and/or VCI-400 can gives enough power to drives up the mic? If I plug it in to my VCI-400, will it make difference if I use a XLR to XLR connection rather than the XLR to 1/4"?

Thanks for the help :sunglasses:

2

Yes you do, the mic will sound weak and pretty much have no consistency to the sound - to give you an idea of the differences between powered and unpowered use here’s a great comparison using that very same mic !

If I were in your shoes I’d either pick up a Phantom Power box or a small mixer like the Behringer 302 for podcasting.

3

Yea,
IIRC condensers wont even turn on if you dont have the phantom power. Maybe they do, but are just that low volume.

4

Okay, so I decide to purchase the BM-8000 condenser mic and it’s in delivery. I guess that DJ controller using a power supply, such as VCI 400 that I have, don’t have phantom power on its XLR plug required for condenser mic huh.

Well shit, more investment I have to make then :open_mouth:
Thanks y’aall.

5

If you want a good sounding mic recording, you need a good mic and a good preamp.

I doubt youll get any benefit from using a condensor on your controller than just using a normal mic as the preamp wont be great.

6

Yes, definitely for condenser mics. With my old dynamic mic i could just plug it into my mixer and i was good to go. However, with the new condenser mic i had to buy a power supply (after the fact, much to my annoyance)

This does the trick for me, around $40 nzd