Phantom Power: Difference between revisions - Bose Portable PA Knowledge

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;Will phantom power provided by the external system damage the Bose Portable PA system?

The outputs of Bose Portable PA equipment have circuitry to protect them in case phantom power is turned on in the external system.

=== 24V volt Phantom Power ===

From Hilmar-at-Bose

That is a somewhat difficult topic. We certainly have tried a KMS105 for live and even for recording with our 24V phantom supply and didn't find any problems. Then again, everybody's ears and taste is a little different, so I can't claim that there really isn't any difference.

Going through the Alesis might also change things a little, so it's hard to do an exact apples-to-apples comparison.

From a technical stand-point, it's difficult for me to believe that there are any issues. I haven't taken a KMS 105 apart yet (they ain't cheap !) but most Neuman mics use an internal DC to DC converter and polarize at 200V or so. If any, that should work better with a "proper" 24 V supply because it can provide nearly twice the overall power of a standard 48V supply. Getting more useable DC power was actually one of the reasons why the 24V standard was suggested.

Different microphones do different things with Phantom Power but it's not only the voltage that matters but also the current. The original 48V/6.8kOhm standard was optimized for microphones that needed external polarization and therefore high voltage but nearly no current at all. But this type of microphone is exceedingly rare these days and the phantom power is used either to drive an internal pre-amp or to run an internal voltage-converter or stabilizer. For both cases a supply with lower voltage and higher current (and more overall power) is actually better and hence the 24V/1.2kOhm standard was derived.

I hope I don't bore everybody to death with some math, but let's look at the example of the KMS105. I believe that at nominal 48 V the mic draws about 4mA. That current also goes through the internal 6.8k Ohm resistor of the phantom power supply and leads to voltage "sag". If we use Ohm's law we find that the internal effective resistance of the microphone is about 5 kOhms and that the voltage at the microphone terminals is only 20 V. All the rest is lost inside the supply. If you attach the same microphone to 24V/1.2kOhm supply the voltage sag is much less and the voltage at the microphone terminals comes out to be 19V. It's hard for me to believe that this 1 V difference should make any apprectiable difference in the mics performance.

For an even more power hungry microphone that draws 5mA, the 24V/1.2kOhm supply will actually provide 3 Volts MORE (17V vs. 14V) at the microphone terminals. Sounds a little counterintuitive, but is actually true.

Of course, in the end you have to be the judge of what sounds best to you ears.

Hope that helps

Hilmar

Source: [https://www.bosepro.community/g/portable/topic/phantom-power-4?reply=18197182791945827#18197182791945827 Phantom Power discussion in the Bose Portable PA Community]

==Questions==

@@ Line 56: / Line 56: @@
 ;Will phantom power provided by the external system damage the Bose Portable PA system?
 The outputs of Bose Portable PA equipment have circuitry to protect them in case phantom power is turned on in the external system.
+=== 24V volt Phantom Power ===
+From Hilmar-at-Bose
+That is a somewhat difficult topic. We certainly have tried a KMS105 for live and even for recording with our 24V phantom supply and didn't find any problems. Then again, everybody's ears and taste is a little different, so I can't claim that there really isn't any difference.
+Going through the Alesis might also change things a little, so it's hard to do an exact apples-to-apples comparison.
+From a technical stand-point, it's difficult for me to believe that there are any issues. I haven't taken a KMS 105 apart yet (they ain't cheap !) but most Neuman mics use an internal DC to DC converter and polarize at 200V or so. If any, that should work better with a "proper" 24 V supply because it can provide nearly twice the overall power of a standard 48V supply. Getting more useable DC power was actually one of the reasons why the 24V standard was suggested.
+Different microphones do different things with Phantom Power but it's not only the voltage that matters but also the current. The original 48V/6.8kOhm standard was optimized for microphones that needed external polarization and therefore high voltage but nearly no current at all. But this type of microphone is exceedingly rare these days and the phantom power is used either to drive an internal pre-amp or to run an internal voltage-converter or stabilizer. For both cases a supply with lower voltage and higher current (and more overall power) is actually better and hence the 24V/1.2kOhm standard was derived.
+I hope I don't bore everybody to death with some math, but let's look at the example of the KMS105. I believe that at nominal 48 V the mic draws about 4mA. That current also goes through the internal 6.8k Ohm resistor of the phantom power supply and leads to voltage "sag". If we use Ohm's law we find that the internal effective resistance of the microphone is about 5 kOhms and that the voltage at the microphone terminals is only 20 V. All the rest is lost inside the supply. If you attach the same microphone to 24V/1.2kOhm supply the voltage sag is much less and the voltage at the microphone terminals comes out to be 19V. It's hard for me to believe that this 1 V difference should make any apprectiable difference in the mics performance.
+For an even more power hungry microphone that draws 5mA, the 24V/1.2kOhm supply will actually provide 3 Volts MORE (17V vs. 14V) at the microphone terminals. Sounds a little counterintuitive, but is actually true.
+Of course, in the end you have to be the judge of what sounds best to you ears.
+Hope that helps
+Hilmar
+Source: [https://www.bosepro.community/g/portable/topic/phantom-power-4?reply=18197182791945827#18197182791945827 Phantom Power discussion in the Bose Portable PA Community]
 ==Questions==