A couple of questions about the AT875

R

reaver

Member
So, in my quest to make things more compact and portable, I've pretty much decided that I need to buy an AT875. I love how small it is, and from what I hear the sound quality is really good. I think it will suit my needs perfectly. I do have a question though. Does anyone have any experience hooking it up to a Tascam DR-05? I have a short XLR to 3.5mm cable, and I know the DR-05 has phantom power, but don't know if it has enough to power the mic. I plan on buying something better down the road, but that's what I've got to work with for right now. Any help you guys could give me would be awesome.

Thanks!
 
It should be fine- Phantom is Phantom. It may drain your AAs a little faster, though.

I ran an AT875 off of a small, 4-battery Marantz last weekend, and my soundman actually preferred its presence to the Rode NTG-3, which we were running at the same time. It probably won't have as good off-axis rejection, but that's just a guess based on relative length.

I have also run this mic off the Zoom H4N, which is very similar to your Tascam.
 
reaver said:
So, in my quest to make things more compact and portable, I've pretty much decided that I need to buy an AT875. I love how small it is, and from what I hear the sound quality is really good. I think it will suit my needs perfectly. I do have a question though. Does anyone have any experience hooking it up to a Tascam DR-05? I have a short XLR to 3.5mm cable, and I know the DR-05 has phantom power, but don't know if it has enough to power the mic. I plan on buying something better down the road, but that's what I've got to work with for right now. Any help you guys could give me would be awesome.

Thanks!
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Where do you see that the DR-05 has phantom power?? According to the manual it has a 1/8 external mic jack with plug-in power. Plug-in IS NOT the same as phantom .... plug-in is 5 volts, phantom is 48 volts and the wiring is totally different. You CAN NOT use a simple XLR->3.5mm cable to connect that mic to that recorder.
 
The DR-05 absolutely does NOT have Phantom Power.
The DR-40 is currently the lowest priced Tascam that does have Phantom Power and XLR connectors to interface it.
 
Good catch, Steve and Rick. I spoke too soon, and missed the part about XLR—3.5mm

Reaver, there are shotgun mics that self-power, like the Rode NTG-2...
but you might consider upgrading your recorder to something with 2 phantom-XLR inputs, if you can afford it. They are much more versatile.
 
I ran an AT875 off of a small, 4-battery Marantz last weekend, and my soundman actually preferred its presence to the Rode NTG-3, which we were running at the same time. It probably won't have as good off-axis rejection, but that's just a guess based on relative length.

I own both of these and I love the 875 for what it is. But preferring the 875 to the NTG3 is well, pretty silly IMHO. The 875 hits above its weight, but what it really offers is the smallest shotgun at the smallest price that has something like acceptable sound. I use mine in a minimalist backpack kit, and for that, it is awesome.

Grant
Click to expand...
 
Wow, thanks for all the replies! I could have sworn the dr-05 had phantom power. I would like to upgrade the recorder at some point anyways, as it would be really nice to have more than one input, but I have to work with what I've got for the time being.

That leads me to another question.... What's the best sub $200 recorder you can get? I love the sound quality of the tascams, but I'm certainly not opposed to another brand if there's something better out there.
 
Check out the post recently about the Tascam DR-60D, on sale for under 200.00. Seems like quite a deal. Should work fine for you.
Bill Wojo
 
The Tascam DR-40 has XLR and works pretty well. It is currently around 175 at B&H. The DR-40 has phantom power as well, and it has two XLR ports as well as the internal microphones. I use mine a great deal. While it is not the best recorder on the market, it is very good. I came across a link last year that gave me a starting point on the DR-40, http://transom.org/toolbox/portable-digital-recorder-comparison/

Good luck with your choice.
 
@BillWojo - I read a couple of reviews this morning, and I really think I'm leaning towards the Dr-60 right now. I have a couple of mics already, so I certainly don't need a recorder with mics built in, and for when I do, I can just use the DR-05 for that.

@BillinSC - I like the DR-40, but I think for the small amount of extra money, the DR-100 or DR-60 is a better choice, personally. More features for just a tiny bit more money. That being said, I'm definitely not ruling out the DR-40.
 
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