A1 audio questions

[John Trent]

On page 48 of the manual:

"Make sure to connect the microphone first, before turning on the phantom power. Keep the microphone connected when turning off the phantom power.

Use commercially available microphones with a cable no longer than 3 m."

If I forget to switch that little phantom power switch, and I change cable lengths will I damage the camera or microphone?

Three Meters is like ten feet, isn't it? I can only use a ten foot XLR cable? If I don't use phantom power can I use a longer cable?

Thank you for helping. I appreciate it.

 

[Evro]

Hi John,
I wouldn't worry too much about that stuff. Most condenser powered microphones (at least ones for video use) will run on the smell of an oily rag The reason they don't want you to run long cable lengths is because condensers are very sensitive to noise.

They say you should not plug or unplug condensers with phantom power switched on because of voltage transients and they say that there is a possibility that you can damage the microphone. In the last 20 years I've plugged and unplugged mics running on phantom power plenty of times and never has a mic been damaged.

The worst that can happen is that if you plug a condenser mic into a PA system that is powered up with phantom switched in you'll hear an almighty THUD! not good for the speakers

 

[Huy Vu]

It can happen, if you plug the mic in without turning off phantom power there's a chance it might damage the microphone. Do it as a matter of prudence. It's a lot less painful to flip a switch than to have to replace a mic.

Also, that 3 m cable is a piece of misinformation in the manual. It's been brought up several times before and thoroughly discredited. I myself have ran 50ft cables, sometimes more and it works perfectly fine. No need to worry.