AT897 and Phantom Power

flimflamfilms

flimflamfilms

Well-known member
Good morning,

I am wondering about the battery in the AT897 and the phantom power on the DVX. If I am using the battery would I also use the phantom power? If I want to use phantom power should I remove the battery? I've read in another thread that using phantom power seems to provide for better sound? If this is the case, why would one use a battery?

I recently shot some test footage and noticed a distinct clicking and ticking sound. Could this be because I was using the phantom power with a battery in the mic?

Cheers,

John
 
You are correct on both counts: remove the battery when using phantom power, and disable phantom power when using the battery.

Most back-electret mics that accept both phantom power and internal batteries will provide cleaner recordings when using phantom power, so that is typically the best option for those mics. However, if you find yourself picking up a great deal of RF noise (eg. shooting next to radio transmission towers or electric street cars), then switching off the phantom power and popping in a battery could remedy that situation. Also, phantom power will marginally increase the drain on your camera's battery (usually not a real issue, but good to know). The battery is also a good idea if you find yourself having to make do with damaged mic cables, unballanced recorders, or if you need to use an in-line device that does not allow phantom power pass-through.
 
there is no need to take thabattery out as the higest voltage will apear any way when you using phantom ( the dc to dc converter converts 48 to something as 3-9 v what bring the capsule acsept better spl and decreasing self nois.
the batery good for few handred hours as the drain is minamal .
the best is not to use it at all - just forget it exist :-)
about mic consumption
usially these mics take about 4-5 ma muliplyed by 48 bring you o.2 w per
hour
as the camera take about 10w - you are loosing about 1minute 30 ( yes i know it less :-)) every hour
just forget about ;-)
 
Many thanks! I appreciate the education.

Any thoughts on the clicking ticking sound? I have since looked at all 7 minutes of the footage and find the sound disappears about 2 minutes in. Obviously, the battery and the phantom power combo doesn't affect this.

Cheers,

John
 
Your problem might not be with the mic. Here's a quick rundown of troubleshooting permutations:

try a different mic
try a different cable
try a different mixer
try a different recorder
try recording from the built-in mic
try recording a line-level signal
try recording in a different location (in case the ticking is environmentally induced)
 
as i recall there where some problems with camera focus or something that made ticks in the lence mechanism , search posts from privies years
 
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