Phantom power and H4n

longshanks

longshanks

Well-known member
Hi,

I have an Audio Technica AT4073a shotgun mic that requires 48v Phantom power. I want to use it with my Zoom H4n's built-in phantom power supply but a friend told me it can eat up the AA batteries within 10 min. Is this true?
So I'm thinking of running a inline phantom power supply with XLR input/outputs but I don't really want the bulky break-out boxes I've been seeing on the internet. Are there any slim inline XLR phantom power supply's that I should be looking at?

I found this, but its for the sennheiser only.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produ...K6P_K6P_Powering_Module_Phantom.html#features

Thanks,
 
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I'm not sure about any particular phantom supply, but it is a good idea beyond saving battery power. The H4/H4n phantom is not as robust as a more serious recorder. Many cheaper recorders, whether run on ac or dc power, don't supply a healthy power to the mics. You will get your mic powered but with degraded quality, so watch out even if you have the Zoom plugged in. Not all 48v Phantom power is equal.
 
Actually, your manual should read that the AT4073a can run from 11-48v phantom. The zoom can provide both 24v and 48v. Why don't you just try it? Leave the mic on, see if it works at 24v. Then, with fresh batteries, make it listen to a road or some birds or some other steady noise and see when they die (the batteries, not the birds). Make sure you hit record, not just pre-record, that takes less power. Anything you hear on the interwebs will not apply to your mic, power consumption, albeit phantom, varies. It probably has a bright led or some other circuit which needlessly eats your precious batteries too.

Reporting back here will feedback into internet lore, which holds that a the H4n can power 48v phantom for about two and a half hours. 24v should be longer.

Internet lore also has it that the H4n can be noisy when you first use its phantom power, but that goes away after a couple of minutes use. How that works is a mystery to me.

Anyway. Hope this helps.

(Edit: I got the specs from http://www.audio-technica.com/cms/wired_mics/69c1a91daefb7b3c/index.html)

- Pascal.
 
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That's funny you mention it because I was going to test out the mic for an extended period and see how long it can last under phantom power with AA's. I tried it last night for the first time and it sounded really good, no distortion or noise whatsoever.
 
Did you change the switch to STAMINA in the battery compartment on the H4N? You should get more battery time when that is switched to on.
 
With a fresh set of batteries and it set to 16bit 48khz, and 24v, I got around 3 hours with a mkh 416.
 
Test it at 24 bit.

That's a better bitrate to record at. There is more headroom, and you can record quieter with less noise. It's safer as far as clipping goes. If you're recording at 16bit, you may as well go into a camera. Or go with a nice mixer like a Sound Devices MixPre, then go into the Zoom recording at LINE level, which is quieter, and the MixPre's limiters will protect your clipping.
 
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