Phantom power or no?

S

soursteezle14

Member
I'm just learning about audio and am currently using a shotgun mic that uses a battery then goes through a beachtek. I just recently purchased a tascam dr40 and I'm looking to pick up a new/better mic for my dslr setup. I'd like to eliminate the chances of another battery going dead, so I'm leaning towards a non-phantom powered mic, such as the NTG1. I'd love to hear some advice on what mic I should get (it will mostly be shooting indoors for interviews/talking head) and it will be recording to my dr40. I def. want a shotgun.

Thanks for all help
 
The NTG-1 requires phantom power. Any condenser mic requires some sort of power.

There are shotguns that can run on an internal battery (usually a AA), but the absence of the battery compartment does not mean that the mic doesn't need something. So you're looking at using a mic with an internal battery, or one that runs on phantom power supplied by the DR-40. Either way, something there has batteries that can go dead. The key with any battery-powered gear is to do regular voltage testing to make sure that you don't run past a viable charge.

With something like the DR-40, there's an on-screen battery meter that tells you when you're getting close to dead. With a mic using an internal, AA battery, you just need to remove the battery any time the mic is not in use, and use a battery meter or DMM every now and then to check the output. It's a good idea to start every shoot day with fresh batteries. For mixers and recorders, on a full-day shoot, change batteries at lunch (again at dinner if the shoot day goes that long). For a battery in a mic, you'll get a much longer battery life, but it's still good to change it often so that it doesn't have a chance to crap out on you mid-shoot.
 
thanks for the response. I just always get really scared that either one of my audio batteries (the mic or the beachtek) is going to randomly die-- so I'm trying to cut down on the chances of that happening by only putting batteries in the dr40 and atleast being able to monitor the battery life. It's not so much the price of batteries, it's the unknown that scares me. It seems like a battery meter would be very useful in this case, so thanks for that suggestion. Do you have any recommendations for mics, I'm thinking the NTG 1 or 2 as of now
 
NTG-1 and NTG-2 are both fine mics for the low-budget kit.

I assume 4-5 hours of battery for any device that has a heavy draw (mixers, recorders, wireless transmitters and receivers). That means, as I said, fresh batteries at the start of a shoot day, and again at lunch. This is just part of keeping your gear running without risk of batteries dying in the middle of a take. For mics with internal batteries, you can usually get a couple hundred hours of operation if the battery is removed between shoot days and between shoots, but again it's a good idea to play it safe by changing batteries more often.
 
The current drain for a modern electret condenser means batteries last a fair while - but if you really worry, stick a fresh one in before each job? It's what I do. A better meter means you try to get 100% out of each one. For the price of a battery, just swap them.

The other thing is that with a remote phantom power supply, the power still comes from somewhere - so flat batteries are a normal work hazard. The more important the shot, the quicker they die. That's one of the laws of using battery power!
 
All else aside, a battery IN the microphone will last very much longer than the same battery powering a phantom power inverter (to generate the 48V). This is because of the unavoidable inefficiencies of voltage conversion circuits.
OTOH, most professional (and prosumer) microphones use strictly phantom power and don't offer the option of internal battery power.
It is always better to have the option of using industry-standard phantom power for maximum flexibility of selecting a microphone based on how appropriate it is for the particular shot vs. whether it has an internal battery.

You stated that you were looking for a solution for shooting indoors, but that you "definitely want a shotgun". If you read the stickies at the top of this forum, you will note that in general using a traditional shotgun is NOT optimal for interior use. Near reflections "confuse" the microphone and you will quite possibly get WORSE performance than from an ordinary cardioid microphone.
 
Many electret condenser microphones can run on substantially less voltage than full 48V phantom. The DR-40 has a low-voltage Phantom Power setting that will save some juice, though I don't know what the RODE shotguns require.
In any case, using an a mics internal battery instead of Phantom is perfectly fine, (provided it's not dead) performance on Phantom may be slightly better, but usually not detectable in decent mics like the RODE.
 
X2 what Mr Crowley said.

to some extent choosing a microphone strictly because of it being able to use a battery is very limiting and puts most better mics out of the equation, not to mention you are doing indoor recording which will probably work out better for you to utilize a hypercardioid instead, which are hard to find with a battery option.

Good luck
 
Richard Crowley said:
You stated that you were looking for a solution for shooting indoors, but that you "definitely want a shotgun".
Click to expand...

Somehow I missed that in the OP.

Yes, soursteezle14, get a hypercardioid condenser... which will require phantom power, which the DR-40 can provide.
 
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