Tascam DR-05 Phantom Power?

K

kennethhurd

Well-known member
Does the Tascam DR-05 provide phantom power through its 1/8 mini connection with a XLR adapter? My mic is phantom power only, but for an upcoming shoot a friend of mine is doing, the person doing sound only has a Tascam DR-05 to record the audio. I don't think this will provide phantom power, but I haven't found an answer. Also, before I test the mic with the recorder, could this potentially damage the mic by connecting it to the 1/8 mini with the XLR adapter if it doesn't have 48v phantom power?

By the way, my mic is a Sennheiser MKH416.
 
Nope. Only 5 volt "plug-in power" which will power a LAV mic and other mini-plug mics.

You have to move up to the Tascam DR-40 recorder to get phantom power.
 
Far as I know, you're never going to get 48v phantom power out of any camcorder or portable recorder that only has a 3.5mm mini mic jack. Just not built for that. Maybe connect some sort of small mixer between mic and recorder that can supply phantom power to the mic via XLR, and then adapt a LINE OUT from the mixer to the Tascam? I do own a DR-05 and it accepts LINE or MIC input.

Thanks

Jeff
 
No. The 1/8" input only provides plug-in power, which is a very low voltage and not enough to drive your shotgun.
 
Or you add a battery-powered 48v phantom power supply between the mic and the recorder: there are plenty of fairly cheap options for this, if you want to avoid buying a mixer, a new mic or new recorder.

Cheers,

Roland
 
Most of the low cost (under $100) battery-powered phantom power supplies only supply 24 volts (or less) and many mics require the full 48V. A mic with an internal battery would probably be the best for the OP in this case.
 
You are right, Rick, about many battery-powered phantom supplies. The good Denecke PS-1A, at just over US $100, however, does give the full 48v, and is a pretty professional bit of kit: that would allow the OP's decent MKH416 to be used, and you wouldn't get much of a battery-powered shotgun mic for that price. Probably more use to someone who already has a good non-xlr recorder (such as a Sony PCM D100) as, on reflection, the very cheap and not so bag friendly DR-05 seems the weak link here: Alex has already suggested the DR-60D mkii as an affordable option.

Cheers,

Roland
 
My friend that is doing the shoot next week was able to get access to a DR-60, so he shouldn't have any problems. I was more concerned about what would happen if he tried to use the plug-in power on his DR-05 to power my mic (I wasn't sure if that recorder provided phantom power, and I had never heard of plug-in power on a recorder before now), as I didn't want to risk my mic getting shorted out due to a recorder not providing the proper 48v phantom power. I haven't researched audio recorders since I purchased mine, the Tascam DR-680, a couple years ago. So I wasn't familiar with the DR-05. I'm not going to be working on this shoot, otherwise I would have brought my DR-680. I usually only bring it onto shoots when I'm going to be there instead of loaning it out; it tends to not be very user-friendly.
 
Plug-in Power. (aka, bias voltage) if so applied, would not damage the mic, the mic simply won't work. Phantom Power would not damage a dynamic, self-powered or externally powered mic either. As the word 'Phantom' suggests, 'invisible'. OTOH, an improperly wired cable could damage an unbalanced mic or devices by Phantom Power.
 
You would have a number of issues. First would be that the 1/8" jack is not balanced and your mic (if it requires phantom power) IS balanced. So even if it worked you would get a recording where the L is 180 degrees out of phase with the R channel.

It's not likely as Rick said that a modern mic would be damaged. The unbalanced aspect could possibly create a situation where some more fragile mics might get damaged. The odds are really low and most likely if you "hot patch" the mic. So unless your using a rare ribbon mic you are probably fine. In theory you could cause problems for a dynamic but the power isn't really strong enough to damage the voice coil, but it would give you a DC offset which will reduce your headroom, and you will want to remove that in post (a very fast thing, but still a thing...) so your edits don't pop.
 
kennethhurd said:
I had never heard of plug-in power on a recorder before now
Click to expand...

It seems like each manufacturer has a different name for this low voltage very low amperage mini-plug power ( I have also seen it listed as "mic power" ), but it will only power mini-plug mics. With the Tascam DR-05 you have to turn it on via the recorder's menu as it's off by default.
 
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