Phantom power XLR -> RCA amps

NutritioN · 17 Apr 2012 at 15:42

Hi there, I need help, I'm really struggling with understanding what I need to mic up a small office area. We're trying to move away from the table top mics that we have and are going give a pair of ceiling mics a go (not ideal but we want to test it). For example these.

So my main problem is getting around phantom power, I understand the concept but am still not able to look at the example mics and know what I need to get the signal at the right volume into our current system. The mics will be passed straight through into another room or into a DVD recording which is all running with RCA cables. We have some small mic pre-amps that have 1/4 jack inputs that would be handy to use.

My plan was to just use an XLR to RCA cable and see what I got. Step two is work out what XLR phantom PSU I needed with line out sockets.

Can anyone fill in the blanks and suggest a piece of hardware for step 2 if you think it will be required? We want everything run off the mains - no batteries to be changed.

Thanks!

NutritioN · 17 Apr 2012 at 16:46

Ah right. We have these preamps before the DVD input. So we'll get some balanced XLR cables to the phantom PSU, then some XLR to RCA cables to the preamp. Then we should have the right line level. Anything else to consider?

Thanks.

NutritioN · 17 Apr 2012 at 17:57

I'm open to the fact that the preamps might not be ideal. Although we've been happy with their output (because we don't know any different

)

Because of this, I'm reluctant to go for something like the mini mixing desk as we just want something to plug in and hide away hung up behind a wall or in the suspended ceiling. The ART Studio V3 looks better in that respect - we can do some quick tweaks then hide it away. But if the solution I'm testing for one room works, we'll want a mirror system in the reverse direction and I can't justify 4*separate amps.

*Edit, actually I could justify the equivalent of 4 amps, but in two tidy, simple packages.

NutritioN · 18 Apr 2012 at 14:53

That looks like a good balance. Purchased! Will be able to have a play next week once the microphones and cables are here. Then the fun of finding the right place for them begins...

Thanks people, I may be back

NutritioN · 15 May 2012 at 17:00

Minor update, the cables and amp are all great. Unfortunately the ceiling mics are great too so we're going to have to sell them on and get some directional ones rather than omnis. We have a suspended ceiling, then a thin ceiling and they pick up too much office chair noise from the hard floor upstairs.

Thanks for the help at this stage anyway.