Topic: Phantom power 48V or mic mixer ?

[thomasdrv]

I got a superb Sony PCM D100 !
I also got a pair og B&K 4037. I want to try the 4037 together with the D100.
Do I use phantom 48V or an external mixer ?
Thomas

[ScoobieKW]

With the Sony M10, the onboard preamps are fine, so I use a Denecke PS-2 phantom power supply with an RC battery as it's main power.

From what I've read, the D100 preamps are as good or better than the M10.

Rather than a mixer, you might want to consider a Naiant Tinybox or other mic preamp if the stock preamps in the PCM-D100 aren't up to your standards.

[stevetoney]

Not sure I understand your question.  Your mics need 48V phantom power to operate, so there's no 'or' involved in a question about 48V phantom or a mic mixer.  Whether or not you involve the mixer, the D100 won't provide you with 48V phantom so you can't use the mics with your D100 if you don't have any other 48V phantom power source.  The PCM-D100 only can provide PIP power which is much lower voltage (something like 3 or 4 volts I think). 

48V phantom power can be either from a stand-alone box that's only purpose is to provide phantom power (I've seen them for maybe $60 to $80) or an external microphone preamp that also provides phantom power.  In either case, the outputs would need to be joined at a 1/8 inch mini jack and connected to the 1/8 inch input jack on the D100.  Set the input switch on your D100 to Line In (not mic in). 

Which you choose to use is up to your ears and your wallet.  As Scoobie mentioned above, its only dependent on whether you like the native sound of the preamps in the D100 or you want the sound of an external preamp.  If you use only a phantom box, the preamps in the D100 will give you all of your sound.  If you use an external preamp, it will be a sort of hybrid between the sound of the preamp and the sound of the D100 (depends on how much gain you dial in on each).

Does your mic mixer provide built in 48V phantom power and/or mic preamps?  If it does, then you don't need to worry either the phantom box or the preamp in the above paragraph.  Simply connect your mics to the mixer, turn on the 48V phantom switch on your mixer and send the outputs of the mixer to your d100...again using the 1/8 inch input and with Line In selected on the D100. 

Note the above assumes you're not using the D100 with the digital optical input mode.