Topic: Phantom power going into a splitter?

[airbladder]

I just got an R-44 and want to run some preamp comps this weekend.  A few years back I had a pair of xlr splitters made and never got around to using them.  They are what I would call a y-cable.  Before I do this I want to make sure I don’t hurt anything with the phantom power.  My memory says that I can run phantom power through one or both of the pre amps and it won’t hurt anything.  Does that sound rite?  What should I do, run phantom through just one pre or through both?  I am going to be using a V2, Minimp, and the Oade mod R-44 pre’s.  Any info would be great!

[jerryfreak]

search the archives. i remember this discussion came up a year ago (when the oade mod v3 came out), and i beleive the conclusion was that it wont work. i think you need a separate phantom power, THEN split it to the various pres

I just got an R-44 and want to run some preamp comps this weekend.  A few years back I had a pair of xlr splitters made and never got around to using them.  They are what I would call a y-cable.  Before I do this I want to make sure I don’t hurt anything with the phantom power.  My memory says that I can run phantom power through one or both of the pre amps and it won’t hurt anything.  Does that sound rite?  What should I do, run phantom through just one pre or through both?  I am going to be using a V2, Minimp, and the Oade mod R-44 pre’s.  Any info would be great!

[Todd R]

Probably best to go back and read any discussions we've already had, but it will "work" in the sense that you can make recordings and not damage equipment.  And yes, since both preamps will already have blocking capacitors (or transformers), it'd work/be safe to use phantom on either or both of the preamps.

The quality of the phantom supply might effect the recording, so using for instance R44 phantom might make the V2 sound "worse" than it would be on its own, or using the V2 phantom might make the R44 sound better than it would on its own (or vice versa).  So the comp may not be perfect and might mask some of the differences.

I'm guessing that there also might be a problem with changing gain on one of the preamps, since that might change the impedance at the input, which could affect the sound at the other preamp. 

These types of issues will make it difficult to do a pure, unadulterated comparison.  But you could run the comp to get some data to use as part of the comparison.  Then maybe do a field recording comparison using two sets of the same brand/model of mics, each pair going separately into the two preamps/recording rigs, then do a comparison of the same set of mics going only into one recording chain at a time recording the same material (off say the same CD played back on your home stereo), running each rig separately in time. 

Do enough types of comps and instances of comps and you should start getting a sense of the differences between the two devices, but probably no single type of comparison will satisfy everyone that it is fair and valid.

[airbladder]

Thanks for the info.  I am going to a small local festival and was going to do a bunch of testing.  I can always do a mono comp that way the phantom should not be an issue.