Topic: Question concerning power (9v vs. 12v)...

[rjl]

Hi,

Just a quick question re: mics + power. I recently ordered a pair of MM's MKE2's. On the MM site, I noticed that they were listed as having a power requirement between 9 and 15 volts. From what I could see, all of the MM battery boxes were 9v. As I have a SP battery box that I bought with my previous mic's, I decided against buying a new one (besides, I'm thinking of getting one of those Church 9100s in the near future).

Around the same time, I was poking about the SP site, and noticed that some of their battery boxes were 9v and some were 12v. 

So, my question is, would a 12v power supply, for a mic rated for 9-15v result in any performance gain / better SPL handling than a 9v supply? Or does this simply mean that while the mics need at least 9 to perform well, they can handle the extra (up to 15v, that is... as I imagine anything higher may cause problems).

I'm especially interested, as I think that the CA 9100 preamp uses 9v batteries (right?).

Any insight appreciated, as I have no clue, clearly... 

[rjl]

* Bonus, quasi-related question; probably not worth it's own thread:

In the interim, before getting a preamp, am I better keeping the output level control on my battery box pegged/on "full" and adjusting the gain via the iRiver (Rockboxed iHP140) I'm using, or pump up the gain on the iRiver and limit/reduce the battery box's output as needed?

[fmaderjr]

I can give a definite answer to the bonus question: Keep the battery box's volume control maxed out so you can use as little gain from the iriver as possible. The iRiver's gain is supposed to be pretty clean up to around 15 DB, but you definitely don't want to set its gain above 24 DB if you don't have to. The gain from 25-48 DB is digital (not analog) gain and is supposed to be relatively noisy.  When you get the Church ST-9100, get the first 20 Db of gain from the Church and the rest from the iRiver.

I don't know the answer to the 2nd question, but I suspect that will be little if any performance gain from using 12 volts instead of 9 to power the mics. Chris Church previously posted that mics that require 1.5-9 volts plug in power performed equally well with the 5 volts provided by a MicroTrack as they did when powered by a 9 volt battery box. Maybe Chris will respond regarding this question.

[rjl]

Thanks!

I guess the first question was a bit of a moot point. I imagine that if there was a noticeable performance gain in 12v, it would have come up in one of the many threads about the 9100.

But for now, I imagine it's safe to say that a 9v battery box is a 9v battery box, so my old Sound Pro's one should  work just fine with my MKE2's, right?

(It makes perfect sense that they would... as at their simplest level they are mics that need power and a power supply, with compatible connectors, but I'm neurotic like that!)

[fmaderjr]

Should work fine with any 9 volt battery box or preamp. MM's site recommends using one of their 9 volt battery boxes to provide "optimum' power to the mics, so that answers your first question as well. They are saying there is no advantage to powering them with 12 volts instead of 9.