just an addition, as i didnt know there was outside interest in this topic. (I think im the sole cmr owner on this site?)
we had moved it to email, and i asked mr. hilarious the following question:
does it require any change to run from 12V
phantom? i just picked up a pre that has 12V phantom only, and i can easily jumper my v3
to either 12 or 48V.
i think we discussed that using 12V power would be a bit more efficient somewhere in
that thread.
his reply:
The power supply voltage doesn't matter, anything from 9V to 48V is good as long as it
can supply the necessary current--1mA if specs can be believed!
12V may be more efficient, depending on how the recorder/preamp works. The power
regulation circuit of the adaptor will force the excess voltage (above 7.5V) to drop
across the supply resistance, which basically means the power loss is current * excess
voltage. All things being equal, the closer the supply voltage is to the regulated
voltage, the less wasted power (this is why I always cringe when I read about people
using 7805 regulators on 9V batteries). But all things aren't always equal; if in
switching from 48V to 12V, the preamp does the same thing the regulation circuit does,
it's going to be wasted anyway. But I would expect a portable device would use a DC
converter to generate 48V; in that case 12V will easily be more efficient.
Either way, the adaptor doesn't care, it will work with any voltage up to 50V (over that,
its component ratings will be exceeded).
i was thinking about this later, and was wondering if the V3 would run longer powering a pair of CMC6s on 12V phantom vs 48V phantom? the mics use double the current at 12V, but thats still half the wattage compared to 48V. i think the V2 can be jumpered to 12V as well
when i get these adapters im gonna try to do some runtime tests with the following setups:
v3+cmc6@48V
v3+cmc6@12V
v3+cmr@48V
v3+cmr@12V
v3+cmr externally powered
and maybe the same with V2 if i have the time.
always nice to squeeze some more battery life out of your gear. there should be no sonic consequences to run cmc6s at 12V vs. 48V