Topic: Phantom Power with AT853's

[illconditioned]

I have  some 853a's
that can be powered with a AA 1.5v
or Phantom
they do sound better with phantom
and also have a higher SPL  level

these have a XLR out of the power module
I used a PS-2 with them
and also with out
Phantom doe make them sound better a bit cleaner
never used it for stealth
 that way

there are a few versions of the 853's
mine have a mini xlr hard wire that''s 25' long to the power module(brains/electronics) of the mics...


I have the sub card caps as well as the supplied cardioid caps

always liked their sound  especially for stealthing

That is true, these mics sound poor with the AA battery.  The problem is that battery does not have enough volts to drive the mic element (the field effect transistor).  A proper battery solution will put at least three volts out to the mic.  So, either run on phantom, as you are, or get a proper battery solution.

  Richard

[Church-Audio]

You need to get mini xlrs put on them. Soundpros does the mod for like 80.00..the mod also includes the nady phantom power adaptors..which you need otherwise the denecke will fry the mics. I use this as my primary stealth rig and couldnt be more happy. Sure it is bulkier than some  other set ups but the quality of the recordings is top notch. The 853s are designed to use phantom power..so to get the most out of them its the only way to go.

When using my preamp there is no advantage to using phantom power with these mics.. The guy at AT only wanted to sell you more gear... Phantom power or Plug in power is the same as far as the mics are concerned 10 VOLTS is 10 volts.. and the issue with the AT phantom power adaptors that everyone seems to forget is they have a built in HPF at 80hz... looping off your bottom end and there is no way to bypass this.. They actually degrade the performance of the mics for this specific application... LIVE recording.. Now there is a huge difference if your going to be using a high end preamp like a neve   over my 9100 obviously my $200 preamp is not going to compete with a $2000 preamp... But I would think at that point in time your not going to be using $200 mics with your $2k preamp

Chris