Modmic 4, a mixer, and phantom power

[Buyingbf_]

Right now I'm looking forward to buying a Modmic 4 to upgrade my microphone setup and I'm trying to make it work with my mixer.

Problem is, a lot of people online have been saying that the Modmic does not work at all with mixers.

Apparently, the Modmic 4 needs a bit of voltage in order to work (1-10V but 12V allowed). A microphone port on a PC or a USB adapter would easily fulfill this requirement, but the TRS port on my mixer does not supply power and the XLR port will obviously burn the mic out if I turn on the +48V phantom power.

Many people have brought up the solution of somehow decreasing the +48V phantom power from my mixer down to about 12V. 

 

Currently, my solution to this problem would to get this external phantom power supply along with the Modmic 4. I would convert the 3.5mm TRS connector of the Modmic 4 to XLR using an adapter, then I would plug that into the input of the phantom power supply. I'd set the voltage to 12V instead of 48V (there's two modes) and then I'd output the signal back into my mixer.

 

I'm wondering if there would be any unforeseen problem that could arise (I don't have too much experience with audio and audio equipment) or if this would actually the one solution that could finally fix this.

 

(also btw my mixer is an M-Audio M-Track 2x2)

[anothertom]

That should work.

[AAJoe]

Hello @EragonFTW!

 

First, let me start by saying that, depending on your timeline, you may want to wait until we release our XLR solution, though we have no date on that yet (It won't be this year, sadly).

 

However, your proposed setup should work, but I am a little concerned with the addition of the phantom power supply and the daisy chain of connections adding interference. Still, if you get this set up and can return the items you purchase if it doesn't work, the risk is pretty low and I would love to hear how it ends up sounding. By all means send me a recording. If you need to return the ModMic 4 when you're done I'd be happy to cover the return shipping as well (not something we normally do) in exchange for some recording samples... just so we can be better prepared for any similar questions.

 

I can't reveal too much about our XLR product at this time, but it will solve your issue with a lot fewer steps. Not to hamstring our own sales or anything... but we're many months out before you'd have it in hand . 

 

Also, if your goal is a professional sounding output, I strongly recommend finding the now discontinued ModMic 4 Omni or moving to the ModMic 5. The 4 Omni may still have a couple units left on Amazon. It was discontinued because it added a lot of confusion (4 different ModMic 4s and 1 ModMic 5 was a lot of SKUs that were very similar to most people) and was not selling as well as the Uni... but in my opinion is the superior product for this type of setup.

 

Hope this helps! If you want to take me up on that return shipping offer just drop me a PM when you order with your email and order # and I'll note it down in our system/let our customer service team know!

[Ahoy Hoy]

This is retarded. No extra items should be needed. beyond the adapter so it plugs into the desk.

microphones work by changing the voltage between 0 Volts and 1.2 Volts. 0 volts no noise 1.2 volts max noise. A microphone which doesnt require power works normally by having a little crystal which when it vibrates it produces a electrical charge. The microphone produce the power. My phone, my pc my other normal devices dont provide power to a microphone. If the modmic (which im 100% sure) plugs into your computers microphone port and works it doesnt need a power supply. If by pluging into a mixer and isnt loud enough the gain probably isnt set right on the mixer.

[Ahoy Hoy]

p.s. also turn the phantom power on it doesnt change a dam thing and wont melt the microphone. UNLESS you unplug/plug it using a jack cable. since you will short the connection as you pull it out and it will then probably break. This is why XLRs are just so much better.


Remember kids never pull out a jack cable if phantom power is on. (or plug your computer into the desk without a DI)

[AAJoe]

Hey @Ahoy Hoy - I can't get overly technical because I am 1) A marketing guy more than a tech guy and 2) Never convinced that I know everything anyway. You could be totally right, totally wrong, or somewhere in-between.

 

That said, the ModMic (I believe, but now that I write it as per #2, I am not going to stake my life on it) is a electret microphone, requiring external voltage, albeit a fairly small amount. You can get some signal with lower than 3v in fact, but I've never heard it sound good with voltage under 3v. Some USB devices I've tested output about 2.5v and with AGC off you need a lot of... oomph. (Even with it on, you're basically just adding boost on the software side and the quality tanks as a result).

As I also understand it, Most PC 3.5mm ports, your phone 3.5mm ports, but not all Mac 3.5mm ports (no idea why) provide +5v of 'fake' phantom power. Why is it fake? I don't know (See point #1 above) - I'm going on what I was told / have read (Here's one I was double checking as I wrote this: http://www.epanorama.net/circuits/microphone_powering.html) but not fully understood. 

 

So what happens when you plug your ModMic into a +48v phantom power supply? I have no idea. I was told not to do it, and so I tell others not to do it . As per #2 above, I'll ask if its ever been attempted and what the actual result was. Even if it did work, I wouldn't recommend it if disconnecting the device would damage your mic as you suggest. I'd rather not have to tell someone that our warranty doesn't cover their dog, chair, or self accidentally disconnecting the device in use outside its specs.

 

So, at this time I do not recommend anyone plug their ModMic into a +48v phantom power supply. You're welcome to plug it into unpowered ports. Nothing will happen, but at least it's safe!

[Buyingbf_]

Dang, if only the XLR version would come sooner. I'd probably choose to wait for that instead of this janky setup since I my current setup is pretty okay for now. The upgrade to a Modmic 4 would be for mainly convenience, since you can't really have a desk mounted microphone directly in front of your mouth at all times.

 

I'll look forward to that sweet XLR Modmic 

[Baguette1995]

Hi there, I've been searching a solution for this problem for month (if not a whole year) and the only solution I managed to find was someone who made a custom made adapter for it, though it was expensive. But just today I managed to find a product to fulfill this problem, its called Rode VXLR+. Please note the + at the end, the one without the + is just a XLR to minijack adapter, while the + version reduces the phantom power from 48-12V to 5-3V (in the video linked below you can see that when plugged into 48V output it delivers 5V, and also he tests the modmic with it). 

So, if your interface has a phantom power supply then this can be a very good solution. The only thing is that it costs around 25$.

 

 

[Baguette1995]

On 21/8/2017 at 10:30 PM, Ahoy Hoy said:

This is retarded. No extra items should be needed. beyond the adapter so it plugs into the desk.

microphones work by changing the voltage between 0 Volts and 1.2 Volts. 0 volts no noise 1.2 volts max noise. A microphone which doesnt require power works normally by having a little crystal which when it vibrates it produces a electrical charge. The microphone produce the power. My phone, my pc my other normal devices dont provide power to a microphone. If the modmic (which im 100% sure) plugs into your computers microphone port and works it doesnt need a power supply. If by pluging into a mixer and isnt loud enough the gain probably isnt set right on the mixer.

Actually, PC minijack input delivers 5V phantom, because its meant to be used with electret microphones (it's a kind of capsule, it's the same that lavelier and ModMic uses and requires of low voltage phantom power). Also, interfaces don't push phantom power through TRS jack because the reason you mentioned, and an electrec microphone can be damaged if the phantom power is too high. Other types of mics, like dynamic and condenser mics dont get damaged because they're protected against it (and almost every XLR input is nowadays).