Xixax Film Forum

I'm in negotiations to buy a Sennheiser MKH416T shotgum mic, which runs on T Power. Up until today, I had no idea that mics ran on anything else but the single AA battery that I screwed into the body. All the Sennheiser mics I've rented have always been like this. Now, people are telling me that phantom powered mics (or in my case, a T Power Box), are the Pro standard.

Anybody have any experience with this sort of thing? Any comments?

I know that if I had a mixer it would be the power supply and I could plug the mic right into it, but I can't afford a mixer right now, nor do I really need one, as I just wanna go straight into the Canon XL1S.

I think you'll be fine going into the XL-1s; I'm no electrician, but unless someone says otherwise, that should give you all the power you need.

Mic power either comes from a battery or from phantom power...power sent to the mic by another device.  Sometimes cameras have a built in preamp with phantom power.   The xl1s does not have phantom power in it's preamp.  (see http://www.saferseas.com/vsd/eye/audio.html towards bottom).  The XL2 has one though.  So you will need an adapter (all over internet) or a mixer with phantom power.  You can get a decent mixer from musicians friend with phantom power for about $49 ( http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/g=home/search/detail/base_pid/631238/ ) or a field mixer for $99 ( http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/g=home/search/detail/base_pid/631224/ ).  

Even when you get a mixer, it will have to have phantom power specified to power the mic...many do not.

Cheers, guys, thanks for the info.


I went out and bought a portable power box that clips onto a belt, and it runs both phantom AND T-power, so I'm sorted. It's also got a built in attenuator and a LF switch, so that helps. The mic is a touch older, but it looks like a workbeast, and I can't wait to try it out.