Does the iMac G5 Provide Phantom Power??

[Littleodie914]

Hey guys, here's the situation... My brother is using our iMac G5 and the audio-in port to record his drums in GarageBand. He's got a splitter (just a little cable thing) that allows three inputs to be recorded at once. This is ideal, as he's recording drums and is going to buy 3 mics to record a better sample of the audio. (3 directions instead of just 1.)

What he's wondering, is whether or not the iMac provides phantom power out the audio-in port. Each one of the mics he's looking at purchasing requires 48V of phantom power, and he wants to know whether or not the computer will power them. Does anybody know if this will work? Thanks!

 

[mkrishnan]

I think the answer is no:

http://forums.macnn.com/showthread.php?t=281847

I think you're going to need some more hardware... a simple mixer with mic pre-amps is probably the thing to get....

 

[zimv20]

looking in the iMac G5 Manual (2005) and seeing this:

Audio line-in port
Input audio into your iMac G5 from a line-level microphone or other audio equipment.

... it seems that not only does the port not offer phantom, it doesn't even have a mic pre behind it.

 

[CanadaRAM]

Your Bro' otta get to the library and sign out some magazines and books to bone up on the fundamentals of recording.

Recording, Sound on Sound, Electronic Musician. Computer Music, Future Music are all good mags that cover basic home recording often. Also look for any book by Craig Anderton, such as Home Recording for Musicians.

Things will be much easier once the basics are understood.

 

[beatsme]

um...

condenser mics sound like a luxury for what he's going to be doing. He'd probably be better off getting a few Shure SM57's.

alternatively, a good area mic might be better than 3 mics put together. I get the feeling that running 3 mics into one track with no mixer in between could well suck...

 

[Vaphoron]

alternatively, a good area mic might be better than 3 mics put together. I get the feeling that running 3 mics into one track with no mixer in between could well suck...

I would take one properly placed condenser mic instead of 3 57's any day for recording drums.

 

[zimv20]

I would take one properly placed condenser mic instead of 3 57's any day for recording drums.

as long as we're making such calls...

i'd see if the kit sounded any good in the room. if yes, i'd use the single condenser as a room mic. if no, i'd close mic the 57's.

 

[Vaphoron]

as long as we're making such calls...

i'd see if the kit sounded any good in the room. if yes, i'd use the single condenser as a room mic. if no, i'd close mic the 57's.

Very true. Time for them to pull out some blankets or a mattress if its a small crappy sounding room.