From Ivan Schwartz Sent Tue, Jun 19th 2018, 02:31
Only active DI use phantom power; passive ones with transformers do not = need phantom. The active circuits in a DI typically do not provide any = gain. Phantom power is current limited (thus the higher voltage) so there is = little power available for a real preamp design. Phantom powered mic = are usually putting out a mic level signal, not line level. A = 500-series rack power supply has much more current available, and the = bipolar power supply design allows for plenty of headroom. The big issue I have using a DI for synths is that a typical DI is = designed to drop the signal to mic level, and then you use a mic preamp = to add gain. This is not an ideal situation in terms of gain staging = and optimizing signal to noise ratio. That is why devices like the = SynthDriver were designed. Ivan > OnJune 13, 2018 at 8:16:52 PM, Brian Willoughby via analogue = <xxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxx.xxx> wrote: >=20 > Considering that DI products are almost always used in a situation = where phantom power is available, and potentially even where wall power = outlets might be in short supply, it makes sense that DI designers would = include the option to power everything from phantom power. >=20 > In addition, since phantom power is (supposed to be) 48V, that=E2=80=99s= a lot more power for a preamp than, say, the +/-16V of 500 Series = modules.