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I recently bought a Taffware BM 700 mic.

See the spec below:

Specification

I plugged in to my 3.5mm jack on my laptop but it had this buzzing noise everywhere, my voice was unaudible, so I decided to update the driver by downloading via Realtek website, and now when I try plugging it in, my system doesn't detect it.

With further digging I think I need a phantom power supply. Will this work?

KREZT PH-710KZT http://krezt.co.id/product/krezt-ph-710kzt/

Will this phantom power fix all the issue I have right now?

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3 Answers 3

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The phantom box has an XLR output that will still be microphone level for a true condenser microphone. Which is way less than the typical electret condenser capsule connected to a computer, and in connection with the typical analog circuit quality of built-in sound-cards, you have to expect a certain noise floor not really reflecting your investment.

You are better off with an external sound card having microphone inputs with phantom power. At least it is built for the situation you are planning to deal with, and they aren't significantly more expensive these days than stand-alone phantom power supply units.

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  • Wait so i have to buy external usb sound card and a phantom power?
    – Itsproinc
    Feb 2, 2017 at 1:27
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Unlikely phantom power will help , it's not a true condenser microphone, it should run fine off usb power to be honest as it doesn't need the full phantom power, it will run off phantom power and you may get a little better quality as a result. but don't think that's your problem. I'd keep digging and trying to find the real problem. It maybe the usb power from the battery of the laptop isn't giving you enough power or the usb port isn't. you could try a separate usb hub with it's own power supply that would help as much as a phantom supply.

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  • Well i just ordered a phantom power supply see if that helps, if it doesn't ill try to buy the USB audio card see if that helps, also im using 3.5mm jack as an output to the laptop's onboard sound card
    – Itsproinc
    Feb 2, 2017 at 16:18
  • It should work ok, but I just think its overkill if that's the problem, the problem is these mics being described as condenser, they are really cardioid condensers. Best of luck,
    – Ian Coyne
    Feb 2, 2017 at 16:34
  • I'm getting old so maybe I got that name wrong, but these are cheap diaphragms that don't need the power of a top end mic. If I remember I'll add it later so others know. I just have its a electret condenser.
    – Ian Coyne
    Feb 2, 2017 at 16:58
  • I bought one to test, tenner off eBay ;) It is true phantom; very hot [+20dB] compared to my U87. I couldn't persuade any signal out of it at all without phantom, & don't have any kind of consumer mic i/p on my puter that i can test with.
    – Tetsujin
    Jan 2, 2018 at 14:36
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The descriptions are iffy and the "reviews" on the web completely skip over all relevant details. The connector in the microphone itself is XLR and (according to some review) can be directly hooked up to a proper microphone input with phantom power.

However, the cable as delivered is XLR->3.5mm which makes it likely that this microphone does not actually require full phantom power but will work with "plugin power". Check out whether you can convince your soundcard's microphone input to provide that: either by some utility talking to your soundcard chip or with a jumper (admittedly, the latter have probably not been used for a dozen of years).

The sound quality of the recordings I listened to also make it unlikely that this a "true" condensor microphone needing phantom power for its polarization voltage: this more likely is an electret condensor capsule of moderate quality.

I am impressed by the amount of circuitry they must have put into it for supporting both phantom power and plugin power (the price of just a phantom->plugin power converter for using Lavalier microphones on standard mixers is usually at least the same price).

So you can apparently use this microphone on more professional equipments with phantom power. But it also takes to the more moderate plugin power using the delivered cable.

The information available regarding the details of this microphone are ridiculous: they seem to work with a "don't ask, don't tell" philosophy, so most of the pertinent technical details one just has to guess.

Which I did.

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  • Well ive bought myself a phantom power then hook it up to my laptop via 3.5mm jack, the sound quality with phantom is better, my voice were loud and clear, im just having issue is there a humming sound on the bg
    – Itsproinc
    Feb 3, 2017 at 10:55

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