Sennheiser SKP 100 G2 plug-on transmitter

[Nik Skjoth]

Originally Posted by Andy Wilkinson

which is why I bought a SKP500 that has the ability to power any XLR mic, if required, by a menu option.

Can you or anyone confirm if the SKP500 delivers enough power to the Rode NTG-2, for it to have a clear and undisrupted recording.

I have a NTG-2, which has an option for selfpowered phantom, by one AA battery, but I noticed with great discomfort that uppon vibration from the boom, the sound stutters. It sounds allmost as if a helicopter is flying nearby.

Would SKP500 fix that?

If you own a NTG-2 AND a SKP500/2000, I would appreciate greatly for a test, where you first power the mic alone with the single AA battery, and then with the SKP500 phantom, and test both scenarios for audible vibration stutter. It should pick up fairly easy. I just aim the mic at my cooling fan, and hear the stutter when I gently tap the boom, making the top end vibrate at high frequency. Thanks.

[John Willett]

The SKP 100 G2/G3 will work with any XLR mic. that does not require external power.

This means any condenser with a built-in battery or any dynamic mic.

The SKP 500 G2 and SKP 2000 (G3) *do* supply 48V phantom power if this is needed.

In the UK the SKP 100 is mostly used with Sennheiser's own K6/ME66 combination as a gun mic.

[Nik Skjoth]

John I have to correct you here.. If your reply was meant for me. Two AA 1,5 volt batteries cannot supply 48 Volts of power. It's like expecting a dying horse to toe a wagon. It might be sufficient to keep the mic working, however not 48V

So as I said.. The NTG-2 internal battery will NOT give sufficient power to the mic for a clear unstuttering sound.. Will the SKP 500 with its two batteries?

[Rick Reineke]

It's magic... or done with a 'transformer'.

[Andy Wilkinson]

Nik,

can't help you with a NTG-2 and SK500 test but I can tell you that my NTG-3 output is very weak with this SKP500 and so I don't use that combination.

The SKP500 works really well with some other mics that I have used it with - especially my Senny e835 used in a reporter style. I have used the SKP500 directly on the end of it, but that's a bit heavy, so I tend to put it on a 1M XLR lead and let them wear the SKP500 on a belt - and just hand hold the e835 mic to themselves or the interviewee.

I personally don't regard the NTG-3 as a particularly "hot" mic, by the way, even when fed Phantom 48V from my EX3 or Fostex FR2-LE (but, my o my, I love the sound from it!).

I'll let the many "audio gurus" who browse these pages tell us why this is exactly (the NTG-2 &/or 3s output being weak with the SKP500 or AA battery power) - but sounds like you might have a handle on at least one potential reason already.

Not an exact answer to your specific question but close and I hope this helps!

[Jon Fairhurst]

Originally Posted by Nik Skjoth

John I have to correct you here.. If your reply was meant for me. Two AA 1,5 volt batteries cannot supply 48 Volts of power. It's like expecting a dying horse to toe a wagon. It might be sufficient to keep the mic working, however not 48V

So as I said.. The NTG-2 internal battery will NOT give sufficient power to the mic for a clear unstuttering sound.. Will the SKP 500 with its two batteries?

A battery powered mic in good working condition should not stutter when used with battery power. It seems that your copy has a bad connection or some other fault.

There are inverters that can translate 1.5V up to very high voltages; however, it can only provide a small amount of current. It's like hooking up that dying horse to an efficient pulley system. Now the dying horse can pull the wagon, but not very quickly and not very long. A condenser mic just needs to charge a capacitor. It draws very little current, so one battery can do the job.

In general, a battery powered mic can't handle high SPLs as well as it can with true phantom power. At moderate and low SPLs, the specs are usually about the same.

I have a friend who uses the NT-2 with a juicedLink CX211 (no phantom power), and it sounds great without any hint of stuttering.

[Nik Skjoth]

Thanks for all replies.

I am pretty sure that the mic has no defects. We had three of them testet in a lab, all with same result, they stutter if exposed to high frequency vibration when selfpowered. But work perfectly if external phantom power is turned on.

I was hoping that the combination of three batteries (one in the mic and two in the skp500 transmitter) would fix my problem.

PS: Rick you're a funny guy.

[Mario Vermunt]

Nik, it is not possible to combine the power of the battery of the NTG and the SKP500. If you use internal batteries with the mic, external power is turned off.

[Gabor Heeres]

I use the SKP-100 G2 on a daily basis with two different mics. The Rode NTG-2 on my Boompole set and the ElektroVoice Re-50 for interviews. Both work perfect with the SKP-100. The NTG-2 still needs to be powerd by the internal battery.

[John Willett]

Originally Posted by Nik Skjoth

John I have to correct you here.. If your reply was meant for me. Two AA 1,5 volt batteries cannot supply 48 Volts of power. It's like expecting a dying horse to toe a wagon.

Of course two 1.5V AA batteries can supply 48V - you just put it through a DC/DC converter to up the voltage.

This is how G2 and G3 transmitters work anyway. The voltage to power the tie mic. is about 5V anyway (more than the 3V of two AA cells).

The batteries go via a DC/DC converter to give the voltage required by the transmitter - as the battery voltage goes down the transmitter draws more current and is always operating at full power until the batteries die.

The SKP 500 G2 and SKP 2000 (G3) operate in the same way to supply 48V phantom - but with phantom "on" the battery life drops from about 8-hours to about 5-hours.

[Nik Skjoth]

Originally Posted by Gabor Heeres

I use the SKP-100 G2 on a daily basis with two different mics. The Rode NTG-2 on my Boompole set and the ElektroVoice Re-50 for interviews. Both work perfect with the SKP-100. The NTG-2 still needs to be powerd by the internal battery.

And you never had any stutter issues? Thats strange. Did we get a faulty batch of mics or something?

[Jay Massengill]

I've read in the past that some combinations of phantom-powered mics, small mixers powered by 2xAA batteries supplying 48v phantom power, and some hungry-for-power-headphones will exhibit a condition called "motorboating", where there isn't enough power to keep the whole system stable. Perhaps you've run into a bad combo of items trying to work together and pulling too much power.

[Shaun Roemich]

Originally Posted by Jay Massengill

small mixers powered by 2xAA batteries supplying 48v phantom power, and some hungry-for-power-headphones will exhibit a condition called "motorboating", where there isn't enough power to keep the whole system stable.

For example, my Behringer 1002 (I THINK I have the model number right...) portable table top mixer takes 2 x 9v for running the mixer and a separate 9v for running the transformer that runs the 48v Phantom Power section.