are pc mic's... special?

[Sillyboy]

With the goal of doing some speaker measurement in mind... I found a good deal on ebay for the eurorack ub1202 mic preamp. (opting not to diy, even that wacky $5 one... since i am absorbed in taking apart amps and trying to build a gainclone).

So, I don't have a mic yet... my plan was to diy that... with the cheap panasonic capsule. In the mean time, the only mic I had lying around was from my pc.

So, I hook up that bad boy up, plug in some headphones... and don't hear a thing. If I boost gains/levels/etc way up... I can hear static, but even giving the mic a thumbing produces no sound. works fine w/ my pc.

Are pc mic's somehow special and this is sorta supposed to ... not work?

[pinkmouse]

Is the mic preamp putting out phantom power?

[Sillyboy]

I was crazy enough to try it both ways

[Ron E]

PC mics depend on the 5V provided by the PC mic input. Phantom power from the UB mixer might blow the FET in the capsule.

Whether you get sound or not depends on how you hook it up. It is actually more complicated than you might think - the best suggestion I have is to read the speaker workshop tutorials at Eric Wallin's website. He goes over connections and setting levels, the record and playbaclk volume controls, etc....