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I have a fairly simple question regarding power transformers.

I currently have 7x Phantom power supply for balanced XLR microphones. This power supply works on 18VAC 600mA input via a 2.1mm barrel jack. Now my question is : if I get a single 220VAC to 18VAC 5A transformer, can I connect all these power supply to it in parallel?

For the moment I have a single power supply for each of them and it's quite annoying to carry and move around.

Thanks you!

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The simple answer is no. Phantom power requires a DC connection to the microphone and you would end up connecting all the microphones together in parallel for both power and signal.

The longer answer is yes, you could have a single connection to your 220V power source but you would need to use an isolated DC to DC converter for each microphone. It's probably cheaper and easier to buy a multi-channel phantom power supply that does exactly that.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ Since phantom power is usually 48V, the power supplies may already be isolated DC-DC convertors. We don't know, but if so, this should be OK. \$\endgroup\$
    – user16324
    Mar 3, 2017 at 11:20
  • \$\begingroup\$ It's possible but probably a bit of overkill. But it may be worth a question to the manufacturer. \$\endgroup\$
    – Finbarr
    Mar 3, 2017 at 11:39
  • \$\begingroup\$ Thank you for your answer. However I don't understand correctly. Because the power supply for the Phantom power supply is a simple 220 > 18 VAC transformer; nothing else ... (I just opened the case). Why would it mess up the power/signal if I do connect the 7 Phantom in parallel onto it. It's the same thing than plugging the 7 separate transformer onto an AC power extender right. Or does it behave differently when all the loads are on the same transformer ?? \$\endgroup\$
    – Waz
    Mar 3, 2017 at 17:10
  • \$\begingroup\$ in addition to that I can open up my Phantom power supply; would it be something I can check ? \$\endgroup\$
    – Waz
    Mar 3, 2017 at 17:12
  • \$\begingroup\$ The 220 > 18 VAC transformer provides electrical isolation between the input and the output, therefore isolating the phantom supply from the mains (rather vital for a microphone!!). So plugging 7 phantom power supplies into 7 separate transformers means the phantom power supplies are electrically isolated from each other as well as from the mains supply. But connecting all 7 to the same transformer connects all 7 together, so unless the phantom supplies themselves have some isolation between their supply input and the microphone, you will end up connecting all 7 microphones together. \$\endgroup\$
    – Finbarr
    Mar 3, 2017 at 17:24

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