The 48 Volt Phantom Menace Returns

The 48 Volt Phantom Menace Returns (1,480k)
By Rosalfonso Bortoni and Wayne Kirkwood, THAT Corporation
AES Convention Paper 7909, 127th Convention, October, 2009

In 2001, Hebert and Thomas presented a paper at the 110th AES Convention which described the “phantom menace” phenomenon wherein microphone phantom power faults can damage audio input circuitry. This paper offers new information about the phantom menace fault mechanisms, analyzes common protection circuits, and introduces a new protection scheme that is more robust.