Ipod connector > 2 MXLR and charges via 48v Phantom power

Archive New Product Ideas
1

Hello,

I am an audio engineer and came up with this idea whilst spending a long shift at the desk. Is it possible to get an after-market ipod connector and wire it out to two male XLR audio connections in stereo. Then have the cable charging the via the mixing consoles 48v phantom power supply. This phantom power is used to power sensitive condenser microphones and isusually available on each audio channel.

2

I was thinking exactly the same thing during a gig last night so I’ve been checking it out today and I came across your post via Google… Sadly, it seems it’s not possible :frowning: .

The IEC standard for 48v phantom power gives 10 mA as the maximum allowed current per microphone which give you less than half a watt to play with, and you apparently need something like 10w for an iPod charger. Nice idea but sadly not going to make us rich!

3

Cheers for the reply man i have been asking around in electronic hobby shops and noone had any idea. you right i was soooo bored when i came up with the idea i was mixing a 24hr dance party

4

I think it probably could be done. There’s no way an iPod charger needs as much as 10W - A typical 4th generation iPod has a 630mAh battery, which at 3.7V gives 2.3Wh. The battery life is in excess of 12 hours, so the average power use is 200mW. From a 480mW supply you should be able to keep up with consumption and slowly charge the battery as long as the overall efficiency of power supply + battery charging circuit (built into iPod) is better than 42%.

The input voltage is kind of high, but suitable switching power supply ICs are available. Try the [LT1676](http://www.linear.com/pc/productDetail.jsp?navId=H0,C1,C1003,C1042,P1709)

5

Interesting. Well I’m into the idea that it might be possible - I just think it isn’t. I was reading a thread about building a solar charger for an iPod and they said you’d need a minimum of 10 watts for it to work. I also expect stepping down 48v to the 5v USB voltage is not going to be the most efficient process and there will be losses, but if you can elaborate further then please do.

Miles x