Good to have you here, Joe!

In an EE degree, there is not usually any audio studio work as part of the course, so I would search around to see if you can find a local studio where you could sit in on a few sessions on a part-time and unpaid basis. This would give you a feel for how things are managed and whether you might want to consider an audio career after graduating. Bear in mind that many studios are going through hard times at the moment and are not in a position to offer any guarantee of employment after you finish your degree, but some first-hand experience in this area could give you a head-start when it comes to using your EE qualifications for seeking employment with equipment manufacturers, for example.

Here's a question to start you off, and maybe to get you digging around a bit: what electronic engineering principles are involved in the phantom powering of microphones?

Thanks Boswell for your response...I have sat in on some recording sessions at pro studios, as well as some "ok" home recording of a few ep's and cd's... nothing major..but I have done some....Phantom power(im gonna do some research on that one)But I would geuss from my experience, that the microphone is drawing power from the object that is supplying the phantom power...and the mic line threw to the mic is acting passively-accepting the power/and or using only what is needed to power it...(This is my guess)

I want to go into audio as more of a hobby...and keep the engring side as my main job...

Honestly tho..My heart in audio...music is amazing and it really keeps me going..

Im planning on building a semi-pro type set up..converting my basement into a live room/conttrol room within the next year or so...This site is so great in terms of resources and people who really know what they are talking about!!

Hmm, guesswork only gets you so far. The phantom power question was not what it does but more how?

I'm not trying to put you on the spot here, but these forums are read by all sorts of recording students, some with excellent engineering expertise and some without much, so it's more a general challenge to get those people thinking about certain things that they may have taken for granted.

Ok..Thought I would clarify something... I am going to become(hopefully of course) a Electrical Engineer

But in college terms, I have to do a two year applied science degree in Electronics and computers...and then do another 2 years for my bachelor degree to become a Electrical Engineer...

Heres what I am studying over the next two years

Technical Graphics
Introduction to Electronics and Projects
Introduction to Circuits Analysis
Digital Fundamentals
Electronics Circuit Analysis
Digital Applications
Introduction to C Programming
AC Circuit Analysis
Solid State
Introduction to Microcontrollers
Fluid Power Basics

What do you guys think...Even though Im not really into Audio yet...Im going to be doing lots of builds of DIY equipment ..as well as trying to re-create some classic equipment in today's standards!

Phantom power, in the context of professional audio equipment, is a method for transmitting DC electric power through microphone cables to operate microphones that contain active electronic circuitry. [1] It is best known as a convenient power source for condenser microphones, though many active direct boxes also use it.

Phantom power supplies are often built into mixing desks, microphone preamplifiers and similar equipment. In addition to powering the circuitry of a microphone, traditional condenser microphones also use phantom power for polarizing the microphone's transducer element.-From Wikipedia...

Interesting for sure..I knew what it did...but not in this context...Im learning...

My response earlier was just off the top of my head...plus I was at work and not able to spend the time doing my research right then and there...

JOE2010, post: 354168 wrote: Heres what I am studying over the next two years

Technical Graphics
Introduction to Electronics and Projects
Introduction to Circuits Analysis
Digital Fundamentals
Electronics Circuit Analysis
Digital Applications
Introduction to C Programming
AC Circuit Analysis
Solid State
Introduction to Microcontrollers
Fluid Power Basics

I glaring omission from this list is any kind of "Signals and Systems" course. Find out if your school is offering one and work it into your course plan. LaPlace transforms, FFT, convolution, Bode plots, etc.. You'll want all that under your belt if you're looking to design audio gear.

VTTOM thats second year stuff ;)

Glad to have you here Joe. In school you will learn all about filters. Pay close attention, in that basic knowledge lays the seeds to great audio....

JOE2010, post: 354168 wrote: What do you guys think...

Personally I think you are just starting out on a long journey and I wish you all the best!

You certainly have a lot of learning to do over the next few years. From the point of view of building your own gear, I would heavily recommend building projects from kits and published designs to start with as it is improbable that you will build the skills needed to start your own designs for some time to come. By building these kits you will learn much about constructional techniques which in all probability will not form part of your curriculum.

As you learn more you will find out more about the circuits you are building and can then attempt some modifications and find out the effect they have on sound etc. You may also find that as you progress through your course that you will have inspiring moments as the penny drops on how some of your circuits really worked or indeed why they failed.

This is a process I went through a lifetime ago when at university. I had been building circuits with wildly varying degrees of success from around ten years old. There were many times where I would have sudden realisations during a lecture about why circuits failed that I had tried years before. That made the learning process much less abstract for me than my fellow students and enhanced my interest in learning.

As I say that was almost a whole lifetime ago but I'm (glad to be) still learning! You can never know too much as the opposite is usually the case and I sincerely hope that the day I stop learning is the day I cast my mortal coil...

Thanks Guys for all the kind words...Today I got "Building Power Supplies" in the mail...Started reading the first few chapters..Its a lot to take in all at once, so I am planning on reading it multiple times, and re-figuring out every tid bit of information I can from it... I TOTALLY get what everyone is saying about "light Bulb moments" in school, and from reading...

A few years ago, as I am still a bass player at heart...I wanted to understand why soloing fits over chord progression...OFF into a year long study of music theory...I had a ton of light bulb moments...and it opened so many doors for my music creatively...long and short of it... The extra work does pay off....even though a lot of people discouraged me from learning music theory, learning it makes me a better musician...Im still so pumped about music

SO today I was reading about transformers and the turn ratio's! I think its pretty cool...the windings ratios make me think of compression ratios(wonder if there is a correlation-have to figure that one out someday)

Im starting to understand the "in series" statements now...annode to cathode

Vin--or Voltage in- is where the power supply initially starts the circuit, then to the transformer for the neg and positive windings...hard to explain..but im speaking in the most simple terms...

Man im learning a lot! I hope you guys go easy on me....I will be honest and work hard on this! I want to learn and I want to understand...Im a sponge waiting to soak it all in....