AKG PAE5 M 5-Pin Phantom Power Module for DAM+ Goosenecks Automixer LED

AKG PAE5 M: Audio and Indicator Control on Separate Paths

The AKG PAE5 M is a DAM+ phantom power module whose five-pin balanced XLR output carries the audio signal and the control voltage for the LED ring on separate paths. That separation is its entire reason for existing, because it lets an automatic mixer light or extinguish a gooseneck's indicator ring from a logic output without that control ever touching the audio pair. It accepts phantom power from 9 to 52 V at a 3.5 mA draw, offers a switchable 150 Hz bass cut and an audio frequency bandwidth of 20 Hz to 20,000 Hz, includes RFi Shield protection against radio-frequency interference, and feeds all DAM+ Series capsules on any DAM+ gooseneck module or the HM1000 M hanging module. The AKG item number is 3165H00160.

What the Fifth Pin Is Actually Doing

Five pins instead of three is a wiring change with a specific consequence: three of them handle the balanced audio and its phantom feed exactly as a standard microphone connection does, and the remaining pair carry a control voltage dedicated to the LED ring. Keeping those functions on separate conductors means the indicator can be switched on and off at will without injecting a click, a thump or a DC step into the audio pair, which is what would happen if indication had to be multiplexed onto the same conductors as the programme signal. It also means the indicator is controlled by whatever device holds the logic, rather than by anything happening locally at the microphone. Systems designers recognise this as the same principle behind AKG's five-pin DAM gooseneck modules, where an extra-large LED ring is likewise driven from a control system's logic output.

Driving the Ring From an Automatic Mixer

Remote activation is specified for a 9 to 52 V logic output from any automatic mixer, which is the interface this module was designed around. An automatic microphone mixer decides continuously which channels are carrying speech and attenuates the rest, and most such mixers expose that decision as a logic output per channel so the rest of the system can react to it; wiring that output to the control pair here makes the gooseneck's ring light precisely when the mixer has opened the channel. The result is an indicator that tells the truth, rather than a lamp that merely shows a microphone is plugged in. Council chambers, courtrooms and boardrooms depend on that honesty, because a delegate who cannot tell whether they are live either talks over the room or repeats themselves.

Identical Phantom Electricals, Different Wiring Job

Electrically the phantom side matches the plain module in the family: 9 to 52 V operation, 3.5 mA current draw, an audio frequency bandwidth of 20 Hz to 20,000 Hz and a switchable 150 Hz bass roll-off for structure-borne noise and proximity buildup. Keeping those figures the same across the family is deliberate, because it means an integrator can change indication strategy on a project without re-checking whether the mixers can still supply the microphones or whether the tonal balance will shift between seats. The bass cut still lives on the module rather than at the console, so a table thump is trimmed before it travels the length of the building. What changes with this part is purely the connector and the control path, and that is the whole basis on which it should be chosen.

Wiring and Commissioning a Five-Pin Chamber

Choosing the five-pin module has consequences on the panel and in the rack that need to be planned before cable is pulled. Each position now needs a five-pin path from the seat to the equipment room rather than a standard three-pin microphone line, so wall plates, floor boxes, table flanges and patch fields all have to be specified to match, and the logic outputs on the automatic mixer must be broken out and terminated to reach the control pair. Commissioning then becomes a two-part check at every seat: confirm the audio arrives clean and at the right level, and separately confirm the ring follows the mixer's decision rather than staying lit or staying dark. AV integrators who label both functions at both ends during that first pass save an enormous amount of time the first time a single seat misbehaves.

Choosing the Five-Pin Module Over the Three-Pin Modules

Selection among the three DAM+ powering modules comes down to where control and indication live, since all three feed the same capsules identically. This one belongs on projects where an automatic mixer or control system owns the indication decision and must express it at the seat, and it is the only member of the family that separates that control onto its own conductors. Where nothing needs to light up, the plain three-pin module keeps the wiring standard and the install shorter; where the person at the seat needs their own talk or mute button, the programmable module puts a switch on the microphone itself. Specifying the five-pin part for a room with no automixer logic to drive it simply adds cable cores that will never carry anything.