XLR Killswitch - Newbie help needed!

[Angercat]

Hi folks!  My drummer Tom is going to start singing live (3 part harmonies, et al) and plans on wearing a phantom-powered headworn mic.  But as he won't be singing all of the time he needs to be able to switch the mic off when not needed, so we don't all have to listen to him huffing away during a solo!  He's asked me to build him a killswitch, as I'm pretty good with a soldering iron, but I need a little help please.

I mocked up a pedal with XLR in and out, connected the grounds and put in a DPDT switch to kill the signal of the +ve and -ve.  It worked fine when switching off but when you clicked back on you could hear a half second delay before a muted POP signalled that the mic was live again.  My questions to you marvellous, knowledgeable chaps are these:

1)  Am I likely to get less of a pop if i get the switch to only kill ONE of the + or - signals?
2)  Tom has asked me to add a 9v powered LED to the pedal so he can see when it's live.  I guess I need a 3PDT switch for this.  How would I wire it up?  I plan on sticking a 1.5k 0.25w resistor in front of the LED, but am open to suggestions.
3)  Would the addition of any caps or resistors help to stop or reduce popping when re-engaging the switch?  If so, which sort and where would you suggest I connect them?

I massively appreciate any input on this.  I'm first to admit that schematics just don't translate in my head, so if anyone can draw lines on the following jpeg that'd be just amazing for my poor, aching brain!

Much love,

Ben.

[Fuzz-O-Rama]

Angercat,

Here are the only ways to mute a phantom powered mike.




Click on image.

If your mixer has direct outputs you can mute the line level signal by switching a 600 ohm resistor in place of the signal and re-enter line level. In other words, the signal is opened and the 600 ohm resistor is substituted when muted. This avoids switch pop.

Some boards have remote control of the channel mute function. This is optimal.

Another method is to use a separate preamp with phantom power and use the line level method above before it goes into a line level input.

I hope this helps.

[Fuzz-O-Rama]

Angercat,

One other thing, you can use the phantom power to illuminate the led without the need for a battery. The current limiting resistor is determined by the following equation;

Supply voltage (48 volts) minus the forward voltage drop (Vf) of the LED divided by the LED's maximum current (Imax). All values are in Volts, Amps and Ohms! Vf and Imax can be found on the package or catalog page that you bought the LED from. Increasing the value of the current limiting resistor by 15% is a good idea. 48 volts can be found between both pin 2 and ground and pin 3 and ground. Latching SPST switch contacts on the foot switch will turn the LED on and off needless to say.

[snarblinge]

seperate preamp could be a small mixer. someone must have one, then you only need to mute the output, Line level mute as above.

also handy if the band get into samples / drum Effects.