Hello everybody,

I kind of have a silly noob question, but: is it okay to leave an XLR cable in the input that is not connected to anything and turn the phantom power on? I have two XLR cables in inputs 1 and 2 of my 18i8 and they receive phantom power together. Sometimes I use both to power a pair of stereo small condenser mics, but at other times I only use one of them to power a large condenser mic. I am wondering if it is okay to leave the second cable in while it is not attached to a mic and I put on the phantom power.

Also, I usually use inputs 3 and 4 for guitar or bass as a direct in with a guitar cable. If I by accident have my guitar plugged into the interface and turn on the phantom power for that input, will that fry my guitars pickups (or intermediate pedalbord if attached as well)?

These sounds like stupid questions, but I would very much prefer not to find out via frying >1k worth of equipment.