Designing Microphone Preamplifiers

Designing Microphone Preamplifiers (344k)
by Gary Hebert, Chief Technology Officer, THAT Corporation
Presented at the 129th AES Convention
The tutorial stresses microphone preamplifiers as a fundamental building block in professional audio systems, with a legacy reaching back to the beginning of recording and provides a primer on microphone preamplifier design requirements, potential fault conditions and solutions. A sampling of amplifier circuits and topologies is presented, with a discussion on the compromises between cost, size, power consumption, noise, THD, CMR and other factors.