Monday 27 April 2015

Condenser Microphone Capsule (Driver Circuit)

I received many request on powering a condenser microphone capsule and to use it direct with PC soundcard.I searched the whole internet and found that there is no method to drive the "Small Diaphragm" condenser microphone capsule without 48v phantom power. There are many other circuits that requires phantom power to power up the capsule. And also these circuits has the output of an XLR jack that can be connected to the intefaces. But the problem is that not everyone have the interface. So, if you wanna play with a capsule without spending money on buying some interfaces or phantom power you can use my circuit which is given below:

Yes, you don't need to use a 1G Ohm resistance which is almost in every circuit. Your microphone is really gonna work.
Most common examples of the capsule that are available in the market or online market are:
  • TSB160a
  • TSB165a
If the capsule is back electrek, you dont need to supply power to it. But if its not then you can add a seperate battery like shown in  the diagram below: 

VALUES OF COMPONENTS:

So, if you have any other capsule that isn't back electrek (That doesn't has charge on back plate) you need to supply it power. For the small diaphragm capsule. The value of R1 at 1.5v is typically 4.7k 10k and for 9v it should be 5.6k to 12k.
A Pretty Standard value for C1 is 0.1uF. But you can change it depends upon your capsule and your requirements.

NOTE:

Noise is the biggest issue while playing with any material related to audio. So, to prevent the noise just take a suitable metal housing for your capsule and connect the circuit's GND terminal with the housing. This will minimize the noise.
GOOD LUCK ..! :)
See ya. In the next project (IA).