SMALL CIRCUITSCOLLECTION

Balanced Microphone Amplifier

T. Giesberts phantom supply +48V

+15V
S1

A number of years ago

(November 1997), we R3 C4
R1 R2 +15V C3

47k
published a design for
6k8

6k8
100n
47
a stereo microphone 63V IC1 V+ C7
preamplifier with bal- D3 D1 7

K1 1 VIN INA217 100n

anced inputs and a 2 6k 6k
C1 R6 A1
phantom power sup- 3
82 1
RG1 5k
ply. The heart of this 47
VOUT
63V
2 XLR 4x
circuit was a special 1N4148 A3 6
C2 P1
Analog Devices IC, the RG2 5k
8 R7
SSM2017. Unfortu- 47 R4 R5 1k6 A2

1M
63V D4 D2 3 6k 6k
2k2

2k2
nately, this IC has been VIN +

4 5 C6
discontinued. In its V REF 100n
place, the company
C5
recommends using the IC2
-15V 100n
pin-compatible AMP02 7 2
6 OPA
from its current product 137 3
line. However, and 4

again unfortunately, the specifications of this opamp make it

C8
considerably less suitable for use as a microphone amplifier.
By contrast, Texas Instruments (in their Burr Brown product 100n

line) offer an integrated instrumentation amplifier (type

1NA217) that has better specifications for this purpose. Inci-
dentally, this IC is also recommended as a replacement for the
SSM2017. It features internal current feedback, which ensures
low distortion (THD + noise is 0.004 % at a gain of 100), low
input-stage noise (1.3 nV/Hz) and wide bandwidth (800 kHz
at a gain of 100). The supply voltage range is 4.5 V to 18 V.
The maximum current consumption of the 1NA217 is 12 mA.
The gain is determined by only one resistance, which is the
resistance between pins 1 and 8 of the IC.
The circuit shown here is a standard application circuit for this
instrumentation amplifier. R1 and R2 provide a separate phan-
tom supply for the microphone connected to the amplifier (this
is primarily used with professional equipment). This supply can
be enabled or disabled using S1. C1 and C2 prevent the phan-
tom voltage from appearing at the inputs of the amplifier. If a
phantom supply is not used, R1 and R2 can be omitted, and it
is then better to use MKT types for C1 and C2. Diodes D1D4
are included to protect the inputs of the 1NA217 against high
input voltages (such as may occur when the phantom supply
is switched on). R4 and R5 hold the bias voltage of the input
-15V 034054 - 11
taper audio potentiometer is recommended for P1 to allow the
volume adjustment to follow a linear dB scale.
The input bias currents (12 A maximum!) produce an offset
voltage across the input resistors (R4 and R5). Depending on
the gain, this can lead to a rather large offset voltage at the
output (several volts). If you want to avoid using a decoupling
capacitor at the output, an active offset compensation circuit
provides a solution. In this circuit, a FET-input opamp with a
low input offset (an OPA137) is used for this purpose. It acts
as an integrator that provides reverse feedback to pin 5, so the
DC output level is always held to 0 V. This opamp is not in the
audio signal path, so it does not affect signal quality. Naturally,
other types of low-offset opamps could also be used for this
purpose.
The current consumption of the circuit is primarily determined
by the quiescent current of IC1, since the OPA137 consumes
only 0.22 mA.
(034054-1)

stage at ground potential. The gain is made variable by includ-

ing potentiometer P1 in series with R6. A special reverse log- (from a Texas Instruments application note)

2 Elektor Electronics 7-8/2003