lektor post Project No.

61

KaraOkay
Microphone Amplifier
with adjustable tone
control, USB power
and loudspeaker
output
By Elektor Labs India

Note: early prototype pictured; deviates in some respects

from final version

Here is an all-analog, lamy on his Muse concerts). IC1a operates

all-through-hole, cheap as a non-inverting amplifier with the electret
& cheerful preamplifier microphone signal applied to pin 3 via coupling
for that perennial prob- capacitor C1, and the bias voltage applied to
lem of getting the micro- the microphone element via R3. IC1a’s ampli-
phone amplification just fication factor A is determined by the ratio
right, which is a challenge of R8 to one of three combinations allowed
not only with the faithful by R4–R7. Let’s call that resistance, Req. At
reproduction of lead vocals switch position ‘1’ i.e. with R5 switched into
during concerts and record- the circuit by S1, the factor will be:
ings, but also with camp-
fire and karaoke-ish perfor- Req = R4 || R5 || R7 = 449 Ω
mances specially when the A(1) = (1 + R8 / Req) = 223.7 ≡ 47 dB
beer takes hold.
The two operational ampli- Likewise with S1 at its center position a factor
fiers of the circuit, IC1a and A(2) of about 14 (23 dB) is selected, and finally
IC1b are contained in s sin- with R6 switched-in (S1 position 3) A(3) works
gle TLC272 package. The out as 60 (35 dB). With selector S1 offering
TLC272 was selected mainly different gains, the circuit can be matched to
for its low noise contribu- different input levels, microphones, vocalists,
tion, which is essential in a and beer levels.
microphone (pre)amplifier The tone control stage is arranged around
as the original signal from the next opamp, IC1b. Here the ratio R16/
the microphone is relatively R15 sets the gain at about 18 dB. The effect
weak (except for Matt Bel- of R14-C2 is, in principle, the same as R4

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 lektor post Project No. 61

+5V C15
K1 5 3 47n
2 R1
Bass P1 100k
USB 1 8 C6

330R
C11 C16
6 4 IC1 R9 R13 R10 100p
R3 LED1 R16
100n 220u
50V 4 2M2

10k

12k

10k
R18 C9
10k

C10
* *

1k2
K3 C1 10u 50V
3 4u7 +5V
C4 50V
1 6
100n IC1a 1
2 7 3 6
4u7 IC1b 8 C14
R2 R4 R5 R6 50V 5 5
IN R11 R12 R14 R15 IC2
C3 C8 2
470R

LM386 220u
10k

2k2
1M

270k
4

4k7

4k7

3k3
+5V 7
50V
4n7 10u
2 R8 P2 50V
1 3 K2
R19 100k
P3 C13
470k
S1 Treble
10k

47n
Volume 10k OUT
R20 R7 R17
C5 C7 IC1 = TLC272 C2 C12

10R
27k
10k

1u 10u 2n2 10u

50V 50V 50V

140101-11

and C7: a smaller value of C2 increases the fication is 20, which is recommended here.
lower cutoff frequency. The real tone control For an amplification of 200, fit capacitor C9
however it the RC network inserted between and replace R18 with a wire. With both R18
IC1a and IC1b. Potentiometer P1 sets the and C9 in place the amplification is about 50.
bass level, and P2 the treble level. The two As a good alternative to a dedicated power
capacitors in the network, C15 and C3, behave supply, and in good 201x
as frequency-dependent resistances for alter- fashion the ampli-
nating voltages. fier is powered
The tone control stage is followed by a small over a USB-B
power amplifier based on the venerable LM386 cable via K1, with
in standard configuration complete with interference sup-
Boucherot net-
work C13-R17
to dampen out
the effects of
loudspeaker
impedance
fluctuations
that may cause
motorboating
and other forms
o f i n s t a b i l i t y.
Output power will
be of the order of a few hun-
dred milliwatts driving a small
8-ohm loudspeaker (kept well out
of the microphone’s vicinity).
The LM386’s gain is internally set to 20 to
keep external part count low, but the addi-
tion of external parts R18-C9 between pins 1
and 8 allows the gain to be set to 20, 50 or Note: early prototype pictured; deviates in some
200. Without R18 and C9 the LM386’s ampli- respects from final version.

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 lektor post Project No. 61

pression and some buffering afforded by C11 input and USB supply connectors K3 and K1
and C16 respectively. are all on the PCB, avoiding wiring that would
The two opams are biased at 0.5 Vcc with the make the circuit susceptible to hum and noise.
help of voltage divider R19-R20. The photos illustrate a suggested method of
The circuit is built on the printed circuit board housing the amplifier board in a compact,
shown here, which was designed for com- strong but not beer resistant, ABS case.
pactness and low noise. The tone and volume (140101)
controls P1, P2 and P3 as well as microphone

Component List
Resistors C6 = 100pF 50V, Y5P, 0.1’’ pitch
R1 = 330Ω C7,C8,C9,C12 = 10µF 50V, 2mm pitch, 5x11 mm
R2 = 1MΩ C13,C15 = 47nF 50V, X7R, 0.1’’ pitch
R3,R4,R9,R10,R19,R20 = 10kΩ C14,C16 = 220µF, 50V, 5mm pitch
R5 = 470Ω
R11,R12 = 4.7kΩ Semiconductors
R6 = 2.2kΩ IC1 = TLC272 or OPA2350PA
R7 = 27kΩ IC2 = LM386
R8 = 100kΩ LED1 = LED, red, 3mm
R13 = 12kΩ
R14 = 3.3kΩ Miscellaneous
R15 = 270kΩ K1 = USB type-B receptacle, right angle
R16 = 2.2MΩ K2,S1 = SIL pinheader, 0.1’’ pitch
R17 = 10Ω K3 = 3.5-mm stereo jack socket, PCB mount
R18 = 1.2kΩ (see text) S1 = switch, SPDT, center-off
P1 = 100kΩ lin. potentiometer IC socket, DIP-8
P2 = 470kΩ lin. potentiometer Casing, e.g. Bud Industries CU-793, Digikey #
P3 = 10kΩ log. potentiometer 377-1167-ND
PCB # 140101
Capacitors
C1,C11 = 100nF 50V, X7R, 0.2’’ pitch
C2 = 2.2nF 50V, 0.1’’ pitch
C3 = 4.7nF 100V, X7R, 0.1’’ pitch
C4,C10 = 4.7µF, 50 V, 2 mm pitch, 5x11 mm
C5 = 1µF 50V, 2mm pitch

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