instructables

True Condenser OPA Mics

by DJJules

Let's build a couple of exceptional quality condenser microphones. These are true condensers as they are externally
biased. They use an Operational Ampli er, (Op-Amp or "OPA") based impedance converter circuit and a hex inverter
voltage multiplier for creating the bias voltage. One is your basic cardioid and the other uses a dual diaphragm that lets
us choose the response pattern. But we are doing that di erently than most microphones out there.
This Instructable is the culmination of a lot of microphone research, building, unbuilding, a few steps forward with a step
or two back. Sound and recording have always fascinated me and as a kid, while my friends got guitars, I built a
synthesizer. As their musicianship progressed, I was drawn to the tech and the mixing board. My rst “real” microphone
was a RadioShack PZM followed by a Sure SM57. Electronics always fascinated me and I built and designed a lot of
analog studio gear through the 1990’s. All with the mindset of keep it simple, keep it quiet, and keep it clean. And with
the thought of: Can I improve something a bit or do something di erent?
Then of course the digital world took over. I embraced it big time and knew it was the future for audio. I watched an
album in 1993 being mastered to an Apple computer with outboard A/D converters. It was mixed down from a Studer 2
inch 24 track via an analog mixing board. I knew things were changing. We had a 2 track reel to reel running as well, but
never needed to use it. I still feel that getting the audio into the digital realm as soon as possible is the best solution. Not
that there aren’t very cool analog things still out there, and tube guitar amps will always exist. OK, I digress. Back to the:
Keep it simple, clean, quiet, and oh yea, innovate.
That brings us to the two microphones we are building today. They are “true condenser” microphones that use transound
capsules, the TSC-1 and TSC-2. Both are center terminated, meaning there is an electrical connection and wire right in the
middle of the capsule. The other electrical connection is the backplate, which is the brass metal ring in the middle of the
mic capsule. These are similar to the Neumann K87 capsules. The other major style is the CK12. Those are edge
terminated. See the photos. The big di erence between the TSC-1 and the TSC-2 is that the TSC-2 allows you to get a
signal from both sides of the capsule. Normally that is used with the internal microphone electronics to allow you to
change the pattern of the mic from Omni, to Cardioid, to Figure 8. We will be doing that, but not internal to the
microphone. We are going to take both signals out of the mic body, allowing us to create whatever pattern we want in
post. That lets us do some very interesting things. Both microphones use the OPA impedance converter I layed out in a
previous instructable. For the TSC-2 we have a new board. This puts two of the OPA circuits on one board with a common
ground. This lets us bring both signals out of the mic with a 5-Pin XLR.
UPDATE!!!! I have worked with JLI electronics to have fully populated surface mount versions of all three circuit
boards available on their website. See here: https://www.jlielectronics.com/diy-accessories/

True Condenser OPA Mics: Page 1

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Step 1: A Brief History of Microphone Capsules and Global Supply Chains.

There are plenty of great documents out there on the history of microphone capsules. See this site. Georg Neumann, yes
the Georg Neumann, invented the multipattern mic with his team’s M7 capsule. This was 1948. So it has been a while. The
basic design for both the center terminated and edge terminated capsules have been around a long time and both are
great with subtle di erences in sound. See Matt’s great description at Microphone Parts Without getting into the internal
mechanical details of how they are machined, just know that there is a lot of precision required. And to repeatedly
manufacture them well requires a solid quality system in place and sound manufacturing practices. I mention this as to
why I chose these particular capsules. Globally there are several companies that either build directly or source condenser
capsules. Here are some really good ones in no particular order:
Beesneez, Australia, Beesneez
Peluso Microphones, US, Peluso Mic Lab
Microphone Parts, US Microphone-Parts
Telefunken, Germany (repair parts) Telefunken
The prices vary and all the Telefunken ones list as unavailable. There are also a lot of very inexpensive ones on ebay and
aliexpress, none of which I can vouch for. I can for the ones above. They are all good and you are free to use them as they
will all work with the rest of this project.
I found the ones I am using today through the same company that makes the TSB2555B’s and other electret capsules
used in my previous instructables, Transound. They are a Taiwanese company that is 20 years old and has a very robust
quality system. As an OEM, they make a lot of microphone capsules annually. A year ago I discovered their external bias
capsules and ordered a couple TSC-1’s. After a great build and some brainstorming, a couple TSC-2’s. Apart from their
great sonic qualities, the fact that the company has multiple ISO certi cations and has a history means that these should
be available for a while. They are used in multiple commercial microphones as well. For publishing DIY projects, being
able to get the parts is really important to me. I still get emails and comments from my original Modify A Cheap
Microphone instructable because people are still building it. The standalone through hole FET transistors used are still
available but are fading fast. There is a term used by engineers who have been around a while called “Unobtanium”,
meaning that something, usually something critical, is impossible to get. That is the nightmare of service and sourcing
teams everywhere. Here is my audio story of that: In my peak of analog design years a company called SSM (Solid State
Music / Solid State Micro Technology for Music) existed that made great analog synthesizer chips. They were later
acquired by Precision Monolithics, which was then bought by Analog Devices. Precision Monolithics released a dual
dynamic range processor, the SSM2120 in 1990. It was a dual VCA with log level detectors built in. In short, it was the
building block for a fantastic compressor or downward noise expander/gate. I was connected with the product manager
for it, had engineering samples up front and helped design the reference circuits for the data sheet. I built many of them
and put them into every channel of an analog console in Central Florida used by, among others, Deep Purple in the early
90’s. I also licensed my compressor design to PAiA electronics as a kit and wrote several DIY articles on how to build
them. Then in the mid 90’s, they went obsolete. No notice. This was right about the time you could easily do compression
digitally with a DSP chip. I mention this as I am very sensitive to supply chains and parts availability. Do not take them for
granted.
The other thing we need to turn a capsule into working microphones is a bias voltage generator. All my other mic
building Instructables have used electret capsules, meaning that an internal charge was supplied by the material and
construction. In this case we need an external voltage to supply that charge. We are going to use a hex inverter voltage
multiplier to take 12 VDC from the OPA boards and turn that into 80 VDC. Additionally the saddle to hold the capsules is
3D printed and available from Shapeways. The STL le is also included here for those that have access to a 3D printer.

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Step 2: Theory and How It Works Part

These are condenser microphones. The heart of this is a capsule with a xed backplate and thin exible diaphragm that is
“metalized” so it will be conductive. These form a capacitor typically in the 10-60 picofarad range. Smaller capsules, less
capacitance. The exible diaphragm will move due to sound waves in the air. Not a lot of motion, but enough that if there
is a voltage applied to the capsule to charge it, we can pick up the changes in the voltage due to the sound waves
moving the diaphragm. That is how a condenser microphone works. There are internal mechanical characteristics
involved with them as well, but that is beyond the scope of where we are going today.
OK, how much voltage is needed? That is a great question that I set out to answer. Traditionally (as in today) capsules are
typically 60 VDC. Historically some older tube microphones used 100 VDC. Brüel & Kjær use 200 VDC or more on some of
their small ½” capsules. Changing the voltage does a few things. It changes the sensitivity of the microphone by the ratio
of the voltage di erence, larger voltage, more sensitivity. It can also change the frequency response by stretching the
diaphragm. Brüel & Kjær goes into detail in their handbook here. RØDE microphones use 80 VDC in a few of their mics.
For these mics we are using 80 VDC, giving us a bit more sensitivity. With the OPA circuit we are using we created a
"virtual ground" meaning that it is low impedance to function as a signal return path, but it isn't actually at Zero volts. it is
about 5.5-6V depending on the zener diodes actual voltage. Even though the zener is rated at 12V after ltering etc. we
are down around 11.5 ish. Our virtual ground is 1/2 of that. End result the bias voltage on the condenser is about 75.
Traditionally this is provided by a small transistor oscillator using a couple of small coils and capacitor diode voltage
doublers. I was trying to stay away from through hole transistors and de nitely coils. I knew a couple mics out there, CAD
in particular were using CMOS inverters to drive the voltage multiplier circuit, so that is what I decided to do.
We are doing this with a hex inverter using a 4584 or a 40106, either will work. The key specs are that they are Schmitt-
Trigger and that they will work with 12VDC or higher. A “Schmitt Trigger” means that as the input changes on an input,
the inverter will change state as you cross a certain threshold and it won't change back until the threshold is exceeded in
the opposite direction. This provides hysteresis and provides a nice clean square wave for us. Both data sheets explain
how this works. We are using one of the inverters as an oscillator with a 1nF capacitor and a 10K resistor. This gives us
about 100Khz -ish for a clock frequency, well above the audio range. Then the next ve inverter stages are used as
voltage multipliers. Doing this with a CMOS inverter was invented in the 1980's. See this for background.
Here is how this works. One end of our diode string is attached to +12VDC. Assume that the output of the rst stage is
ground. The capacitor for that stage starts through the diode connected to the supplied voltage. When the output of the
inverter stage changes from ground to 12 volts on the next clock cycle, that raises the “ground side” of the capacitor up
by 12 volts. Assuming that the capacitor is fully charged, that brings the positive side of the capacitor to 24 volts, which
will then conduct through the next diode to charge the next stage capacitor to up to 24 volts. Now as we move down
each stage, on opposite clock cycles we are adding about 12 volts to each stage. The beauty of all this is we need
negligible current. Just enough to apply a bias voltage to the capsule. After six stages of adding 12 volts we end up with
72 volts on top of our original 12 or about 84V max. Following the inverter stages we have an RC lter. This cleans up any
ripple or noise left from the process. A 1M resistor supplies the voltage to the capsule. Taking into account voltage drops
across the diodes, and other fun things, we end up with about 80 supplied to the capsule. The original 12 volts is
supplied by the OPA board from the zener regulator circuit. Both the original OPA board and the new two channel one
bring this out to a connection point. Interestingly, there are some mics out there that actually use the incoming phantom
power to directly supply the bias voltage. In a perfect world, that would be 48 volts, which doesn't sound bad. The reality
is that the voltage is always lower because the internal electronics draw power and lower the voltage supplied. Most are
about 34 volts. Remember, the 48 volts is in series with two 6.81K resistors, one to pin 2, and one to pin3, of the input
preamps XLR connector.
Now onto the impedance converter. We are using the same one from this instructable for the TSC-1 microphone and a
two channel version for the dual diaphragm capsule. I can't stress enough how good these are and how well they
perform. There are two functions that the internal electronics need to perform. The circuit has to have a very high

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impedance so that it does not load down the capsule. This was originally done via a tube and then later with a fet. Then it
needs to be able to drive a long microphone cable while not a ecting the signal. This circuit achieves that really well.
Interestingly, the Operational Ampli er or "OPA" we are using, the OPA1642, can swing rail to rail so the capsule will
distort long before the internal electronics. The noise oor of the circuit makes it less of a factor than the capsule self
noise, and overall the electronics have about a 130db dynamic range (if I put on my marketing hat). One small change in
components. On the OPA boards we are using wima polyester .1uF capacitors now. I originally spec'ed a MLCC one that
can exhibit a “microphonic” phenomenon. This was pointed out to me and while they can, I’ve never noticed it and
decided to experiment. I put one in place of the capsule in my OPA Alice build. If you tap it with a small screwdriver, you
can get some sound. Real world: You would have to drop the microphone or hit it to have any e ect, and that will be
swamped by the dropping noise anyway. But, for the sake of argument, I replaced them in the BOM for this build. They
are 61 cents each vs 41 cents for the old ones from Mouser. They are also used for ltering and not in the audio path
either so I am most certainly not retro tting anything I have already built. :-)

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Step 3: Lets Build Them!

The nal thing we will need to build the mics are donor bodies. I wanted something nicer than a BM-800 body for
these and found something called a “mini U87” on Aliexpress. I bought a pair based on a recommendation of a friend
and was very impressed. The rst of two orders were machined very well and made out of some kind of copper/bronze
alloy. So took all the paint o and hand polished them giving me a steampunk retro look. I built two of each and then
realized I can do something really cool with three of the dual capsule one’s so I went to order another body and… They
were discontinued. I found something that looked similar and ordered it. OMG, supply chain at its nest here: The body
is great and physically identical to the original orders machining included, except it was made of a silvery metal I am
assuming is a zinc based alloy. And it came with a mic mount that looks just like the original Neumann U87… Except it
doesn't t the mic body. No worries for what we are doing. You can use any donor body from the BM-800 to some of
the more inexpensive MXL microphones. Enough already, let's build them!
Parts List: All the PCB’s are available to order from PCBWay. They do a fantastic job and are very inexpensive. One note
on color selection. In the past I ordered red, blue and green, which are all great with white silk screen. My rst batch of

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 the Dual Channel boards I picked yellow. Because I thought it might look cool. It really doesn't, it really isn’t yellow, and
it is hard to read the white silkscreen with it. Stick with one of the primary colors. I do recommend a di erent color for
each board type so they are easy to tell apart at a glance. Huge shout out to Homero Leal who laid these out and let me
upload them. We are working on fully populated versions if there is interest. And my only request here. If you order the
boards please consider tipping us. We make no money o of these and it helps buy the next build.
PCB’s: Hex Inverter Multiplier Hex Inverter Multiplier
Single Channel Dual OPA Circuit (For the TSC-1) Single Channel
Two Channel Dual OPA Circuit Dual Channel
Complete BOM is attached with a separate sheet for each PCB. Mouser part numbers are included.
Update September 16th 2021: All circuit boards are available from JLI Electronics fully populated with surface
mount components. https://www.jlielectronics.com/diy-accessories/
You can now build these with minimal soldering!
We will need a ve pin XLR insert for these and the easiest solution I have found (as in least expensive) is to buy one of
these and disassemble: This
For the dual output mic, a breakout cable is needed:
1 5Pin Female XLR
2 3Pin Male XLR
10 ft of dual mic cable
White and Red XLR boots Select the color when adding to the order
The TSC-1 Capsule (single output Cardioid)
The TSC-2 Capsule (dual output) Donor Body - See Text
K87 saddle, 3D printed
Servo grommets
Metric small screw assortment
M2.5 Screw assortment

https://youtu.be/3eTXtgDAicI

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Step 4: Final Construction and Notes

Some nal construction notes:

If you have any buzz or handling noise, please ensure that you sand the surfaces of the body parts that come into
contact with each other. Usually the o ending part is the body cylinder, speci cally the ends. If there is paint on the end,
it won’t conduct so it wont connect to ground.
The OPA board really needs to be clean, especially around the 1Gig resistor and the OPA itself. I use water based ux
when I solder and clean it o with dish soap and water and a small scrub brush like a toothbrush. Then rinse with
isopropyl alcohol and thoroughly dry.
If you don’t get 80VDC at the 1M resistor and diode junction at the output, check the diode polarities. I had one
backwards on a build and it caused some weirdness. The Hex Inverter board also needs to be really clean as well. One of
the downsides to water based ux is when damp, it conducts. So it is a ected by humidity.
UPDATE: Added Troubleshooting Guide March 2022

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Step 5: Testing and Usage

I powered mine up with headphones and ensure that you get output from both sides of the capsule. With both inputs
panned center, turn the preamp gains all the way down and bring up just the front capsule while talking into it. Get close
and intimate and you should hear the proximity e ect. Now slowly raise the rear capsule level and as the gains become
even, the mic becomes a full omni and the proximity e ect will go away. Keep raising it and you will start making it
cardioid, but with the rear capsule dominant as it will be out of phase with the front based on it facing away from you.
Here are the general patterns that microphones can have:
To make them in post you record both channels and then do this:
For Omni: Equal mix of Front and Rear.
For Subcardioid: Mix in less of the Rear.
For Cardioid: Just the Front. In fact, you can just plug the front XLR in and use it standalone as a Cardioid microphone.
For Figure 8: Equal Mix of the Front and the Rear with the Rear polarity inverted.
For Hypercardioid and Supercardioid:
Mix in less level of the Rear with inverted polarity. (Who invented those terms?)

I made this a pdf that is vector so you can zoom in for detail. Now here is the best part: What if you are using the mic as a
gure eight and didn't quite get the null spot for the sound you don't want? Well if you look at the graphs for gure 8 you
see the null is exactly at 90 and 270. Of you look at the Hyper Cardioid, the null is about 30 degrees more to the back of
the mic. Just by adjusting the level up and down of the rear, you can steer the null spot in post. How cool is that?

True Condenser OPA Mics: Page 20

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Step 6: Wrap Up

Thank you to Homero Leal for the PCB layouts, Tom Benedict for the capsule holder CAD design and Kady Speeks and her
voice for being my microphone tester.
I'm not the rst person to think about taking both signals out of the mic simultaneously. Here are links to commercial
ones and their stories along with some great reading material. To me we are getting to the point where it is harder for a
DIY guy to sort out the mechanical switches etc to make the mic pattern selectable than it is to just get it all out of the
mic. The cost and quality of multichannel interfaces has dropped dramatically along with the storage and editing power
of today's computers. My Microphone Parts RK12 built has an internal switch for Omni and Cardioid. I have to unscrew
the mic body to get to it. And then remember that I left it in Omni when I can't gure out why the vocals are not right… If
I am doing my math right these builds have about an 8 or 9dB of self noise, truly world class. I’m working on a test setup
for this to verify and will update. Just as a Honda and Toyota drove changes in manufacturing quality for cars, that same
progress has happened across the boards in most mechanical things. Check out a TSC-1 or 2 capsule. You will be
impressed.
https://www.neumann.com/homestudio/en/what-is-a-co...
https://en-de.neumann.com/ le- nder
https://www.lewitt-audio.com/microphones/lct-recor...
http://www.sennheiser.com/studio-condenser-microph...
https://austrian.audio/oc818/
https://microphone-parts.com/pages/introduction-to...

True Condenser OPA Mics: Page 21

It would be awesome to get a list of recommendations for donor bodies for this instructable. I
think I used the one Jules recommended from aliexpress which can be found at
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005002270536498.html . What other bodies have people used?
Thanks.
Just finished single side one and I love it so much!! Thank you for your amazing knowledge!

Really amazing sound! For about £50 in parts and some weekend tinkering I've ended up with a
£600+ quality sounding mic.

I managed to source some OPA1642s from China. The surface mount soldering really wasn't too
bad using fine tipped soldering iron and a magnifying lamp.

I struggled to get the vreg for the DC-DC voltage multiplier board and managed to literally send
what I thought was an equivalent up in flames! However I realised the hex inverter could run
straight off the 12V input, so just put a link across the D8 and left the vreg unpopulated.

A huge thanks to DJ Jules for helping me troubleshoot a white noise issue. I used a metal cheap
imitation U87 body from AliExpress and a tiny metal spur from the body was touching a
component pad. Once that was filed away the mic worked beautifully!

This is the most detailed instruction on how to build a true condenser capsule instead of a
electret one I have found yet.

First found your Alice BM-800 mod, but that was electret capsule as well.

I want to mod a BM-700 knockoff and sloppy measurement a TSC-1 capsule will barely fit.

Will try the single capsule cause I don't want to mod XLR cables as well so I need to start
ordering parts from places which don't charge astronomical shipping to europe. Probably end up
at aliexpress again.

Question, the circuit uses a reverse biased diode to supply 12v into the voltage amplifier. I
assume phantom power still powers the mic at 48v only that the circuit can work work at less
than 48v cause some audio interfaced are not entirely consistent in the voltage they supply?

Or am I wrong?

Thank you very much and I wish you happy holidays.

I'm interested in the answer to that question "Question, the circuit uses a reverse biased diode to
supply 12v into the
voltage amplifier. I assume phantom power still powers the mic at 48v
only that the circuit can work work at less than 48v cause some audio
interfaced are not entirely consistent in the voltage they supply?", that's the thing I wanted to
know with my question (see below), but maybe my formulation was not precise/correct enough :-

True Condenser OPA Mics: Page 22

S. So you need a 48v phantom power supply, or you need a 12v to supply the OPA board ?
-> OK I got the answer in re-watching your video where you talk about the condenser used and
the fact that they might see the 48v from the phantom supply :-D
Technically you need just filtered clean 12VDC to run the board. I have run some on a nine volt
battery in a non microphone application. The circuit takes the 48V phantom (which is already in
series with two 6.8K resistors and then it goes to a "classic" resistor fed Zener circuit that
provides 12V. There are then a couple RC filters before the OPA supply pin. You end up with
about 11.8VDC at the supply of the OPA. The caps may see 48V when "hot plugging" the cable.
Most condenser mics work the same.
I just built a pair of these into BM-700 Bodies. They are Neewer donor bodies, Make quite the
stealth really good mic! Used them as outriggers for an Orchestra and Choir recently, along with
voiceover for my YouTube videos. They are TSC-1 and JLI boards for internals.

Nice, looks great.

I ordered the PCBs and now looking at the BOMs for the Alice. Could you help me please? The
667-EEU-EB1J470SJ isn't in stock anymore on mouser till february so I looked at similar caps
with same or longer lifespan. Which one do you suggest or should I get a batch of each to try?

598-476KXM063M
710-860040774002
647-ULD1J470MPD1TD

Thank you,

PS. It is about twice as expensive to order enough parts to mod 10 as it is to mod 1 mic (not
counting the capsule) cause of shipping fees I get free shipping if I pass a threshold. I guess I will
have spares to do future mics for friends...
I would go with these 647-ULD1J470MPD1TD

With that said any good one from a reliable vendor will be fine. The Nichiconones have 270ish in
stock with a long lead time. And Yes! It is not much more to buy in bulk. For resistors and small
caps, I buy in 100's. Other things... Depends lol.
May I ask a dum question ? I'm really impressed by your tutorial about the build of this really
impressive mic that seems accessible but I have to admit that I know almost nothing about sound
recording, processing, operating, etc. If I'm understand correctly, condenser microphone need to
be supply with a voltage to operate, this is usually done with a phantom power supply of 48v. In
your design, you use the hex inverter to power it from 12v, does it mean that you you use a
phantom power supply of 12v?
Thanks for your response, and again, really good job for this build and the others
The hex inverter takes 12V and multiplies it to 80V (or so). It get the 12V from the zener supply
on the OPA board. https://www.jlielectronics.com/content/Full%20Condenser_Rev2.pdf
This has to be among the very best Instructables that I have read on this platform. Among its
many qualities, the detailed references have to be commended. Providing references is certainly
one of the most disregarded (although essential) elements in most write ups here.
I guess that your Instructable’s technicality may brush off less savvy builders, however. You may
want to make a “lighter” version aimed at people interested in the build itself but missing the
True Condenser OPA Mics: Page 23
technical knowledge to follow the rational behind your choices (if you are so inclined, of course).
I believe I am going to dig a bit deeper into your build and into several of your references too, for
a research project I have been supervising recently. Would you mind me asking you a couple of
technical questions over email, once I have done my homework ? “ No time for that“ is a perfectly
acceptable answer of course (which is precisely why I prefer to ask first rather than bombarding
people with technical inquiries first-hand).
In all cases, your write-up has already shed some light on a few questions I was wondering about
recently, so a big thank you for your work.
No problem. If I have time, I will help

Thanks, I will get back to you when I have done my homework first. As a side-note, I just noticed
that I used an outdated account for my comment here above. This one is the correct one.
Awesome project and write up! Well done JR. I'm curious, have you ever built a hydrophone to
record the sounds underwater? Like in a submarine. LOL
Don

Well, Don as a matter of fact I have. And... It will be an Instrucable soon

https://youtu.be/iQl6SKDrHa8
Well, this is just an outstanding instructable. Fantastic really. As far as performance, where would
you put this mic in comparison to other commercial mics out there. On the low end there are all
sorts of no name mics or even something like Behringer which I have the C1 large diaphragm
and more expensive mics like the Shure, Rhode, or even the ridiculously priced Neumann mics?
I'm very much concidering building your single channel version since I have no need for the dual.
Thanks for such a great instructable!
Thank you! I will put this up against the big boys any day. I own a U87ai and it is on par with it.
The capsule is the limiting factor for SPL handling and the self noise is on par with the U87.
I wish I had the know-how to pull this off, but nevertheless it's so amazing to just read, watch, and
dream about. Thanks for sharing your incredible work!
It was fun, and probably not the last one.
Thank you Jules

Thanks so much for your instructables. They are fantastic! I built one of your true condensor mics
using a single channel Dual OPA board with a RK47 capsule
(https://www.jlielectronics.com/microphone-capsules/jli-rk47/) I bought from JLI electronics. This is
a 2 sided capsule... Am I right in thinking that if I connect up both sides of the capsule to signal
input I will have an omni directional microphone and if I only connect one side it will be a
cardioid? Thanks!
Still working out grounding issues, but so far the one that works is awesome.

Another fantastic mic project. Thank you sir! Decided to build a single pattern version first. Can't
wait to start on the multi pattern version.
True Condenser OPA Mics: Page 24
Thank you! So glad to see these get built.

Another great fun project. Built a couple of these, one for myself and one for my brother (who's
also a vocalist). I opted to stick with a tradtional single diaphragm, as I wanted to see for myself
how this mic would sound with another cheap 34mm capsule. They've pretty good quality. I'd say
as good as a Rode NT1A, if not a touch warmer. Again, the noise floor is pretty much the best
I've ever heard.

The next one will have a edge terminated dual diaphragm.

Great work Jules, and thanks again for this trully phenominal guide!

You are welcome! I am very happy with the noise floor as well. I am delinquent on actually testing
it hahah. I plan on that.
Thanks for all the great information and projects you have posted. Have had a wonderful time
learning and building the microphones and derivatives from your excellent instructables.
Thank you, so cool to know people are building these.

You used the term OPA 16 times, but you never said what it means. I looked up a list of about
100 acronyms at https://acronyms.thefreedictionary.com/OPA
but none seemed to fit. I know what OTA means (Operational Transconductance Amp), and I
thought that OPA might be a parametric amp, but I only know of them being used in microwave
stuff - waveguides, etc. So without knowing that, I was unable to understand a lot of your article.
Yea, thanks for that. I am usung it for Operational Amplifier. Specifically this one:
https://www.ti.com/lit/ds/symlink/opa1642.pdf
I think I "took" the term from abbreviating it. I'll update the instructable.
Thanks for the reply, DJJules. The amplifier you used is
called the OPA1642, but I think that's just its part name, like in
"HD74LS08P", the chip circuit is a 7408, the L is Low power, the S
shows Shottky
clamping diodes on its inputs, and P means it has a plastic packaging,
but I don't know if HD means something or not. I suspect it's just
part of a part number, and if OPA means something on OPA1642, then I'm
equally bamfoozled by it. But I'm easily bamfoozled!
However,
though the term lost some meaning for me, it was still a good
Instructible, and you have clearly spent some time researching the
subject, so what can I say? Well done! The world needs more people
like you.
Hi Zanod, just to bring some extra clarity:
What DJJules did is entirely typical in the electronics industry. There are so many opamps, each
of which emphasize different performance, that the only reasonable way to reference them is by
their specific part number. To further abbreviate the part by simply referring to it as the "OPA" is

True Condenser OPA Mics: Page 25

reasonable given that he only uses one kind of opamp in the project.

Now, the "OPA" part of the part number means that the op-amp probably came from TI's Burr
Brown division, which has historically marked their opamps with the OPA prefix; but that's all that
it means.

DJJules: Great write up. Thank you so much for doing this.
I don't disagree with you, pgv100, and as long as you already know the abbreviation, the entire
article would make immediate sense - but having spent a lifetime in the industry, I didn't know it,
and because it was used many times over throughout the article, I lost a lot of meaning from it,
although I did get the general gist. As I pointed out above, I looked it up in a list of about 100
abbreviations, and didn't find it. I, also, have written many technical articles, and I have always
made a point of explaining abbreviations the first time they are used. If an abbreviation is to be
used only once in an article, it is best left out and the expanded form used instead. For example,
if I was going to write an article about abbreviations, that would use the term many times, then I
might write "The much used TLA (Three Letter Abbreviation) is a very handy means of reducing
the verbage of a technical article. TLAs are ....."
That's fair. There's more room for more clarity.

"the Operational Amplifier or "OPA" we are using, "

Actually it´mentioned.
somehow came to miy mind to tell you that this is common . very common knowledge for anyone
reading this kinda technical stuff...
Hey DJJules, great work! As a singer and maker, this is definitely a high priority project for me! My
PCB order will arrive in two days, and I had a donor mic body already at home! ;-)
USB studio mic with very poor performance, now it will have a second life!
One question: R5 and R15, are they 200 Ohms or 330 Ohms?
Your circuit plan and the BOM list have different values.
Go on doing nice stuff like so!
Indie from Germany
Actually either will work. Homero modeled it with 330. I used 200 with my build. There is a slight
difference in voltage to the zener and I wanted a bit better margin - And I had 200’s on hand.
it's very beautiful!

Amazing and explained good but very lengthy....so that i didn't read it whole.
Nice !!
Haha!

Amazingly built and also well explained

Thanks!

Interesting presentation. I will try this project.

Congratulations!
Nice! You will like it!

Oh wow! PAiA Electronics kits! I built quite a few of their kits. Loved them! I still have one or two
(sadly, others have "disappeared)..Another company that sold great audio kits around that time
was Mark-IV it Mark-V (memory is also sadly lost ). They sold a line of audio kits, Pre-amps and
main amps. Different classes.
Bare boards, partial kits, full kits, or assembled/tested.
I purchased a Class-D PCB board from them; soon after, they disappeared from the
True Condenser OPA Mics: Page 26
advertisement section of the electronics kits, so I missed the chance to get more.

Different times, 60's 70's early 80's.

Yes! My First Synth was a 4700 series kit of theirs. It was an honor to have John call me up after
a magazine article came out and ask if they could carry it as a kit. We did a few really cool ones
including the FatMan synth.
Great 'ible!
Who else was hearing Paula Abdul by the self of this sentence?
"This Instructable is the culmination of a lot of microphone research, building, unbuilding, a few
steps forward with a step or two back."

Thank you for your work

Thank you! And there might have been just a bit of Paula Abdul in there. Hmmmm. :-)

Great project and documentation :D

The challenge for the microphone capsule is it's size, so the diaphragm film layer has to be very
close the backplane to get a decent capacitance. ELectrostatic speakers, use the same principle
but a lot more surface area.

True Condenser OPA Mics: Page 27