Super-cheap preamp

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pstamler

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 24, 2005
Messages
1,509
Location
St. Louis, MO, USA
Hi folks:

A few years ago, there was a posting someplace by some guy who claimed that he'd designed a $15 preamp that was as good as anything going. Hooey, of course.

Anyway, does anyone have the URL for this? I've been googling for half an hour and can't find it. Thanks!

Peace,
Paul
 
Well, I guess it needs a lorlin and a few resistors for cheap best quality, hehe. I must check my TI chip stock for the ina217 - a great one-hour project to impress people with a battery powered high end pre!

Battery power rules. Not only in phone amps. A friend of mine once powered his high end stereo from a car battery. I was really impressed by the improvement!

Kind regards,
Martin
 
I remember Keith (SSLtech) once talking about the Neve Portico pres running of 12VDC wallwarts.. So you could run them off car batteries if need be in the field. I'd love to see that happen someday!

You may want to look at the THAT chips 1510 and 1512 for a couple of other options as Mic Pre in an IC.
 
So you could run them off car batteries if need be in the field. I'd love to see that happen someday!

I made a battery-powered pre... runs on 12Volts DC.  Actually, it will still run even down to 4.5VDC input. (with a smaller headroom and also you won't get 48V phantom power.. only 30+VDC).

TS2-Battery.jpg


With true 48V phantom power...

Phantom48V.jpg


Toggle switches recessed to avoid accidentally switching them in the field. Power On/off switch to conserve battery life. VU meter on/off switch to further conserve battery life. Locking switchcraft DC jack with screw, so your power plug won't get pulled out accidentally, and using normal sized XLR jacks, balanced in and outs.

TS-2Preamp-12.jpg


A customer uses my pre to record several hours long concerts (outdoors, in clubs, etc). He's using it with Microtech Gefell M200 mics.
 
Great built, owel!
I really like the details like small form factor, sturdy casing, all those things that make it look like a really cool mobile unit! High usability factor, cool battery pack.
Could have been made in Switzerland (first thought when I looked at the pictures...).

Kind regards,
Martin
 
I built the most super basic preamp in the universe based on the That1510 datasheet.

It features:

• no phantom power
• no adjustable gain (fixed at 60dB)
• unbalanced output

basically, none of the features you expect in a mic amp. I did it just to see if it would work. It sounds good and took almost no time to build.

Details in this thread.

Here's a picture of the finished preamp:
one_chip_stage_one.jpg
 
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