Another Annoying Beginner Question: OPAs vs BJT/JFET Mics

[Paul W]

On the other hand sound sources like snare drum, have initial very sharp and high in level transient. It is for the most part useless. It can randomly trigger compression where you don't want it, drum buss master buss...

Many engineers count on specific mic, or more often mic preamp to soft clip part of that transient and act as a limiter (neve 1073 is often used for this), so it does part of the job for them. Many don't even know what it does but they like it. Op-amp clipping sounds very bad for this kind of job, so you don't want any clipping coming from an op-amp in this case.

Having that said, i wanted a condenser with it's capsule properties but with high headroom op-amp circuit, so I can get that transient into my DAW without any clipping. So i built one. I like the flexibility of dealing with these transients in post.

That sounds really interesting. I’m guessing that lets you hear exactly the noise the clipping adds, by nulling the clipped and unclipped signals everywhere except where clipping occurs.

I’ve been wondering what that sounds like, vs the actual unclipped sound, e.g. for drum hits. (I’m guessing the actual attack or the clipped attack both sound like a chiff of intermodulated noise before the drumhead settles down into definite resonant frequencies, but presumably somewhat different-sounding noise.)

 

[Iristone]

I think FETs give a bit of nonlinearity like a triode valve if you push it (before clipping). It gives compression and character, but you may use an op-amp mic (or the -20dB pad) if you need it ultra-clean. You can add nonlinearity during mixing, but the compression may give you a bit more headroom when recording.