Any thoughts about "True Phantom"?

[kingkorg]

You must be right, i cant see any other reason.

 

[abbey road d enfer]

Now, having in mind 30$ Schoeps based mics like mxl603 have stock 0.1% thd at some serious SPL, and can be biased further to 0.02% thd. SO WHAT ARE THEY TALKING ABOUT HERE!?!?

Capsule's physical thd is larger than that.

Most loudspeakers have >1% THD. Should this discourage attempts to reduce distortion of amplifiers or sources?

 

[analogguru]

Most loudspeakers have >1% THD. Should this discourage attempts to reduce distortion of amplifiers or sources?

If the amplifier distortion is already below 0,001 % - as in this case - I would say: yes.

Dear fellow recording engeniers,
Because I am the designer of the True Phantom®, ...... The distortion of the microphone is consequently lower:
at 100 mVRMS      standard: 0,00095%  = -100,4 dB      true: 0,00058%  = -104,7 dB
at 200 mVRMS                      0,0039%    =  - 88,1 dB                0,0024%  =  - 92,3 dB
at 300 mVRMS                      0,016%      =  - 75,5 dB                0,0104 %  =  - 79,6 dB
.....

But isn't a price of  £478.80 a bit high for a distortion reduction of  0.0001%?

(You can measure it, but would you be able to hear it?)

 

[Gus]

Has anyone found information of how it helps on microphones WITHOUT the Schoeps type output stage(dual PNP)?

Has anyone found transformer out and impedance balanced graphs?

 

[abbey road d enfer]

If the amplifier distortion is already below 0,001 % - as in this case - I would say: yes.

So, you consider that improving absolute performance, regardless of context, is a useless task?

 

[analogguru]

So, you consider that improving absolute performance, regardless of context, is a useless task?

For me it is the same as the "need"/desire to drive with such a car.  Of course some do, do you ?:

 

[abbey road d enfer]

For me it is the same as the "need"/desire to drive with such a car.  Of course some do, do you ?:

This example is about both performance and bling. I understand the performance aspect, although I agree it's futile considering the context. I don't  care about bling.
My view is that if someone wants to kill brain cells about improving the last 0.001% of performance, it's OK with me; it doesn't mean I will run to buy it.
I favour the idea of revisiting things that are taken for granted. That's how modern cork openers or nut crackers are better than the ones made 100 years ago.

 

[user 133392]

2023 True Phantom® update:

https://www.prema.com/index.php/en/assps-en/audio-ic
Data sheet for the Prema Semiconductor PR2301: https://www.prema.com/index.php/en/...download/269_449c82ffa16c4f04d77718d34a3316f6

 

[abbey road d enfer]

My opinion hasn't changed a iota since 2021.
It's an interesting mental exercise, but I don't see how to justify it, considering a $10 chip replaces two 5c resistors and imposes a non-standard 63V PSU.
The conditions where they show improvement in THD are not common, operating at -4 or +2dBu, with a poorly designed mic pre (LTP with no NFB other than emitter degeneration.
I would like to see the same test jig with a good Cohen preamp.
For someone who's looking for the utmost improvement for ribbon and dynamic mics, the solution is easy: get rid of the 6.8k's.

 

[user 133392]

$10? Seriously? Measured at HD3 that's $1 per dB improvement.

The Cloudlifter thread reminded me of the 2017 email I got from Joost Kist introducing this and I thought "whatever happened to True Phantom?" Though they solve different perhaps non-existent "problems" they do take a look at things we may take for granted. Looks like they didn't have silicon until 2021.

If I were doing a dedicated IC for phantom I would at least provide a high-side switch to turn it off and provide some type of discharge management for the various capacitors' stored charges. It would need to cost pennies or dimes and at least be cheaper than a mechanical or solid-state relay and use less board area than discrete transistors or mosfets.

 

[abbey road d enfer]

$10? Seriously?

I must say this figure comes out of thin air, but I don't think it makes sense selling them for pennies. There is simply not enough market for it.
Even if it was $1, it would be more expensive than two resistors.
And it has not enough potential for the mktg dept to brag about.

Though they solve different perhaps non-existent "problems" they do take a look at things we may take for granted.

Sure. that's why I wrote earlier "if someone wants to kill brain cells about improving the last 0.001% of performance, it's OK with me;"