mic output circuit topology

[jackymurda]

hola compadres,

i've been thinkin on mic circuits a bit .. i'm not exactly an full blown electrical engineer. (i rebuilt a scully-westrex system some years back and cut for some years but now i just make and perform tunes.)

anyways i was wondering about some microphone designer's preference for the cathode follower/emitter follower topology. with cathode follower it would appear that we trade impedance matching and distortion elimination for a bit of extra noise by running the signal through an additional stage.. and we 'lose' the distortion characteristics of the older grounded plate circuit… it seems to me that the desired sound of the single stage amplifier is mostly due to the distortion characteristics inherent in that circuit style. so, the way that the circuit behaves when 'pushed', while not necessarily correct from a designers standpoint for linear response, is perceived  as flattering to the result..

what y'alls thoughts? 

 

[alexc]

Yep - some interesting questions here no doubt.

I've read some mic users opinions on the subject - you can  read some in the current C12 build thread.

Myself - I like the ccda circuit. But I like a lot of things!

I also wonder about the tube bias choices.

Hopefully this thread can attract some opinions on the subject for use relative new mic types.


Cheers