THAT Corporation Design Note 109 1

Microphone pre-amp using a THAT 320 transistor array

The high-quality microphone preamp shown in the accompanying schematic uses a
THAT320 with two transistors paralleled on each half of the differential input. Q1A
and Q1B is a general purpose matched pair configured as current sources, which
bias the differential input.
RG is the equivalent resistance derived from the values of R12-16 and the position
of the elements of SW2. R17 and R18 equal 2.67 k. The open loop gain of each
half of the differential input is
2.67 k
AOL =
RG + r
2 e
At the highest gain setting, RG = 10 , and

2.67 k
AOL = = 76
5 + 30

This gain allows the noise of U2A and U2B to be swamped by that of the differential
pair, which results in about 0.94nV / Hz when the gain is programmed to 1000.
U2A and U2B provide a level shift and negative feedback to program the closed loop
gain through R23 and R24. The resulting gain equation is:

2 x 4.99 k + RG 2 x 4.99 k
Gain = , or Gain = 1 +
RG RG

Feeding the signal back in this manner eliminates the effect of re , and makes the
gain purely dependent on external, passive components.
U3B samples the common mode voltage at the input to U3A, and servos the
current sources formed by Q1A and Q1B to center the ac signals at the outputs of
U2A and U2B around zero volts. Filtering keeps this servo from nulling out the
actual signal or causing distortion. This maximizes the amplifier's internal
headroom.

U3A is a differential amplifier that converts the balanced signal at the output of
U2A and U2B into an unbalanced signal.

Copyright 2017 Design Note 109

by THAT Corporation. Sheet 1 of 2
All rights reserved. 45 Sumner Street, Milford, MA 01757 USA; www.thatcorp.com ; info@thatcorp.com Rev 01
 V+
P4 V+ V+
TP C702 C703
V+ R10 R19 R11
2k00 2k43 2k00 8 8
1 100n 100n
U2C V+ V+ U3C
Power Input C1 5

All rights reserved.

Copyright 2017
D1 Q1A 3 Q1B 4570 V- V- 4570

by THAT Corporation.
HDR 3X1 100u R2 1 7 C602
P5 4k7 UPA75V UPA75V 4 4 C603
3 1N4004 TP
1 C17
P2 2
2 4 6 R20 R22 100n 100n
1 V- V-
D2 C2 D3 R1210R0 C14 7k50 220n 100k0
R1 Green 6 R21
1N4004 100u SW2 7
Jumper R13 30R1 1n0 5 100k0
Power C15
1 U3B
R14110R
V- 4570
Chassis R15 464R 3300u
Ground P6 SW-DIP4
TP R16 C16

R23 1k10 470n

4k99 R24
Microphone Input C9 4k99 Unbalanced
XLR-F THAT320 THAT320 THAT320 THAT320 Output
C12 5
C13 10
1n0 D10 U1C 12 U1B D11 U1D 3 U1A C20, C21
2 1 C10 22p 22p
3
R7 1N4148 13 1N4148 2 C18, C19 matched to 1%
J1
THAT Corporation Design Note 109

4R75 6 9 optional C20 XLR-M

20u D9 7 11 14 8 1 C18 22p
5 4 23 1 R6 1N960A R8 4 22p0 1 2
C11 P1 3
6k81 1k21
D8 2
1 R27 R29
470n 1N960A 3 U2A
C5 10k00 10k00 13 245
100p 4570
C6 D7 3 U3A
1 R31
R5 1N960A R9 C19 22p 2
6k81 1n0 1k21 4570 100R0
C7 D6 6 U2B
R4 1N960A R28 R30
5 7
C4 4R75 20u 10k00 10k00
100p C8 R17 4570
R18 R25 R26 C21

45 Sumner Street, Milford, MA 01757 USA; www.thatcorp.com ; info@thatcorp.com

SW1 2k67 2k67 4k02 11k0
R3 470n Phantom Power
7k50 HDR 3X1 22p0
3
SW-DIP2 C3 2 P3 V-
D5 100u D4 1
Yellow 63V 1N4004
Phantom

Design Note 109

Rev 01
Sheet 2 of 2
Microphone pre-amp using a THAT 320 transistor array

Mic pre-amp circuit with THAT 320 transistor array

2