Electronic – When multiplexing audio do I need a pre-amplifier for each channel

amplifieraudiomultiplexer

I am building a 16 channel multiplexer which will deliver the input from 16 microphones to a single ADC. I am clocking the ADC at 1.6 MHz and therefore sampling each audio channel at 100 kHz.

The ADC resolution is 12 bits, I cannot change the ADC because I am modifying a design, not starting from scratch. The ADC range is 2V. This is the microphone I am using:

http://www.farnell.com/datasheets/97498.pdf

I am realising this using 5 LMH6574 4:1 multiplexer chips, 4 used for the 16 mic lines then the fifth for the 4 outputs to produce a single output – The select lines for the first four are driven from a 2 bit binary up counter – a second up counter runs the 5th chip at CLK/4.

My question is this: Is it better to use an audio pre-amplifier for each channel – before being put through the multiplexer – or use a single pre-amplifier after the multiplexer stage?

I assume that if a single pre-amplifier is used it must have a bandwidth of at least 1.6 MHz, is this correct? – Will a high frequency pre-amp cause a loss in quality at the audio frequencies (compared with a hifi pre-amp chip)?

I also assume that the settling time of this amplifier is the all important factor, are there any rules/common practices defining what percentage I should be within (2%,1% 0.01% etc)?

Best Answer

The range of microphones you are using appear to have a sensitivity of about -42 dB/Pa. This means they produce a nominal 8mV RMS for an RMS input sinewave pressure of 1 pascal. This pressure (1 pascal) is equivalent to 94 dB SPL (sound pressure level).

If you are measuring ambient sounds or even music, the peak/RMS level ratio (aka crest factor) can be as high as 20dB and this pushes the peak-to peak voltage output from the microphone up to 160mV from 8mV.

If you are measuring sound levels at up to 20dB higher than 94dB SPL, you might see an output from your microphone that is 1.6Vp-p.

You have a 2V range on your ADC so I'm questioning whether you need pre-amplifiers at all.

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