[LAU] Recommended USB interface with 2 XLR inputs?

[Fons Adriaensen]

On Sun, May 01, 2011 at 05:29:29PM +0200, Arnold Krille wrote:
 
> If I remember correctly it was the head of schoeps who proclaimed/said last 
> fall that with todays condensor microphones (well, what he considers a 
> microphone) and todays ad-converters, there is really no need of a variable 
> gain as both have the same dynamic range... Was about digital microphones 
> where the adc is directly behind the pre-amplifier of the mic.

That is exactly what Neumann have done for their digital versions
of e.g. the U87. The AD converter is inside the mic and there is
no analog gain control at all. But they had to redesign the analog
input circuits of the AD to match the actual capsule to get that far.
Don't know if they went as far as actually integrating the first
FET into the AD chip and connecting the capsule directly to it, but
it's certainly possible to do this today.

OTOH there's no real life reason why a mic should be capable of 
handling extremely low and high (above 120dB SPL) levels at the
same time. Having a switch to select one of the two regimes would
not be a showstopper at all.

Ciao,

-- 
FA