The CMC 6U XT Microphone Amplifier from Schoeps is designed for standard 12 or 48V phantom powering. As the capsules of condenser microphones from Schoeps cannot be directly connected to microphone cables or inputs, a microphone amplifier is required in between. The amplifier’s circuitry recognizes the supply voltage and adjusts itself automatically.
Its performance characteristics remain essentially the same with both 12 and 48V; mainly, the difference is that the current drawn at 12V is greater than at 48V. However, the 12V mode consumes less power and might be preferred for battery-powered recording.
The microphone amplifier provides the electrostatic charge which the capsule requires in order to produce a signal. Since only a miniscule amount of current is contained in this signal, amplification of the current is required. To avoid interference to the signal on the way from the microphone to the input of the mixer or preamp, the signal is conveyed at low impedance and in a balanced form. The amplifier offers a symmetrical, transformer-less, direct-coupled Class A output stage with low impedance, low distortion, and high freedom from interference.
The CMC 6U XT Microphone Amplifier is the 40 kHz version, which is indicated by the letters "xt" engraved on the microphone's output socket. It extends the frequency response of the axially addressed Colette capsules beyond 40 kHz.