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MINI-PROJECT

Audio Level Check


for Line Input
for the PC sound card
Design by T. Giesberts

This simple control circuit allows the level of an external stereo audio
source to be adapted to the sensitivity of, for example, a sound card. In
addition, an LED indicates if any signal levels are present that can cause
the input to be overdriven.

uations. A PC sound card, for exam-


ple, is generally not provided with a
level control. In addition, the maxi-
mum allowable input voltage of such
a card is limited by the 5-V power
supply of the chipset. This limits the
input to signals of less than 1 to 1.5
V, before clipping occurs.
The drawbacks that are caused in
practice by such fixed input sensi-
tivities and limited output signal lev-
els can be mitigated by preceding
the relevant line input with the con-
trol circuit that is described here.
The signal levels of 2 V that modern
CD- or DVD-players often provide
can be reduced to an acceptable
maximum. On the other hand, the
output level of 200 mV that older
equipment typically source, can be
amplified, something that will
improve the signal to noise ratio.
The adjustment range of our cir-
cuit amounts to no less than ±20
dB, so every conceivable signal
adaptation should be possible. In
Standardisation is a long way off in many what signal level to expect. Any- order to avoid being unpleasantly
areas. This is certainly true for audio signal thing is possible from around 200 surprised by excessive signal levels,
levels — a phenomenon that many of you will mV to 2 V, or so. an LED indicator has been added
have encountered at one time or another, usu- If you wish to connect a signal which will indicate immediately
ally at the most inopportune moment. With source to an input that does not have when the output signal exceeds a
equipment such as cassette decks, tuners, a good input level adjustment, then certain (adjustable) value. Because
CD/DVD-players, one can never be quite sure this can easily lead to unpleasant sit- the current consumption is a mere

42 Elektor Electronics 11/2002


MINI-PROJECT
few mA, the level adapter can sim- and an adjustable amplifier stage. ply voltage. Because the circuit is powered
ply be powered from a 9-V battery; There is a single indicator common from an asymmetric power supply, a coupling
that makes it pleasantly universally to both channels. In order to power capacitor is present at the input. This capac-
deployable. the opamps symmetrically from a 9- itor is always charged by R1 and R10 to pre-
V battery, a virtual ground point has vent any unwanted sound effects when the
been created with voltage divider signal source is plugged in. The coupling
Control circuit R27/R28/C11. Figure 1 shows the capacitor is followed by an additional protec-
If the circuit were only required to complete schematic. tion network, guarding against high peak
attenuate, then we could have made The indicator will be described voltages. This network consists of two diodes
it easy for ourselves and a simple later, we will first take a look at the and a resistor.
passive voltage divider would have buffer and amplifier stage. For practical reasons, an inverting topol-
sufficed. But in this case we also The function of the input buffers ogy was purposely selected for the adjustable
wanted to amplify and, in addition, IC1c and IC1b is to provide a con- amplifier stages IC1a and IC1d. By using the
we would also like a tidy circuit in stant load for the attached signal inverting inputs, the load on the potential
which the input and output-imped- source. The values are such that the divider for the virtual ground (R27/R28) is
ance are not affected by the position input impedance is fixed at the well- smaller, allowing higher resistance values
of the potentiometers. known standard value of 47 kΩ. The and consequently a lower total current con-
That is why we decided to go for a opamps are connected as voltage fol- sumption.
relatively ‘mature’ design. Each lowers, while resistors R3 and R12 If, for the moment, we limit the description
channel consists of an input buffer bias them to half of the power sup- to the left channel only, we can establish that

R4 P1.A R5
3 1
4k7 4k7
+9V 47k
lin. 2
R6
P1
1k

D1

R7
1N4148 1M
9
C2
8
L C1 R2 IC1.C
10
1k 47p 6
2 5
4µ7 R8 C3 L 4
63V 1 3
IC1.A 100Ω 2
3 1
R1 R3 4µ7 R9
D2 63V
270k

100k
56k

1N4148
+9V
+9V

7 R26
R19
100Ω

+9V 1
IC2.B
1k8

6
S1
R21
R27 47k
R24
47k

R23 5 C7 C8
6k8

BT1
10k

2
IC2.A 220µ
C12 4 C9 3 C10 4 47µ 25V
D5 25V
9V IC1 IC2 R25
D6
220µ 100n 100n
820Ω

11 12 R28
25V C11 3 2
47k

5V6 11
0W4 13
100µ P2 IC2.D
10V 10
100k
R22 1
47k
R20 9
P1.B
1k8

R13 R14 14
6 4 IC2.C
+9V 4k7 4k7 8
47k
lin. 5
R15 P2: 200mV... 1V(RMS)

D3
1k

R16
1N4148 1M
6
C5
7
R C4 R11 IC1.B IC1 = TS924IN
5
1k 47p IC2 = LM339
13
4µ7 R17 C6 R
63V 14
IC1.D 100Ω
12
R10 R12 4µ7 R18
D4 63V
270k

100k
56k

1N4148

020189 - 11

Figure 1. The level adapter actually consists of two separate circuits: the adjustment section and an overdrive indicator.

11/2002 Elektor Electronics 43


MINI-PROJECT
the maximum amplification of IC1a is equal
1-981020
to (R5+P1)/R4 and the minimum is equal to L
T
R
T T
L
T
R ROTKELE )C(

H2
OUT1 OUT2 H3

C8 C7
R5/(P1+R4). Because of small losses else- R1 R10 R9 R18
where, this results in an adjustment range 020189-1 C4 C3

R26
R25
R24
from 10.5 to 0.09, which pretty much corre-

R17
C1 D3 R11 R8 C6 R21 S1
sponds to ±20 dB. D4 R12 R7
R19
Resistor R6 (R15) was added to prevent R27 C2 D6

R5
D5
+
potential instability of the amplifier as a result IC1 IC2

R28

R13
C11

R16
of parasitic capacitance at the input of the C5 9V
C9 R6
opamp in case the wiring to P1 is a little bit R20 -
D1 R4 R15 R23
long. Should the wiper of P1 be sporadically D2 R3 R14 R22
R2 C12

H4
H1

intermittent, R7 (R16) ensures that there is P1 P2 C10


always negative feedback around the opamp
and the output will always be nicely at half
the power supply voltage. For stability rea-
sons, C2 (C5) limits the bandwidth to 60 kHz
at maximum amplification.
Another two components to complete the
list: R8 (R17) ensures that the amplifier will
be unconditionally stable even with a capac-
itive load at the output (because of long output
cables, for example). R9 (R18) makes sure
that the output electrolytic capacitor is
always charged to prevent loud noises when (C) ELEKTOR
the output load is plugged in. 020189-1

It is worth mentioning that for IC1 we


deliberately selected a rail-to-rail opamp, so
that despite the low power supply voltage, Figure 2. The dimensions of the PCB make an extremely compact construction of
reasonably high input voltages are still pos- the level adapter possible.
sible. The maximum is nominally more than
3 VRMS, while with a nearly exhausted bat-
tery 2 VRMS is still not a problem. COMPONENTS LIST C7 = 47µF 25V radial
C8,C12 = 220µF 25V radial
Resistors: C9,C10 = 100nF
Indicator R1,R10 = 270kΩ C11 = 100µF 10V radial
The overdrive indicator is built around quad R2,R6,R11,R15 = 1kΩ
R3,R12 = 56kΩ Semiconductors:
comparator IC2. This IC is used to build a
R4,R5,R13,R14 = 4kΩ7 D1-D4 = 1N4148
window comparator for each channel. The D5 = zener diode 5.6V, 0.4W
R7,R16 = 1MΩ
window comparator compares the output D6 = LED, red, high-efficiency
R8,R17,R26 = 100Ω
signal of the adjustable amplifier stage with R9,R18 = 100kΩ IC1 = TS924IN ST (Farnell)
a variable reference. The outputs of IC2 are R19,R20 = 1kΩ8 IC2 = LM339
of the open-collector type and can therefore R21,R22,R27,R28 = 47kΩ
be simply connected together. If one of the R23 = 10kΩ Miscellaneous:
comparator input signals exceeds the refer- R24 = 6kΩ8 S1 = rocker switch, 1 make contact,
ence voltage, adjusted with P2, LED D8 will R25 = 820Ω for chassis mounting
light up. P1 = 47kΩ stereo potentiometer, BT1 = 9 V battery with holder
linear Two 3.5 mm stereo jack sockets,
A few additional details regarding this cir-
P2 = 100 k mono potentiometer, chassis mount
cuit. The reference is set symmetrically PCB, order code 020189-1 (see
around half the power supply voltage with linear
Readers Service page). PCB layout
the aid of R19, D5 and R20, so that both the Capacitors: file also available from Free
negative as well as the positive half of the C1,C3,C4,C6 = 4µF7 63V radial Downloads at
signal voltage is monitored. Because the C2,C5 = 47pF www.elektor-electronics.co.uk
zener current is set to a really small value of
only 1 mA, the voltage drop across D5 is only
about 5.3 V. R21, R22, R23 and P2 are dimen-
sioned such that the reference voltage, afterglow so that short duration sig- has the least possible impact on the
adjustable with P2, corresponds to signal nal peaks will become better visible. amplifiers.
voltages from 200 mV to 1 VRMS. R25 limits the maximum charging
As can be seen in the schematic, LED D6 current of C7 to a safe value for IC2.
(and series resistor R24) is connected in par- Finally, R26 and C8 decouple the Construction
allel with an electrolytic capacitor (C7). This power supply so that any potential An extremely compact circuit board
has been added to provide a certain amount of noise from the switching of the LED has been designed for this circuit,

44 Elektor Electronics 11/2002


MINI-PROJECT
the layout and component overlay of
which is shown in Figure 2. To
make sure that the adjustment and
indicator parts of the circuit don’t
‘bite’ each other, there is a deliberate
separation between the grounds of
both sub-circuits. The circuit board
is quite densely populated with
parts, so construction should not be
hurried.
The terminals for the inputs and
outputs are nicely grouped on one
side of the PCB, while on the oppo-
site side two SIL headers can be
found for the connections to P1 and
P2. These components have deliber-
ately not been fitted directly on the
PCB so that everyone can determine
for themselves what type of input
and output connectors (e.g. mini-
jack, cinch) and potentiometers to
use. In addition, this also affords
greater freedom in the selection of a
suitable enclosure.
The wiring between the input
and output connectors needs to be
done with shielded cable. Standard
hook-up wire can be used for the
potentiometers, but with the chan-

an enclosure, both potentiometers can be pro-


Some measurement results vided with a scale to indicate the amplifica-
tion and indicator signal level respectively.
Input impedance 47 kΩ
The enclosure is preferably made from
Input voltage max. (THD = 0.1%) 3.2 VRMS metal, because this minimises possible dis-
Output voltage max. (THD = 0.1%) 3.1 VRMS turbances from any potential external noise
THD+N (B=80 kHz) 200 mV in, 20 mV out 0.027 % (20 Hz - 20 kHz) sources. The metal of the enclosure needs to
be connected to ground of the circuit. For
200 mV in, 200 mV out 0.005 % (20 Hz - 20 kHz)
example, a suitable enclosure is type
200 mV in, 2 V out 0.002 % (20Hz - 1 kHz) Box1590N1 from the company H.O.D. How-
0.028 % (20 kHz) ever, the space inside this enclosure is just a
THD+N (B=80kHz) 2 V in, 200 mV out 0.0026 % (20 Hz - 1 kHz) little too small to fit the battery as well — in
this case the next larger size will have to be
0.007 % (20 kHz) used. For completeness’ sake, we will men-
2 V in, 2 V out 0.002 % (20 Hz - 1 kHz) tion that it was naturally the intention that D6
0.01 % (20 kHz) is mounted in such a way that it is visible
from the outside.
Channel separation > 66 dB (1 kHz)
As already mentioned, the current con-
> 42 dB (20 kHz) sumption of the circuit is so low (about 7 mA)
Current consumption LED off 6.7 mA that a power supply consisting of a 9-V bat-
LED on 7.8 mA tery can suffice. However, if you will be using
the circuit in a more permanent application
than a mains adapter is certainly more appro-
priate. A good adapter with regulated output
nel separation in mind, it is best to and P2 that they are connected in is preferred. It is particularly important that
keep the wiring to P1 as short as is such a way that the level increases the no-load voltage of the adapter does not
possible. It is also recommended to when they are turned clockwise. The exceed 12 V, because that is the maximum
use a potentiometer with a metal numbers of the connections shown operating voltage of IC1.
housing for this, the case of which is on the schematic correspond with (020189-1)
connected to ground with a short those of the SIL headers on the PCB.
wire. Make sure that when wiring P1 Once the circuit has been built into

11/2002 Elektor Electronics 45

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