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Electret Microphone Amplifier - MAX4466 with Adjustable Gain
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$14.45
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A well-designed electret microphone amplifier breakout built around the Maxim MAX4466 op-amp, specifically engineered for microphone amplification with excel...
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A well-designed electret microphone amplifier breakout built around the Maxim MAX4466 op-amp, specifically engineered for microphone amplification with excellent power supply noise rejection. The board comes fully assembled and tested with a 20–20 kHz electret microphone soldered on.
A trimmer pot on the back lets you adjust gain from 25× to 125×, producing output from approximately 200 mVpp (line-level, suitable for audio equipment) up to about 1 Vpp (ideal for microcontroller ADC input). The output is rail-to-rail and DC-coupled with a bias of VCC/2.
Key Features
- MAX4466 Op-Amp – Low-noise amplifier designed specifically for electret microphones
- Adjustable Gain – 25× to 125× via onboard trimmer pot
- Wide Frequency Response – 20 Hz to 20 kHz electret microphone
- Rail-to-Rail Output – Up to 5 Vpp on loud sounds
- Low Power – Operates from 2.4–5 V DC
- Fully Assembled – Microphone pre-soldered, ready to use
Specifications
- Amplifier IC: Maxim MAX4466
- Gain Range: 25× to 125× (adjustable)
- Output at Normal Speech (~6"): ~200 mVpp (25×) to ~1 Vpp (125×)
- Operating Voltage: 2.4–5 V DC
- Output Bias: VCC/2 (DC coupled)
- Frequency Range: 20 Hz – 20 kHz
Wiring
- VCC – 2.4–5 V (use the quietest supply available, e.g. 3.3 V on Arduino)
- GND – Ground
- OUT – Audio waveform output (DC biased at VCC/2)
Tip: Connect OUT directly to a microcontroller ADC pin — no decoupling capacitor needed. For AC-coupled audio equipment, place a 100 µF capacitor between OUT and the input. The output pin is not designed to drive speakers directly; use an external audio amplifier for speaker output.
Ideal For
- Audio-reactive LED projects using FFT
- Voice changers and audio effects
- Sound level monitoring and sampling
- CircuitPython and Arduino audio projects
Package Contents
- 1× Electret Microphone Amplifier Breakout (MAX4466, fully assembled)
Resources
Jargon buster
Plain-language definitions for the technical terms used above.
- ADC
- An analogue-to-digital converter reads a changing voltage and turns it into a number the microcontroller can use. It matters when connecting analogue sensors such as light, sound, or variable-resistor sensors.
- breakout
- A breakout board carries a small or fine-pitched component and brings its connections out to standard, breadboard- and header-friendly pins. Describing a part as a breakout means it can be wired into a project without soldering directly to the component's tiny contacts.
- CircuitPython
- A beginner-friendly version of Python designed to run directly on microcontroller boards. If a product supports CircuitPython, you can often program it by copying code files onto the board rather than setting up a more complex toolchain.
- DC
- DC means direct current, where electricity flows in one constant direction, as supplied by batteries, USB ports and many plug-pack power supplies. When a product specifies DC, it runs from a DC supply rather than mains AC, so you need to provide the correct voltage and polarity.
- GND
- GND is the ground or reference connection (0 V) for a circuit. When connecting two devices together, their grounds must be joined so both agree on what counts as a low or high signal.
- LED
- A light-emitting diode (LED) is a small electronic component that emits light when current flows through it in the correct direction. Because it only conducts one way, its polarity matters, and a through-hole LED must be soldered the correct way around to light up.
- microcontroller
- A microcontroller is a small computer on a single chip that runs a stored program and controls connected inputs and outputs such as buttons, sensors, displays and communication interfaces. In a device built around one, it is the part that executes the code and coordinates the device's behaviour.
- Op-amp
- An op-amp, or operational amplifier, is a chip used to amplify, buffer, or compare analogue signals. Resistor values around an op-amp help set gain and input behaviour, so choosing the right resistance matters for stable circuit performance.
- VCC
- VCC is the positive power-supply connection on a chip or module. Connecting it to the correct supply voltage is needed for the part to power on and helps avoid damaging the electronics.
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