moosapotamus microphones

[alparent]

I'm building this: http://www.moosapotamus.net/mics.html

I guessing the 12v zener is limiting the phantom power to 12v. So 16v caps should be OK?

[PRR]

C3 needs to be >12V.

Zener does NOT directly regulate the voltages at the transistor bases (where C1 C2 go to).

The voltage on C1 C2 is a very messy mix of transistor hFE and other stuff. (Like Phantom voltage which is not always 48V.)

Offhand it looks like any decent transistors will pull-down to less than 10V. So why is there a 12V Zener?

Stepping back: 1uFd caps are so small they often don't come smaller than 50V.

Being clever: build it without C1 C2, power-up, put your voltmeter where C1's pins go, that tells you the actual voltage. Double-up that number for safety, buy caps.