From the Web site referred to above:
What is wrong with phantom power?
Phantom-fed microphones are inherently less suitable for high-quality audio usage since they work as compressors: when, for instance, high dynamics are required, strong demands are made on the current supply of the phantom. As a result, the current supply drops drastically and the stereo image and frequency response collapse with it.
I'm not aware of any professional condenser microphone that draws increasing current from the phantom power supply as signal levels increase. Class-A circuits are pretty much the norm in condenser microphones, and they inherently draw constant current from the supply.
What limits the maximum undistorted voltage that a condenser microphone can put out is generally the first-stage FET or tube, and/or the output transformer if present. Their overload point is (or points are) generally quite clear, because the distortion as a function of input level suddenly starts to rise at a relatively sharper angle. As an example, see the attached THD+N curves which I obtained some years back when I compared a modified KM 84-series amplifier (upper curve) with its stock counterpart (lower curve). (Among other things, the modification undid the feedback loop in the amplifier circuit, in keeping with the prevailing audiophile belief system.) The KM 84 was specified for a maximum SPL (<0.5% THD) of 120 dB; it could have actually been specified at 125 dB. Around 128 dB you can see the results of the FET saturating, but the rise still has a moderate slope; the sound quality up to that point is still quite OK for occasional peaks.
If on the other hand this distortion were due to limited supply current, it would look more as if it had hit a brick wall.
Of course if you try to drive a preamp or recorder that has too low an input impedance (generally < 1 kOhm), you will run into distortion sooner--but that has nothing to do with phantom powering.
(Also, WTF would it have to do with
stereo imaging or
frequency response even if this type of effect did occur?)
The problem with a SMD board is that the sound quality of the tiny SMD components are much worse than the old
through-hole components. Plus the SMD board is cheap an tiny, so its now possible to use much more components
and that's what manufacturers do.
Result: a circuit board with to much components which has a bad sound quality.
That's an unsubstantiated statement of opinion that just happens to coincide with his self-interest. Who woulda thunk it?
And tell me, exactly why would any manufacturer ever use a greater number of components than necessary, which only makes the microphone more expensive (i.e. a competitive disadvantage)?
--best regards