Microphone

MICROPHONE
Characteristics, Classifications, and Types.

What is a Microphone?
A small, portable assembly for the
pick-up and conversion of sound
into electrical energy.
Sound Waves
Electrical energy
Sound Waves

Sound Generating Elements of a Microphone
Diaphragm, voice-coil, air pressure

Characteristics of Microphones
1- Sound-generating Systems
DYNAMIC Microphone
• Most rugged
• Can withstand high-sound
levels (input overload)
• Can withstand fairly extreme
temperatures
• No battery needed
• Good for vocals and music
instruments

CONDENSER Microphone
• Sensitive to phyisical shock
• Sensitive to input overload
• Sensitive to temperature
change
• Needs small battery
• Higher quality sound at
greater distances

RIBBON Microphone
• Sensitive to phyisical shock
• Sensitive to input overload
• Sensitive to temperature
change
• No battery needed
• Higher quality sound at
greater distances

Other Types (according to Sound-
generating Systems)
CARBON Microphone• oldest and simplest microphone
that uses carbon dust.
• the technology used in the first
telephones and is still used in some
telephones today.
• The carbon dust has a thin metal or
plastic diaphragm on one side. As
sound waves hit the diaphragm, they
compress the carbon dust, which
changes its resistance. By running a
current through the carbon, the
changing resistance changes the
amount of current that flows.

generating Systems)
FIBER OPTIC Microphone
• fiber optic microphones can be extremely small, and they can
be used in electrically sensitive environments.
• They can also be produced with no metal, which makes them
very useful in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) applications
and other situations where radio frequency interference is an issue.

generating Systems)
LIQUID Microphone
• invented by Alexander Graham Bell and Thomas Watson
• a precursor to what would later become the condenser
microphone
• used a metal cup filled with water and sulfuric acid. A diaphragm
was placed over the cup with a needle on the receiving side of
the diaphragm. Sound waves would cause the needle to move
in the water. A small electrical current ran to the needle, which
was modulated by sound vibrations.
• The liquid microphone was never a particularly functional device,
but it makes a great science experiment

generating Systems)
ELECTRET Microphone
• most widely used microphones on Earth
• cheap and relatively simple, electret mics are used in cell phones,
computers and hands-free headsets
• a type of condenser microphone in which the external charge is
replaced with an electret material, which by definition is in a
permanent state of electric polarization

generating Systems)
LASER Microphone
• works by capturing vibrations off of a plane, like a windowpane,
for example, and transmitting the signal back to a photo
detector, which converts the reflected laser beam into an audio
signal.

generating Systems)
CRYSTAL Microphone
• By attaching a diaphragm to a
crystal, the crystal will create a
signal when sound waves hit the
diaphragm.

2- Pick-up Patterns
• the territory within which a
microphone can hear well.
• Omnidirectional, Bidirectional,
Unidirectional, and Cardioid

2- Pick-up Patterns
OMNIDIRECTIONAL Microphone
• the microphone hears sounds
from all directions EQUALLY well.

2- Pick-up Patterns
BIDIRECTIONAL Microphone
• the microphone hears better
in TWO OPPOSITE directions.

2- Pick-up Patterns
UNIDIRECTIONAL Microphone
• the microphone hears better
in ONE direction (the front of
the microphone than its side
or back.

2- Pick-up Patterns
CARDIOID Microphone
• the microphone hears in a
HEART-SHAPED pattern but
hearing is more concentrated
on the front rather than on the
side.

o STATIONARY
o Desk
o Stand
o Hanging
o Hidden
o Long distance
3- Physical Forms (Mobile &
Stationary)
o MOBILE
o Hand
o Lavaliere
o Boom
o Wireless
o Headset

Stationary)
HAND Microphone

Stationary)
LAVALIERE Microphone

Stationary)
BOOM Microphone

Stationary)
WIRELESS Microphone

Stationary)
HEADSET Microphone

Stationary)
DESK Microphone

Stationary)
STAND Microphone

Stationary)
HANGING Microphone

Stationary)
HIDDEN Microphone

Stationary)
LONG DISTANCE Microphone

Special Features of Microphones
POP FILTERS
Eliminates breath
pops that could
occur when
someone is speaking
into the mic at close
distance.
It also reduces
distortion when the
mic is held close to a
very loud sound
source.

Special Features of Microphones
WINDSCREEN
It’s made of acoustic
foam rubber, is put
on the microphone
to eliminate, or at
least to reduce, the
low rumble of wind
noise.
When used outside,
shotgun mic are
entirely covered by
windscreen.

USING THE MICROPHONE
How to use a hand microphone:
• CHEST POSITION (ex.: news reporting, hosting)
• MOUTH (ex.: outdoor reporting/hosting)
• SINGING
• INTERVIEWING CHILDREN

CHEST POSITION

MOUTH POSITION

INTERVIEWING CHILDREN

Microphone Techniques:
• ON-MIC
• OFF-MIC
• FADING ON
• FADING OFF
• BEHIND OBSTRUCTION

ON-MIC
• The speaker is closer to
the mic
• It appears the speaker
is at the main scene

• OFF-MIC
• The speaker is away from
the mic
is away/far from the
main scene

• FADING ON
• The speaker is moving
closer to the mic
is moving towards the
main scene

• FADING OFF
• The speaker is moving
farther from the mic
is moving away from the
main scene

• BEHIND OBSTRUCTION
• The speaker is talking
behind a wall/room.

Microphone

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Microphone