2010/09/23

Characteristics and varieties of microphones

Here's a tiny little table I made about the most important characteristics of the most common types of microphones.
I hope this is helpful for your projects.



micro-
phone type
acoustic sensitivity mechanical robustness best usage misc notes
dynamic microphone LOW

(lazy mass of the induction coil has to be set in motion by the sound waves)
MEDIUM uncontrollable conditions
-> outdoor recording
condenser microphone HIGH

(thin condenser membran is very sensitive and easily bendable)
LOW

(and very prone to humidity)
ideal results in controllable conditions
-> studio recording
requires a power source (phantom power, +48V)
electret condenser MEDIUM EXTREMLY HIGH good for very rough conditions
-> eg difficult tv reports)
requires no phantom power

can be built very small ->"bug"

10 comments:

  1. Woah, thanks for that classification. I honestly only thought there were 2 types of mics, Ones for recording, and ones for projecting.

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  2. Microphones? Nifty stuff, I plan on doing some recording soon myself.

    Twitter.com/CawlinForReal

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  3. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  4. im impressed with your post!

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  5. Cool chart. I needed to learn about microphones.

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  6. I love your layout! It's no neat and elegant!

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  7. what a bout boundary? I love the layout :) my blog covers bands but im thinking of starting to talk about music gear too :)

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  8. Good read, never knew how to differentiate microphones until now

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