Barroso, Niko Angelo M.

Broadcast Engineering



Microphones

Sometimes called a mic (pronounced "mike"), is a transducer that converts sound into an
electrical signal. Microphones are used in many applications such as telephones, tape
recorders, hearing aids, motion picture production, live and recorded audio engineering,
in radio and television broadcasting and in computers for recording voice, VoIP and
numerous other computer applications.
Principle of operation
In all microphones, sound waves (sound pressure) are translated into mechanical
vibrations in a thin, flexible diaphragm. These sound vibrations are then converted by
various methods into an electrical signal which varies in voltage amplitude and frequency
in an analog of the original sound. For this reason, a microphone is an acoustic wave to
voltage modulation transducer.
Different Types of Microphones:
Dynamic microphones
In a dynamic microphone a small movable induction coil, positioned in the magnetic field
of a permanent magnet, is attached to the diaphragm.
Operation:
When sound enters through the windscreen of the microphone, the sound wave vibrations
move the diaphragm, When the diaphragm vibrates, the coil moves in the magnetic field,
producing a varying current in the coil. The principle is exactly the same as in a
loudspeaker, only reversed. Dynamic microphones are robust, relatively inexpensive, and
resistant to moisture, and for this reason they are widely used on-stage by singers. They
tend to have a poor low-frequency response, which is advantageous for reducing handling
noise as a vocal mic, but tends to exclude them from other uses.

Condenser microphones:

A microphone in which an electrically charged diaphragm moves with sound waves
while a charged back plate stays stationary. Because the diaphragms of condenser mics
can be made very light in weight, the frequency response can be very good with a
condenser mic. Neumann mics, considered by many to be the ultimate mics for recording
voice and acoustic instruments are condenser mics. Condenser is an old term for
capacitor. ...




Operation:
The diaphragm acts as one plate of a capacitor, and the vibrations produce changes in the
distance between the plates. Since the plates are biased with a fixed charge, the voltage
maintained across the capacitor plates changes with the vibrations in the air. Can be
expensive and require a power supply, commonly provided from mic inputs as phantom
power, but give a high-quality sound signal and are now the preferred choice in
laboratory and studio recording applications.
Ribbon microphones
In ribbon microphones a thin, usually corrugated metal ribbon is suspended in a magnetic
field.
Operation:
Vibration of the ribbon in the magnetic field generates a changing current. Basic ribbon
microphones detect sound in a bidirectional (also called a figure-of-eight) pattern because
the ribbon, which is open to sound both front and back, responds to the pressure gradient
rather than the sound pressure. Though the symmetrical front and rear pickup can be a
nuisance in normal stereo recording, the high side rejection can be used to advantage by
positioning a ribbon mic horizontally, for example above cymbals, so that the rear lobe
picks up only sound from the ceiling. Other directional patterns are produced by
enclosing one side of the ribbon in an acoustic trap or baffle, allowing sound to reach
only one side. Ribbon mics can give very high quality, and were once valued for this
reason, but a good low-frequency response can only be obtained if the ribbon is
suspended very loosely, and this makes them fragile. Protective wind screens can
however reduce the danger of damaging the ribbon, but will somewhat reduce the bass
response at large micing distances.
Carbon microphones
A carbon microphone, formerly used in telephone handsets, is a capsule containing
carbon granules pressed between two metal plates
Operation:
A voltage is applied across the metal plates, causing a current to flow through the carbon.
One of the plates, the diaphragm, vibrates in sympathy with incident sound waves,
applying a varying pressure to the carbon. The changing pressure deforms the granules,
causing the contact area between each pair of adjacent granules to change, and this causes
the electrical resistance of the mass of granules to change (lose contact). Since the voltage
across a conductor is proportional to its resistance, the voltage across the capsule varies
according to the sound pressure.





Crystal Ceramic microphones
It was long known that certain crystals, notably tourmaline, would attract light objects
when strongly heated. This was the pyroelectric effect, the production of electrical
polarization upon heating. While studying this effect, the brothers Pierre Curie (1859-
1906) and P.-J. Curie (1855-1941) discovered the direct piezoelectric effect, or the
production of electrical polarization when a crystal was strained, in 1880. In 1881 they
announced the converse effect, the production of strain when an electric field was applied
to a crystal. Much of the pyroelectricity previously observed was simply the piezoelectric
effect due to strains caused by thermal expansion, but there is also a primary pyroelectric
effect.
Operation:
A crystal or piezo microphone uses the phenomenon of piezoelectricity, the tendency of
some materials to produce a voltage when subjected to pressure, to convert vibrations
into an electrical signal. This type of microphone is often used to mic acoustic
instruments for live performance, or to record sounds in unusual environments
(underwater, for instance.) An example of this is Rochelle Salt, Potassium Sodium
Tartrate, which is a piezo crystal and works both ways and is in common use as a slimline
loudspeaker component.
Other Microphones:
Laser microphones
A laser microphone is an exotic application of laser technology. It consists of a laser
beam that must be reflected off a glass window or any rigid surface that vibrates in
sympathy with nearby sounds. The mic essentially measures the distance between itself
and the surface very accurately in order to turn any resonant surface into a microphone.
Laser microphones are new, very rare and expensive, and are most commonly portrayed
in the movies as spying devices.