Music production techniques

Tia Leoni Lewis
Nov 20, 2015
5 min read

In this report I am going to discuss the differences between a condenser, ribbon and dynamic microphones.

The 3 main components that a microphone consists of:

Well to begin with how does a microphone work?

A microphone pics up sound that is then transferred to a soundcard that turns all of the frequency that Is being put in , into binary (1001110011100…) then it gets turned into sound via the computer and then that gets sent to the monitors which we can hear and is known as sound.

They also come in different shapes and sizes. They are used for different things such as recording in a studio which is a confined space. Not too big and sound proof if you like. And then you have microphones that are used for live music in a venue that you may be playing at. Microphones can be operated in certain ways but they all require electricity in order to work and pickup sound. Otherwise you won’t get any sound from a mic without it 1 being turned on and 2 any power. You will need power in order to work it (pretty obvious).

There are 3 main mechanical techniques that are used in building microphones for professional audio purposes. This is important because you don’t want the audio that is being picked up to sound a bit naff if you are making an album that you expect dozens of people all around the world to buy. However all three have the same the major parts.

A diaphragm-

This is when the sound waves strike the diaphragm, causing it to vibrate in sympathy with the sound wave. In order to accurately reproduce high-frequency sounds, it must be as light as possible.

A transducer-

The mechanical vibrations of the diaphragm are covered into electric signal by the transducer.

A casing-

As well as providing support for the components inside of the mic as well as protection for the diaphragm and transducer the casing can also be made to help control the directional response of the microphone.

What is a ribbon microphone and why might you choose to use one?

A ribbon microphone, also known as a ribbon velocity microphone, is similar to a moving coil microphone but there are still major differences. These differences being that the transducers is a strip of extremely thin aluminium foil, wide enough and light enough to be vibrated directly by the moving molecules of air of the sound wave, so no separate diaphragm is necessary. However, the electrical signal generated is very small compared to that of the moving coil microphone. Because of this an output transformer may be needed to boost the signal to a usable level.

The reason that you would buy a ribbon microphone depends on what you might want to use it for, such as guitar or vocals or drums. However there was a time that these microphones were referred to as “do it all” microphones, because they were simply good for doing anything, but this has been taken over by large-capsule condensers. Research shows that you may not want to use this microphone for everything as you have better choices that may be better in certain aspect such as who may be signing or what instrument you may be playing. This particular microphone would be used for recording and broadcasting in a studio.

What are the differences between a dynamic and condenser microphone?

Dynamic pros and cons-

PROS

CONS

Robust & durable

Resonant peak in frequency response

Insensitive to changes in humidity

Typically weak high-frequency response beyond 10KHz or so

Needs no external or internal power to operate

Can be made fairly small

Condenser pros and cons-

PROS

CONS

Excellent high-frequency and upper harmonic response

Moderate to very expensive

Can have excellent low-frequency response

Requires external powering

Can be relatively bulky

Differences between a dynamic and condenser microphones:

One difference between the two of these microphones is that a condenser microphone is sensitive to the humidity that may be in the air and the temperature effects its performance, as with the dynamic microphone the humidity or temperature doesn’t affect its performance.

Another difference is that a dynamic microphone does not need phantom power to boost its performance and make sure that it works, whereas the condenser needs it .

Also the inside of a condenser microphone has battery to bias plates and the dynamic microphone doesn’t.

What is phantom power and why do condenser microphones need this?

A condenser microphone needs phantom power to charge the plates and also run the preamps in the mic. Phantom power is a method for transmitting DC electric power through microphone cables to operate microphones that contain active electronic circuitry.

Why is low-cut and 10db used for on some microphones?

-The low cut switch filters out the low end that the mic sends to the preamp.

-10db is used to cut out the source signal level down 10 dB so it doesn’t overload. This may be used for people that have a louder singing voice and you would use this switch to stop it from being over powering for the mic and running the sound. 10dB switch will make it sound a bit nicer if you like.

What does microphone sensitivity mean?

Microphone sensitivity is the amount of dynamic change the microphone can take. For example you might say that the microphone is sensitive to a certain sound like ppp or stt stt sounds and this will affect how the microphone my pick up the sound, so you may put a pop shield over the top to prevent this and make the sound a lot better. This could also be the same for the dynamics such as how loud the sound might be.

Frequency response of the human ear:

The common hearing range of the human ear is around 20hz to 20khz(20000hz) of frequency, but the human ear can also hear as low as 12hz. However our ears are sensitive to frequencies between 2,000Hz and 6,000Hz. On the other hand individual hearing range varies and depends on the person.

Microphone frequency response:

The frequency response is the output level or sensitivity of a microphone over its operating range from lowest to highest. This is important to keep into consideration when buying a microphone because there are major exceptions. Some mics come with deliberate emphasis at certain frequencies when being spoken or sung into. This will also give you less work when editing.