We are living in times of technology, and there is no doubt about it. We consume gadgets in various forms and shapes for getting our work done in an error-free way.
For instance, housewives nowadays use a chopper for chopping vegetables and a grinder for grinding dried spices in the kitchen. This reduces their workload and gives them enough time to concentrate on more important home tasks and professional work.
Similarly, microphones are used in various establishments for disseminating voices to a congregation. You must have used microphones at some point in your life.
If not, then you must have seen it somewhere in your neighborhood or on YouTube or in your favorite daily soap. You are well aware of its various shapes and sizes. But, have you ever wondered how microphones work?
Technophiles, most of the time, use technical words which are hard for a housewife or layman, or student to understand. For helping them out, we have come forward with this article.
The article will benefit all age groups irrespective of their educational qualification as it explains everything in the spoken and easy-to-understand language.
Okay, let’s start!
How Do Microphones Work?
Ever come across the word ‘diaphragm’ in your biology textbook? The diaphragm is one of the vital parts of the human body that is most active whenever humans speak, sing, shout or deliver a speech.
So what is the point of mentioning a part of the human body here when the target is to talk about a microphone? The reason lies in their close resemblance. Like human beings, microphones do have an artificial diaphragm that is most active whenever a person speaks into a microphone.
In other words, we can say that diaphragms in microphones are only active whenever a person speaks to them. They are of no use when a person is not speaking to them.
With that noted, it has become imperative for us to understand what the diaphragm is and how it helps in the conversion of audio signals into electrical signals. Follow the lines below for getting an insight into the diaphragm!
What is a Diaphragm in a Microphone?
The diaphragm is one of the most significant parts of a microphone that plays a critical role in sound production. Structurally, it is a thin membrane that shows vibration whenever sound signals are bombarded on it. This vibration leads to the movement of the coil, as a result of which electrical energy is produced within a few seconds.
Diaphragms are categorized into three bodies based on their size. Read the following lines for knowing more about its types.
- Medium Sized Diaphragm
A medium-sized diaphragm shows an amalgam of the small-sized diaphragm and large-sized diaphragm. Microphones with in-built medium-sized diaphragms are mostly used in home studios for recording songs or any discussion.
- Small Sized Diaphragm
Due to their small size and cylindrical shape, they often resemble a pencil, and microphones which have such diaphragms are mostly called pencil microphones. Such diaphragms are best known for their quick response to high-frequency sound signals and their stiffness and sturdiness. The smaller the diaphragm in a microphone, the more lightweight it is.
- Large Sized Diaphragm
Large-sized diaphragms have a greater capacity to interpret sound waves of various frequencies. Such diaphragms produce a natural voice and dismiss all flattering and annoying voices from the background. One of the major reasons for using a large-sized diaphragm microphone is that they are easy to set up.
Simplest Pathway Followed by Microphones for Producing Audible Sound
The working principle of microphones varies from one type to another. For example, condenser microphones’ working structure is more related to capacitors than transducers. To explain all the structures in a single article is not possible.
For that reason, this article highlights the simplest working structure or the fundamentals that almost every microphone follows to function well. That structure says that microphones work more like transducers.
They produce sound by converting mechanical energy (sound waves) into electrical energy (audio waves). Audio waves are formed whenever the diaphragm vibrates as a result of the bombardment of sound waves. The audio signals are produced by electrostatic or electromagnetic induction.
To know the working mechanism of a microphone, it is beneficial to know how microphone transducers work. The below lines have highlighted the mechanism in simple terms!
Insight into Transducers and How Microphones Work as Transducers
Transducers are equipment that converts one form of energy into another form of energy. Microphones work like transducers. They convert sound energy into electrical energy. Let me explain how they do that.
Keep in mind we have taken certain types of microphones as an example to understand the concept!
- Working Mechanics of Laser Microphones as Transducers
Laser microphones depend largely on laser beams for detecting sound vibrations over a surface or in objects. The bombarded laser beams fall on a surface and then reflects from the surface. In doing so, the beam returns to the receiver and transforms the laser beam interferometrically into an audio wave or signal.
- Working Mechanics of Condenser Microphones as Transducers
Condenser microphones or capacitor mics transform sound signals into audio signals. Sound waves fall on a moveable diaphragm that behaves like one of the plates in a sea of fixed, parallel, charged capacitors. The movement of the diaphragm as a result of incoming sound waves alters the distance between the plates, which leads to a change in capacitance and production of mic signals.
Final Statement
How microphones work is an umbrella statement that can have different answers based on the type of microphone we are talking about. The present article discusses the working mechanics of a microphone in general terms, and then examples of the working mechanics of a microphone are discussed. Hopefully, the article will help you in clearing your concepts about the working mechanisms of microphones. Adieu!
William Souza Here, I Am Sound Specialist, Have Trained Many Musicians And Singers. I Write Blog Contents About Sound, Music, Microphone Reviews, Speaker Reviews, Sound Card Reviews And All About Sound/Music Reviews And Instruction. I Am Writing On This Blog MicrophoneGuides.com As On My Experience And Will Update More Information & Review About Different Microphones For Different Users.
