MICROPHONES AND LOUDSPEAKERS

Microphones
An acoustic device classified as a transducer which converts sound waves
into their corresponding electrical impulses. Every sound not created purely
electronically must be transduced through a microphone in order to be
recorded.
Transducer
A device which when actuated by energy in one transmission system,
supplies energy in the same form or in another form, to a second
transmission system.
Transducers
are
often
employed
at
the
boundaries
of automation, measurement, and control systems, where electrical signals
are converted to and from other physical quantities (energy, force, torque,
light, motion, position, etc.). The process of converting one form of energy to
another is known as transduction.
CLASSIFICATION OF MICROPHONES
A. General Categories
1. Passive (Generator Type) Microphone
Does not require external power source
Convert acoustical energy directly into electrical energy (and vice-versa)
without the need for any external power feed. This group includes dynamic,
magnetic and piezoelectric microphones, as well as condenser microphones
using dc polarization.
2. Active (Amplifier Type) Microphone
Needs an external power source for its operation.
Convert electrical energy from an external source synchronously with the
sound vibrations they receive. Carbon microphones and RF-condenser
microphones make use of this principle.
B. According to Impedance
After a microphone changes acoustic energy into electric energy, the electric energy
flows through a circuit as voltage. Whatever resistance that voltage encounters in
the circuit is called impedance.
1. High Impedance
10,000 ohms or higher. High-impedance mics usually begin to sound
muffled due to a loss of high frequencies when used with a cable longer than
20 feet. Much less susceptible to hum and electric noise, such as static from
motors and fluorescent lights. Can be connected to long cables (over 1000
feet, so says Shure) with negligible loss of sound quality
2. Low Impedance
1000 ohms and below

Low-impedance
impedance mics.

(low-Z): 600 ohms or less. Professionals prefer low-

C. According to Method of Coupling

1. Pressure Type: Actuated by the pressure of sound waves against the diaphragm
2. Velocity Type: actuated by velocity of sound waves
3. Contact Type
D. According to Elements Used
1. Dynamic
(also known as moving-coil microphones) work via electromagnetic
induction. They are robust, relatively inexpensive and resistant to moisture.
This, coupled with their potentially high gain before feedback, makes them
ideal for on-stage use.
Dynamic microphones use the same dynamic principle as in a loudspeaker,
only reversed.
How it works: A small movable induction coil,
positioned in the magnetic field of a permanent
magnet, is attached to the diaphragm. When
sound enters through the windscreen of the
microphone, the sound wave moves the
diaphragm. When the diaphragm vibrates, the coil
moves in the magnetic field, producing a
varying current in the coil through electromagnetic
induction. A single dynamic membrane does not
respond linearly to all audio frequencies. Some
microphones for this reason utilize multiple
membranes for the different parts of the audio
spectrum and then combine the resulting signals.
Combining the multiple signals correctly is difficult and designs that do this are rare
and tend to be expensive. There are on the other hand several designs that are
more specifically aimed towards isolated parts of the audio spectrum.
2. Ribbon
Use a thin, usually corrugated metal ribbon suspended in a magnetic field.
Basic ribbon microphones detect sound in a bi-directional (also called figureeight) pattern because the ribbon is open on both sides. Also, because the
ribbon is much less mass it responds to the air velocity rather than the sound
pressure.
How it works: A ribbon microphone is a type of dynamic mic in which a thin,
corrugated strip of aluminum suspended between two poles of a strong magnet
serves as the diaphragm and voice coil. The ribbon reacts to velocity of air particles
(rather than the pressure, as with moving-coil dynamic mics) and as it moves within
the magnetic flux field, it generates a small AC voltage proportional to this velocity.
Clamps attached to either end of the ribbon also serve as contact terminals: Wires

carry the signal to a step-up transformer, which

then raises the output voltage and boosts the
output impedance to a usable level for a preamp,
typically around 150 to 300 ohms. Because the
ribbon element responds to sound waves arriving
from the front or back, but is insensitive to sound
coming from the sides, most ribbon mics have a
natural bidirectional polar pattern, which makes
them ideal for eliminating unwanted noise.
3. Capacitor
Condenser type or electrostatic microphone
requires a supplied source of voltage to
operate
requires electronics in the microphone to convert the capacitance change to
a voltage
Advantage: low mass moving element, high-frequency air pressure changes
to generate a proportional output voltage
How it works: Capacitor (condensor)
microphones where one plate of a capacitor
moves relative to the second plate. It works
on a different principle: one plate of a
capacitor is accessible to the air while the
other plate is fixed. The capacitor is charged
by an applied voltage or by a permanent
charge on one of the plates. As air pressure
changes, it causes the distance between the
plates to change, thus changing the
capacitance. The output voltage of the
capacitor microphone is proportional to the
displacement of the diaphragm rather than
to its velocity as is the case for dynamic
microphones. The change in capacitance is monitored electronically and
converted to a proportional voltage by the microphones electronics.

4. Carbon
also known as a carbon button microphone (or button microphone)
found use as early telephone repeaters, making long distance phone calls
possible in the era before vacuum tubes
have extremely low-quality sound reproduction and a very limited frequency
response range, but are very robust devices
can also be used as a type of amplifier
How it works: It uses a capsule or button containing carbon granules pressed
between two metal plates like the Berliner and Edison microphones. A voltage is
applied across the metal plates, causing a small 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.

The changes in resistance cause a corresponding

change in the current flowing through the
microphone, producing the electrical signal.

5. Crystal
Also called as piezo microphone
Uses the phenomenon of piezoelectricitythe ability of some materials to
produce a voltage when subjected to pressureto convert vibrations into an
electrical signal.
An example of this is potassium sodium tartrate, which is a piezoelectric
crystal that works as a transducer
used as contact microphones
-to amplify sound from acoustic musical instruments
-to sense drum hits
-to record sound in challenging environments, such as underwater under high
pressure
How it works: Rochelle salt crystals are
used in crystal microphones utilizing the
piezoelectric effect. The Rochelle salt
crystals are cut into thin slabs. Suitable
metallic electrodes are provided on the
faces of a slab. Wire leads are attached,
and the element is scaled to prevent the
entrance of moisture.
Two principles are used in making
crystal microphones:
Sound cell type - if sound waves strike
the crystal element, these feeble waves are
of sufficient strength to deform the crystal, thus producing a potential
difference that corresponds to the impinging sound waves.
Diaphragm type - uses a diaphragm to intercept the sound waves, and the
motion of the diaphragm is transmitted to the crystal which is mounted so that
motion of the diaphragm bends the crystal element. Sound-cell crystal microphones
have been built in which a number of crystals connected in series are employed,
and sometimes they were connected in series-parallel combinations to give both
increased output and low internal impedance.
6. Magnetic
Operated on the magnetic reluctance due to the movable core

E. According to directional Characteristics

By proper design, a microphone may be given directional characteristics so that it
will pick up sound primarily from a single direction (unidirectional), from two
directions (bidirectional), or more or less uniformly from all directions
(omnidirectional)
1. Omnidirectional
An omnidirectional (or
nondirectional)
microphone's
response is generally considered to be a perfect sphere
in three dimensions (circular)
An omnidirectional microphone picks up sound equally in
all directions
This is achieved by opening the diaphragm at the front
and completely enclosing it at the back
An example of a nondirectional microphone is the round
black eight ball.
2. Unidirectional

A unidirectional microphone is primarily sensitive to sounds

from only one direction. The most common unidirectional
microphone is a cardioid microphone, so named because
the sensitivity pattern is "heart-shaped

The cardioid response reduces pickup from the side and rear,
helping to avoid feedback from the monitors.

Since these directional transducer microphones achieve their patterns by

sensing pressure gradient, putting them very close to the sound source (at
distances of a few centimeters) results in a bass boost due to the increased
gradient. This is known as the proximity effect.

The SM58 has been the most commonly used

3. Bi-Directional

"Figure 8" or bi-directional microphones receive sound equally from both the
front and back of the element.

Most ribbon microphones are of this pattern.

In principle they do not respond to sound pressure at all,

only to the change in pressure between front and back

Bi-directional
microphones
are vector transducers
responding to the gradient along an axis normal to the
plane of the diaphragm. This also has the effect of inverting the output
polarity for sounds arriving from the back side.

CHARACTERISTICS OF MICROPHONE
1. Frequency Response
Frequency over which the microphone will operate normally
Magnetic
: 60 10 000Hz
Crystal
: 50 10 000Hz
Condenser : 50 15 000Hz
Carbon
: 200 3 000Hz
2. Sensitivity
This is a measure of how much electrical output is produced by a given
sound. This is a vital specification if you are trying to record very tiny sounds
Ability of the microphone to detect very slight changes of sound
3. Dynamic Range
Range of sound intensity that would be covered by the microphone
SPECIAL TYPES OF MICROPHONES
1. Line Microphone
Capable of picking up sound from a great distance at an angle of 45 degrees
and is highly sensitive
2. Differential Microphone
Used in noisy places; good up to 3-in distance
LOUDSPEAKERS

A transducer that convert electrical signals to sound waves.

Loudspeakers are audio sound transducers that are classed as sound

actuators and are the exact opposite of microphones.

Their job is to convert complex electrical analogue signals into sound waves
being as close to the original input signal as possible.

Loudspeakers are available in all shapes, sizes and frequency ranges with the
more common types being moving coil, electrostatic, isodynamic and piezoelectric.

Moving coil type loudspeakers are by far the most commonly used speaker in
electronic circuits, kits and toys, and as such it is this type of sound
transducer we will examine below.

TYPES OF LOUDSPEAKERS
1. Direct Radiator Type
Those in which the vibrating surface (diaphragm) radiates sound directly into
the air
a. Dynamic or Moving Coil Loudspeaker
Makes use of a moving coil in a magnetic field and a permanent magnet
How it works: When an analogue signal passes
through the voice coil of the speaker, an electromagnetic field is produced and whose strength is
determined by the current flowing through the
voice coil, which in turn is determined by the
volume control setting of the driving amplifier or
moving coil driver. The electro-magnetic force
produced by this field opposes the main
permanent magnetic field around it and tries to
push the coil in one direction or the other
depending upon the interaction between the north and south poles.
As the voice coil is permanently attached to the cone/diaphragm this also moves in
tandem and its movement causes a disturbance in the air around it thus producing
a sound or note. If the input signal is a continuous sine wave then the cone will
move in and out acting like a piston pushing and pulling the air as it moves and a
continuous single tone will be heard representing the frequency of the signal. The
strength and therefore its velocity, by which the cone moves and pushes the
surrounding air produces the loudness of the sound.
As the speech or voice coil is essentially a coil of wire it has, like an inductor an
impedance value. This value for most loudspeakers is between 4 and 16s and is
called the nominal impedance value of the speaker measured at 0Hz, or DC.

For high performance High Fidelity (Hi-Fi) type audio systems, the frequency
response of the sound is split up into different smaller sub-frequencies thereby
improving both the loudspeakers efficiency and overall sound quality as follows:

Generalised Frequency Ranges

Descriptive Unit

Frequency
Range

Sub-Woofer

10Hz to 100Hz

Bass

20Hz to 3kHz

Mid-Range

1kHz to 10kHz

Tweeter

Multi-speaker (Hi-Fi) Design

3kHz to 30kHz

In this
tutorial, we have looked at different Sound Transducers that can be
used to both detect and generate sound waves. Microphones and
loudspeakers are the most commonly available sound transducer, but
other lots of other types of sound transducers available which use
piezoelectric devices to detect very high frequencies, hydrophones
designed to be used underwater for detecting underwater sounds and
sonar transducers which both transmit and receive sound waves to
detect submarines and ships.

b. Electrostatic Loudspeaker
Operates on the same principle as a condenser microphone
How it works: An electrostatic transducer has
three basic components - stators, diaphragm, and
spars (spacers) - assembled as a sandwich. The
diaphragm is an ultra light plastic film,
impregnated with an electrically conductive
material and stretched taut between the two
stators, which are perforated steel sheets coated
with an insulator. When the speaker is operating,
the diaphragm is charged to a fixed positive
voltage by a high-voltage power supply, creating a
strong electrostatic field around it. (If you've been
puzzling over why electrostatic speakers have
power cords, there's the reason).
The stators, meanwhile, are connected to the audio system's amplifier through a
step-up transformer. It converts the amplifier's output to a pair of high-voltage
signals of equal strength but opposite polarity. So as the charge on one stator grows
increasingly positive, the charge on the other grows more negative by exactly the
same amount. Because like charges repel and opposite charges attract, the
diaphragm's positive charge will force it to move forward or backward depending on
the stator charges. For example, when the front stator's charge is negative and the
back stator's positive, the diaphragm will be pulled from the front and pushed from
the back and therefore move forward. The stronger the charges on the stators, the
greater the diaphragm displacement. This is how an electrostatic transducer
translates an electrical audio signal into diaphragm motion to produce sound waves
in the room.
To help stiffen the panel (it's very important that only the diaphragm move) and to
prevent the diaphragm from ever coming too close to a stator, nonconductive strips
called spars are placed widthwise at intervals along each stator's length.

2. Horn Type
Those in which a horn is interposed between the diaphragm and the air
Used for efficient coupling of sound into the air
Types:

a. Conical Horn
b. Parabolic Horn
c. Exponential Horn
d. Hyperbolic Horn

To cover the entire range of audible frequencies, the following speakers are used:
a. Woofer for low frequencies
b. Tweeter for high frequencies
c. Midrange for normal range
d. Subwoofer for very low frequencies

(a)

(c)

(b)

(d)

DIVIDING NETWORK
1. Loudspeaker Phasing
When more than one speaker is used:
Phasing must be uniform
Polarities and voice coils are in phase such
that the cone of all the speakers move
inwards at the same instant.

2. Loudspeaker Enclosure (Baffle)

Loudspeaker mounting that is used to prevent the
sound waves from the rear from interfering with the
sound waves in the front of speaker