Acoustics/Microphone Design and Operation

Introduction
Microphones are devices which convert pressure fluctuations into electrical signals. There are two main methods of accomplishing this task that are used in the mainstream entertainment industry. They are known as dynamic microphones and condenser microphones. Piezoelectric crystals can also be used as microphones but are not commonly used in the entertainment industry. For further information on piezoelectric transducers Click Here.

Dynamic microphones
This type of microphone converts pressure fluctuations into electrical current. These microphones work by means of the principle known as Faraday’s Law. The principle states that when an electrical conductor is moved through a magnetic field, an electrical current is induced within the conductor. The magnetic field within the microphone is created using permanent magnets and the conductor is produced in two common arrangements.

The first conductor arrangement is made of a coil of wire. The wire is typically copper and is attached to a circular membrane or piston usually made from lightweight plastic or occasionally aluminum. The impinging pressure fluctuation on the piston causes it to move in the magnetic field and thus creates the desired electrical current. Figure 1 provides a sectional view of a moving-coil microphone.



The second conductor arrangement is a ribbon of metallic foil suspended between magnets. The metallic ribbon is what moves in response to a pressure fluctuation and in the same manner, an electrical current is produced. Figure 2 provides a sectional view of a ribbon microphone. In both configurations, dynamic microphones follow the same principles as acoustical transducers. For further information about transducers Click Here.

Condenser microphones
This type of microphone converts pressure fluctuations into electrical potentials through the use of changing an electrical capacitor. This is why condenser microphones are also known as capacitor microphones. An electrical capacitor is created when two charged electrical conductors are placed at a finite distance from each other. The basic relation that describes capacitors is:

Q=C*V

where Q is the electrical charge of the capacitor’s conductors, C is the capacitance, and V is the electric potential between the capacitor’s conductors. If the electrical charge of the conductors is held at a constant value, then the voltage between the conductors will be inversely proportional to the capacitance. Also, the capacitance is inversely proportional to the distance between the conductors. Condenser microphones utilize these two concepts.



The capacitor in a condenser microphone is made of two parts: the diaphragm and the back plate. Figure 3 shows a section view of a condenser microphone. The diaphragm is what moves due to impinging pressure fluctuations and the back plate is held in a stationary position. When the diaphragm moves closer to the back plate, the capacitance increases and therefore a change in electric potential is produced. The diaphragm is typically made of metallic coated Mylar. The assembly that houses both the back plate and the diaphragm is commonly referred to as a capsule.

To keep the diaphragm and back plate at a constant charge, an electric potential must be presented to the capsule. There are various ways of performing this operation. The first of which is by simply using a battery to supply the needed DC potential to the capsule. A simplified schematic of this technique is displayed in figure 4. The resistor across the leads of the capsule is very high, in the range of 10 mega ohms, to keep the charge on the capsule close to constant.



Another technique of providing a constant charge on the capacitor is to supply a DC electric potential through the microphone cable that carries the microphones output signal. Standard microphone cable is known as XLR cable and is terminated by three pin connectors. Pin one connects to the shield around the cable. The microphone signal is transmitted between pins two and three. Figure 5 displays the layout of dynamic microphone attached to a mixing console via XLR cable.



Phantom Supply/Powering (Audio Engineering Society, DIN 45596): The first and most popular method of providing a DC potential through a microphone cable is to supply +48 V to both of the microphone output leads, pins 2 and 3, and use the shield of the cable, pin 1, as the ground to the circuit. Because pins 2 and 3 see the same potential, any fluctuation of the microphone powering potential will not affect the microphone signal seen by the attached audio equipment. This configuration can be seen in figure 6. The +48 V will be stepped down at the microphone using a transformer and provide the potential to the back plate and diaphragm in a similar fashion as the battery solution. In fact, 9, 12, 24, 48 or 52 V can be supplied, but 48 V is the most frequent.



The second method of running the potential through the cable is to supply 12 V between pins 2 and 3. This method is referred to as T-powering (also known as Tonaderspeisung, AB powering; DIN 45595). The main problem with T-powering is that potential fluctuation in the powering of the capsule will be transmitted into an audio signal because the audio equipment analyzing the microphone signal will not see a difference between a potential change across pins 2 and 3 due to a pressure fluctuation and one due to the power source electric potential fluctuation.

Finally, the diaphragm and back plate can be manufactured from a material that maintains a fixed charge. These microphones are termed electrets. In early electret designs, the charge on the material tended to become unstable over time. Recent advances in science and manufacturing have allowed this problem to be eliminated in present designs.

Conclusion
Two branches of microphones exist in the entertainment industry. Dynamic microphones are found in the moving-coil and ribbon configurations. The movement of the conductor in dynamic microphones induces an electric current which is then transformed into the reproduction of sound. Condenser microphones utilize the properties of capacitors. Creating the charge on the capsule of condenser microphones can be accomplished by battery, phantom powering, T-powering, and by using fixed charge materials in manufacturing.

Microphone manufacturer links

 * AKG
 * Audio Technica
 * Audix
 * While Bruel & Kjær produces microphones for measurement purposes, DPA is the equipment sold for recording purposes
 * Electrovoice
 * Josephson Engineering
 * Neumann (currently a subsidiary of Sennheiser)
 * Rode
 * Schoeps
 * Sennheiser
 * Shure
 * Wharfedale