How do microphones work? Different microphone types and their characteristics explained
Музыка
In this video we will be explaining the basics of microphones, from the different types of microphones, to their characteristics, switches, accessories and techniques, before showing you some demos with a variety of microphones.
Links to microphones (we get a very small cut with no additional cost to you!):
Shure SM57 dynamic microphone - amzn.to/2WJ1ouB
Shure Beta58A dynamic microphone - amzn.to/2WGBbgj
Rode NTG-2 shotgun microphone - amzn.to/2KSaJgW
Rode Lavalier Go lapel microphone - amzn.to/2WGAbsz
Audio Technica AT2020 Large diaphragm condenser - amzn.to/2WHuR8w
Behringer C-2 small diaphragm condenser - amzn.to/3nLcxXZ
Other useful links:
Difference between Small Diaphragm Condensers and Large Diaphragm Condensers - www.neumann.com/homestudio/en...
00:00 Intro
00:25 Titles
00:35 How do microphones work?
01:00 Mic Types
01:33 Dynamic Microphones
03:05 Condenser Microphones
05:42 Large Diaphragm Condensers
06:22 Small Diaphragm Condensers
06:54 Ribbon Microphones
07:23 Shotgun Microphones
07:44 Lapel/Lav Microphones
08:12 Contact Microphones
08:25 Tube Microphones
08:54 Polar Patterns
11:06 Mic Switches (Pads, Filters)
11:40 Microphone Accessories (Shock Mount, Pop Filter)
12:38 Positioning Techniques (On/Off-Axis, Proximity Effect)
13:59 Microphone Demos
16:59 Outro
Пікірлер: 160
I see quality content, I see few subscribers, I subscribe. It ain't much but it's honest recognition. I know almost nothing about mics, and this video made my day!
@arbitersofsound
3 жыл бұрын
Haha we appreciate it massively Lucas, thanks!
@ungzheenedd2273
2 жыл бұрын
I agree!
@mattt.5895
2 жыл бұрын
Same! I subbed!
@hiddensquid42069
6 ай бұрын
Amen brother 🙌
@user-ln3mm6nw6b
3 ай бұрын
Agreed, made my day as well. Great work, this saved a lot of search time.
Wait this channel is severely underrated. Extremely well made. Very informative on many levels. Super graphic and easy to digest. And the structure in which you present information is well thought out.
Perfect mic he is using, perfect speed his speech, n perfect knowledge he has, perfect
Occasionally you can come across a KZread video and think “This deserves a lot more views” This is definitely one of those vids! Really well put together. Love the examples at the end and all the graphics.
@arbitersofsound
2 жыл бұрын
Appreciate the kind words!
I was actually really surprised you don’t have more subscribers if I’m being honest. This video was really good quality and super informative, thanks dude ^^
Dude, keep up the content, I subscribed 4 minutes in the video - the quality of what you're doing is really good. This channel should totally be more famous
This is most detailed and well explained video on the list when I search for condensed microphone, but it has the least views. Come on algorithm.
i was very surprised when i saw the amount of subs this channel had this was very helpful and high quality thank you.
@arbitersofsound
3 жыл бұрын
Thanks for supporting the channel, we’re new but hopefully will be making more useful content in the future!
I'm in the US, so I appreciated the currency conversion to Big Macs. Also, thanks for the great info.
Great video man - clear concise and the animations and diagrams helped a ton. You somehow spoke technically and accurately without being overly technical and losing the average person who doesn’t have a deep understanding of electrical engineering - kudos!
@arbitersofsound
2 жыл бұрын
Thanks man! Glad you appreciate our effort!
Thank you for a highly pleasant to watch, informative, logical, clearly and beautifully structured and illustrated video!
@arbitersofsound
5 ай бұрын
Thank you for your very comprehensive and nicely punctuated positive feedback! :D
Wow. great detailed explanation. Thank you for this boss.
How can I like this video a 100 times? Absolutely great!
@arbitersofsound
Жыл бұрын
I guess KZread hasn’t built that feature yet but you can always comment 100 times instead 😄 and thank you! 🙌
Very well Explained Dear Thank you for the efforts
Really enjoyed the video, this was the best crash course video on microphones! The diagrams and animations were very helpful and gave clarity. It helped me resolve some issues I was having. Thank you!
@arbitersofsound
2 ай бұрын
Thank you! And glad it helped you out 😊
Not only did you save me from completely failing my exam but you did it in an entertaining way and I feel so much more knowledgable about the makeup of a mic. Ill keep watching your videos and sub
@arbitersofsound
2 жыл бұрын
Glad it helped! 🙌
Thank you very much for your really clear explanations and illustrations for novices like me. A very well organised presentation! And I enjoyed your humour :)
Lots of info in less than 20 min...thanx!
One time KZread recommended a superb video! So sad that you're so underrecognized and underappreciated... Hope you got your deserved recognition! In the meantime, keep the quality up, man!
One of the best explanations ever made for types of Microphones. Thanks you!
THANK YOU FOR MAKING CAPTIONS FOR YOUR VIDEOS ! ! ! Super appreciated!
halfway through and i're already learned a lot. thx great video 🙌🇮🇷
Thanks! This was very helpful and informative!
@arbitersofsound
Жыл бұрын
Always happy to help!
What a great video! Thanks for making it. Starting at the 15-minute mark was the main interest for me. Even though the whole video was great. I'm studying how the different mic patterns capture sound at different angles and frequency ranges. I just wanted to make sure I was on the right track and you confirmed it for me with your illustrations. Thanks again.
@arbitersofsound
3 жыл бұрын
Thanks for watching and for the kind words! Glad it was of use to you :)
So informative! Keep up the great work!
Great content and the animations were on point.
The sound is soo good!
With the demos it became very scientific! Liked!
Good content bruv!
Excellent information!!!
So useful information. And great video production. Thank you so so much!
very detailed, thanks
Underrated!!! This is the best explanation I found!
Keep up the good work bro!
I needed this, thanks!
Really good explanation with pretty clear visuals.
Amazing explanation!
you are so knowledgeable, i now understand everything about microphones 🎤 i think it's more easier to narrow down some microphones now #condensermicrophone #dynamicmicrophone #shuremicrophone #rodemicrophone #audiotechnica #budgetmicrophone
Oh my goodness I love that you added the demos
Excellent video!
talk about being underrated, and the big macs price tag really helps in conversion
2:40 one dynamic mic advantage: low sensitivity to ambient noise 3:40 condenser mics = active, require 48v phantom power 5:32 large vs small diaphragm condensers 7:24 shotguns highly directional 7:45 lapel / lav mics also need external power 8:55 polar patterns: omni, cardioid, 8. Some mics have selectable patterns. 11:44 mic accessories: shock mount, pop filter 12:41 mic positioning 15:02 mic comparisons
Wow! Great content on microphones in simple language. Thanks
Absolutely brilliant and very helpful. Thank you
Yo man! I watched your video and took notes for around an hour. When I finished, I was so surprised to see your current subscriber count! Keep going!
Bless the yt algorithm gods This is exactly what i needed 🙏
@arbitersofsound
Жыл бұрын
🙌🙌 glad it was useful!
amazing comparision. Thank you so much!
@arbitersofsound
2 жыл бұрын
No worries glad you like it :)
One of the best videos I've seen in a long time! Excellent animations and explanations. This deserves so many more views.
@arbitersofsound
Жыл бұрын
Wow thanks Michael, appreciate that!
Really good video. Thank you!
@arbitersofsound
2 жыл бұрын
Thanks for watching! Greatly appreciated!
Great video helped a ton! Was pleasantly surprised to see you still uploading consistently to this day. Keep up the good work man!
@arbitersofsound
8 ай бұрын
Glad it helped! Thanks for the kind words!
Glad I found this on my start into videography, very informative and I subscribed!
@arbitersofsound
3 жыл бұрын
Thank you, it’s much appreciated!
Wonderful video! Thanks a lot! :)
@arbitersofsound
2 жыл бұрын
You’re welcome 🙌
Very good video 👌
You just got yourself a new subscriber! Love the video quality! Very underrated
@arbitersofsound
3 жыл бұрын
Thanks for the kind words and the support!
well explained, thank you mucho !
@arbitersofsound
2 жыл бұрын
You're welcome!
awesome video
quality content, keep it up mate. Amazing!
@arbitersofsound
2 жыл бұрын
Thanks mate!
quality video man thank you
@arbitersofsound
2 жыл бұрын
You’re welcome! Glad you liked it
Super nice video thank you!
@arbitersofsound
5 ай бұрын
thank you as well for your nice comment!
This is amazing information
This video was amazing :)
@arbitersofsound
2 жыл бұрын
Thanks Dani! Appreciate it :)
Thank you!
Cool video, quality content. Subbed instantly and looking forward to more 🙌🏾
@arbitersofsound
3 жыл бұрын
Thanks for the sub and the kind words! More content soon 👀
Loved the diagrams!
@arbitersofsound
3 жыл бұрын
Thanks!
great video
fantastic!
Thanks for this much detailed video about mics. now I will compare prices with Big Macs :)
@arbitersofsound
2 ай бұрын
It's a universal standard :D
You have my subscription for the so good content and in such a beautiful way, ….. expect such more content from you, … thank you …
@arbitersofsound
9 ай бұрын
Thank you, appreciate it! 😀
Good content Brother!
@arbitersofsound
2 жыл бұрын
Thank you 🙌
Nice, thanks Man
@arbitersofsound
4 ай бұрын
You are welcome :D
Good content
I am subscribing to help this helpful channel. This channel will grow.
@arbitersofsound
3 жыл бұрын
Thank you for such kind words! We'll be doing our best!
you deserve atleast 10000 big mac price worth of subscibers
@arbitersofsound
2 ай бұрын
Hahah thank you - let's make it happen!
Do you have a noise canceling mic video? This is great info!!
thankyou, tomorrow is my exams and i'm going to write everything you talked about in this video... hehe ;-p
@arbitersofsound
3 жыл бұрын
Hope the exam went well 😄
@Ujjwal1Jan
3 жыл бұрын
@@arbitersofsound yes exam went pretty well, and types of microphones was in my question paper 😁
had to focus so much on how your voice sounds and my final verdict is that it is sexy LOL also thx for the useful video!
I echo the comments below. excellent. kearnedxa lit in a short period of time. I have the sennheiser me66 and AT2024 stereo. plus Sony video mics. All are excellent for their chosen roles.
how the hell you only got 226 subscribers? This is a crime!
Really nice video! Please, do you know what is the polar pattern of the smartphone's built-in mics? Omni? They are poor small condensers, isn't it?
@arbitersofsound
3 жыл бұрын
Hey Paulo, thank you! I think they are specialised electret microphones to consume low power so yeah similar to condensers :) I don’t actually know what their polar pattern is but I imagine omni, and I imagine they also have multiple mics on smartphones to aid in noise cancellation for calls etc
@paulovazlocutor5237
3 жыл бұрын
@@arbitersofsound Thank you!
this video is really good but could've been much much better with pictures of each mentioned type.
2:37 Thank you so much for translating that into american for me
@arbitersofsound
Жыл бұрын
Don't worry, we've got your back 👊
Great and informative video! I was looking for a microphone for recording solo cello that can be placed close to the instrument. I was thinking pencil condenser? Thanks
@arbitersofsound
3 жыл бұрын
A pencil condenser is a pretty standard choice for natural sound. I would also try a large diaphragm condenser for that extra low-end. If your room is not very noisy or has too much reverberation, i would also probably consider micing a bit further away from the instrument. I think it will help capture the full natural tone of the cello in the room better. Let us know how the recording goes!
@maxwung
3 жыл бұрын
@@arbitersofsound thanks! What do you think of true neumann km184s or the Schoepes CMC6? Would you go Omni or Cardiod?
@arbitersofsound
3 жыл бұрын
@@maxwung I'd go cardioid to avoid capturing too much ambiance from the room. I would definitely give the Neumann a try, my experience with them has been really positive and my go-to mic for a lot of stuff the past few years has been the TLM102 (If you listen to our podcast, that's the mic Vasilis uses). Unfortunately, I have no experience with Schoepes.
❤️
Hi, great content overall, but I think you made a little mistake by saying that dynamic microphone because they tend to have a lower sensitivity, pickup less background noise than a condenser mic. In fact at the same gain level they will both capture the background noise the same way.
The AT2020 is NOT, by any definition a large diaphragm from condenser. The diaphragm of the Electret capule is the roughly average 11 mm. {10.5,} small capsule. It's bigger brother $400 at4035 is the other version of the 11mm small diaphragm with more expensive circuitry. I would skip those two, get to 22 mm 2035 which only costs 50 more than the 2020. 4040 has the identical capsule to the 2035 what's slightly different tuning and better circuitry with everything else is nearly identical.
@arbitersofsound
5 ай бұрын
You are right, for their current prices the 2035 seems like the better deal! The 2020 was my first condenser and it's always been around in the studio and I think is a fairly standard entry level condenser. I can see now that they market it as 16mm "medium" diaphragm so I guess they are trying to position it somewhere in the middle :D
Interesting to consider the microphone that you chose to record your own voice for this video.
@arbitersofsound
3 жыл бұрын
Indeed. From the mics we had available at the time, it actually sounded better in the room so we went for it!
First off, I thank you for the info... I am curious, I notice that I can really hear the moisture in your mouth... this characteristic I hear sometimes... but not always... How does one get rid of it, or counter it?.. for example, why might others that record voice, NOT sound like that?.. thanks again for this info, as I am buying drum mics and after 20+ years practicing guitar, drums, and other things, I am FINALLY recording sound.
Great video. My favourite condenser mic is the Rode NT1a. Since conducting studio comparisons including Neumann U87s, AKG 414s and other far more expensive mics it's been my go-to. It captures crisp clear recordings with exceptionally low noise and flat frequency response. I generally found it easier to position to get the sounds I wanted when compared to other mics too. I like the fact that, to my ears, it colours the sound very little but appreciate that others would prefer a warmer mic. One of the most fun mics was the Soundfieldd SPS422B an ambisonic '3D' mic (check out my recording kzread.info/dash/bejne/omqMsI9mYKrJgdY.html the passing siren made the whole thing for me).
@arbitersofsound
3 жыл бұрын
Thanks for watching Ed! There's definitely a lot of subjectivity when it comes to microphones and more expensive doesn't always mean better for sure - there are a lot of other factors. The Soundfield mic looks interesting and very versatile too, maybe we can do some sort of shootout video with a bunch of high end mics at some point :)
I'm wondering about the best mic for recording Scottish smallpipes. I'm looking for more warmth and richness. Currently using a Samson G Track Pro USB. Would a ribbon mic be good? Thanks!
@arbitersofsound
3 жыл бұрын
A ribbon mic would theoretically give you a very natural sound. Maybe if you feel that the sound of the pipes is too harsh you could try a large diaphragm condenser that doesn't have such a harsh high end response. If you are not using an external pre-amp / audio interface your options might be a bit more limited though. What's your audio setup and recording situation?
15:03 Let the torcher begin >>> "Two blue fish swam in a tank, and her purse was full of useless trash" :')
23 Big Mac’s… thanks for converting from British £ to ‘Merican for us.
So would a small diaphragm mic like the Lewitt LCT 040 not be good for a situation like filming a youtube video or voiceover? I am completely new to this sort of thing and trying to learn.
@arbitersofsound
3 жыл бұрын
For capturing your voice in close proximity, large diaphragm condensers and dynamics tend to give you a fuller sound. Dynamics will not be as detailed, but will pick up less background noise and will be less expensive and fussy to set up generally. Condensers will sound more detailed, but might be not very well suited to recording in an empty or untreated space, picking up too many room reflections and background noise. But it obviously all depends on the situation (what kind of room you are recording in, what kind of sounds/voices you are trying to capture, how much background noise there is) and the microphone positioning (how far away from the mic you would be standing). What would your recording situation be like?
@NanaLaEnana
3 жыл бұрын
@@arbitersofsound Thank you for replying. I want to start a podcast for two people. We will start in my bedroom as to not splurge a huge amount of money (at least in the beginning), and I am planning on making some diy sound panels made out of shredded denim insulation (don't trust rockwool due to some respirtory issues). It's a mid-sized bedroom, but the whole house is made out of stone, so reverb is kinda insane. I do live in a fairly quiet place though, so no worries over outside noise like traffic and the like. The plan is to use a small table where we would be facing each other from a slight angle. I did a bit more research and I am stuck in between two mics: the Samson Q2U and the Rode NT-USB Mini.
@arbitersofsound
3 жыл бұрын
@@NanaLaEnana If you're planning on using only one mic then the dynamic one (the Samson) might be trickier to record with, because you'll both have to be sitting quite close to it and facing it. It will probably be much less sensitive to the acoustics of the room though. I'd probably say go with a cardioid condenser mic, stay fairly close to it when recording and make sure you cover at least the wall behind you with the insulation so that you don't get a lot of reflections from the room.
I need some microphone shopping help; this is probably a common request.... so, I am looking for a microphone that will only pick up my voice. I am worried that when i'll be gaming, it will pick up on the gaming audio from external speakers that's placed bottom of my pc monitor. Seems like dynamic microphone is the way to go, but wouldn't it pick up on the external speaker's audio? is there anything else I need to consider?
@arbitersofsound
4 ай бұрын
Definitely a dynamic with a cardioid polar pattern. Obviously there's always going to be a bit of spill from the speakers, so I guess that's the tradeoff you need to consider depending on how loud you have them, or maybe you should consider wearing headphones :D
I understand that as we are making sound waves through our vocal cords. The diaphragms move forward and backwards creating electrical signals. But how do those electrical signals carry our sound waves to the speaker? Or to whatever it is you’re recording? It doesn’t really make sense to me how the electrical waves can create sound unless the speaker system or radio has a mechanism that replicates or tries it’s best to replicate those sound waves
@arbitersofsound
2 жыл бұрын
Although it's hard to see with the naked eye, the cone of a speaker is moving back and forth very quickly in response to the electrical signal that's sent to it and as it does this, it pushes the air in front of it, which then creates the sound waves that we then hear. So if we left aside amplification, the mic/speaker characteristics and the imperfections in the signal conversion process, the mic diaphragm and the speaker cone would be moving in exactly the same pattern, and you'd hear the original sound exactly as it was recorded being played back through the speaker. In fact, you can use a microphone as a speaker, and vice versa (have a look online for videos of this!)
yes,58
Great video, you seem quite tired though
First. 🤪
My American ass is laughing that instead of saying the price in dollars for the mic her says "It's about 100 pounds, about the price of 23 BIG MACS"
Yo wtf, the dynamic shure 58A, woensdag OFF-axis, sounds like every amateur comedians voice xdxd
Are you german?
@arbitersofsound
9 ай бұрын
Nein