Tips: Condenser Recording Mics

The two types of condenser microphones

This article mainly concentrates on condenser mics for recording as dynamic mics are no where near as versatile as a budget condenser mic. I wont cover the types of mics and how they work as that has already been covered in this article. Almost the only dynamic mics used in recordings, are mics that need to handle loud signals like a kick drum mic for example, or in situations where the recording is of a live performance on stage and background noise and feedback are considerations.

Generally speaking almost any carefully chosen budget condenser mics will sound better for recording then a dynamic mic. There are good reasons why this is the case as the diaphragm which captures the sound waves do not have a heavy magnet attached impeding the movement of the diaphragm This allows a condenser to react to smaller sound waves and capture more detail and truer to the original sound your trying to record. More on the types of microphones and how they work HERE.

There are two types of condenser mics, the electret and gold diaphragm types. The manual or spec sheet that the mic comes with will indicate what type of capsule that the microphone uses. Below the two types are discussed.

Electret condensers

The lowest end condenser microphones will be using an electret capsule like the one in the picture to the right. These capsules are normally used in lapel, headset and reference testing mics where a small head is required. They are also very efficient and run on low voltages hence why they are commonly found in computer mics and older hearing aids. Some, but not all pencil (small diaphragm) condensers use these capsules as they are cheap and have a good flat frequency response. If your looking for a good sounding pencil condenser then try to find a suiatable mic with a gold diaphragm. In electret condensers the diaphragm is enclosed in metal and generally speaking these mics don't sound as good as a mic with a gold diaphragm which I'll discuss in the next section. This does not mean that all electret and microphones that take a single AA battery sound bad, this could not be further from the truth. However gold diaphragm mics will nearly always sound better especially when looking at budget mics in the sub US$500 range.

Gold diaphragm condensers

The gold Diaphragms are pictured to the left and are found in all high end professional recording mics. The diaphragm is normally open (behind a mesh grill) and not enclosed in metal like the electret which gives a much better open and clearer sound. Some of these mics can be powered on batteries, however they normally require a 9 volt battery to run or the full 48 volt phantom power. The diaphragm in all higher end mics use a mylar material with a gold vapour coating. Gold is used for one major reason. It does not rust and the resistance of gold is fairly constant, unlike copper and silver which whilst they are better conductors, they rust and corrode which causes the performance to drop. The cheaper mics under US$600 will normally have a cheaper plastic diaphragm with the gold splattered coating, which does not perform as good as mylar which is used in the famous M7 capsule. Only the very high end mics use mylar and many chinese mics claim to have mylar when in fact they are only plastic. There are very subtle differences between the plastic and mylar materials which depending on your budget you may not condsider worth the jump in price. There are only a few factories world wide that can produce a gold diaphragm so you quite often find that lots of mics share the same parts and sound and look very similar. Quite often the same factory produces both brands which is the case with most chinese made mics in the market.

by:http://www.pcmus.com/Condenser-Recording-Mics.htm