7 terms
A condenser microphone converts sound into an electrical signal through a vibrating capacitor plate, giving detailed, sensitive audio recordings.
A dynamic microphone converts sound into an electrical signal through a diaphragm-driven coil moving in a magnetic field, needing no external power.
A lavalier is a small clip-on microphone worn on the body, used to capture consistent hands-free speech for video, broadcast, theater and presentations.
A polar pattern describes how sensitive a microphone is to sound arriving from different directions, from omnidirectional to cardioid and figure-8.
A ribbon microphone uses a thin metal ribbon in a magnetic field to convert air velocity into voltage, giving a smooth sound and a figure-8 pickup.
A shotgun microphone is a highly directional microphone with an interference tube that favors sound from the front and rejects off-axis noise.
A USB microphone is a microphone with a built-in preamp and analog-to-digital converter that sends digital audio straight to a computer over USB.