Gadgetory

for people like me who have made a living out of the smooth audible chocolate of their voices microphones have become a tool on which our very ability to put food on our tables is dependent and while your average person might not feel the same way about them and may never set foot anywhere near a sound studio chances are they would still find life a bit more challenging have the microphone never been invented from those found on telephones to drive through menus to the headsets worn by professional gamers and air traffic controllers alike these things have become indispensable to all but the most rugged mountain folk among us so microphones first came into existence around the year of 600 BC in the form of masks which would carry a stage performers voice across the expanse of the large amphitheater simple amplification remains the general goal behind sound wave manipulation until a man in the mid 19th century by the name of Antonio Meucci invented the telephone olds try that again in English telephone and with that the races were on to see which inventor could innovate and improve this device most successfully now modern microphones or mics tend to fall into one of two major groups depending on what type of audio transducer the device which transforms sound into an electrical signal is used the first of these transducers Stiles is known as dynamic and is normally the type one sees their favorite pop singer using on stage these operate by way of a plastic diaphragm that manipulates a coil located at its rear which has been wrapped around a magnet whenever sound waves caused the diaphragm to undulate the coil is bounce back and forth over the magnet surface with the movements being registered and transformed into a signal these mics have the advantage of being able to record high volume sources such as directly sell vocals without easily distorting but the magnets which they use also restrict their ability to be shrunk below a certain size this coupled with the needed input strength to move the coil along the magnet leave them wanting sometimes in the departments of high-frequency detail and volume pick up the second transducer type is referred to as a condenser and it also uses a diaphragm to register incoming sound waves but instead of bouncing a coil around a magnet the diaphragm is placed adjacent Li to a powered sensor plate which detects the changing gap between these as it shrinks and grows with stimulation which gives them an advantage in terms of size and sensitivity that makes my deal for things like phones headsets and small body-worn jobbies like the little one that I'm wearing in here they do require a discreet power source for operation where magnet driven designs do not and also the reduced size between the plate and the diaphragm when compared to the length of the coiled magnet means they tend to top out and distort more easily with loud noises now what kind of transducer a microphone uses does it mean a whole lot unless it actually picks up sound from the intended source and hopefully that only this is where the role of pull or pick up patterns comes in which determine where the input is received from relative to the microphones location now there are many pattern styles for different uses but the three basic families consists of omnidirectional which pick up sound in a sphere surrounding the mic equally unidirectional or cardioid with its pattern looking something like a mushroom head and fading audio that's not directly in front of the microphone and bi-directional which resembles a figure 8 and you guessed it goes both ways the noise canceling feature many microphones use actually operates by directing a pickup away from the intended source then subtracting anything it detects from the overall sum of both inputs with more advanced systems using even more than two microphones now although microphones come in any transducer and pickup combination a user could desire with many boasting adjustable patterns on the fly it's important to note that the mixer processor or amplifier not to mention file format types and the end speakers that are used to enjoy the audio play a role in the experience as well and while this may seem like a bit much for those who are uninitiated I can assure you all that it is at least much more simple and convenient a way of communicating than the smoke signals that we used to use speaking of communication if you want to improve your skills in a wide variety of areas including communication you should definitely check out Linda comment when t15 and Linda things you know what maybe it's time to start investing in yourself and learning something new it's used by millions of people around the world they have more than 3000 courses available of topics like business web development photography video editing visual design they have software training like Excel WordPress and Photoshop and they're all their courses are taught by industry experts with new courses added every week so whether the goal is to like do better at your you know hobby or whether it's to find a new job or ask your boss for a raise at your current one improving your job skills well lynda.com well there's something to be said for that they've got a free 10-day trial which gives you access to every course on lynda.com which you can check out with the link in the video description oh and you can also use lynda.com on iPhone and Android very cool so I think that's pretty much it guys like this video if you liked it dislike it if you thought it just plain stank and as always leave a comment if you have suggestions for future fast as possible and mash that subscribe button if you haven't already