Microphones

Question 1

MOving coil/Dynamic mic (p. 106)

Answer 1

A microphones where sound hits a finely wrapped coil inside the microphone, and the displacement converts it to an electronic signal.

Question 2

XLR connectors (p. 119 bottom of page)

Answer 2

Used to connect microphones to preamp, console and interface systems.

Question 3

Ribbon mic (p. 107)

Answer 3

A microphone with a thin aluminum ribbon in the diaphragm. When sound pressures enter the mic, it causes a current into the ribbon that then gets stepped up into an output signal.

Question 4

Condenser Mics (p. 109)

Answer 4

Instead of electromagnetic principles, they operate on electrostatic signals. Two thin plates form a capacitor, which is an electrical device capable of storing electrical charge.

Question 5

Phantom Power (p. 111)

Answer 5

Supplies a DC Voltage of 48V equally through identical value resistors.

Question 6

Directionality/Polar Patterns (p. 112-113)

Answer 6

Directions response is the microphones variation to sensitivity at different angles. We can graph what angles the mic will pick up sound and that is called the polar pattern.

Question 7

Omnidirectional mic (p. 113)

Answer 7

This means it is responsive to sounds from all directions around the microphone.

Question 8

Bidirectional (p. 113)

Answer 8

A purely gradient mic in which there will be differences in pressure between the front, back, and sides of the diaphragm.

Question 9

Cardioid (super/hyper) (p. 114)

Answer 9

A combination of directional and omnidirectional to create different shapes.

Question 10

Frequency response (p. 116)

Answer 10

The range of frequencies that a microphone can respond to. If it an respond to all equally, it is considered a flat frequency.

Question 11

Transient Response (p. 117)

Answer 11

How quickly a mic reacts to hearing a sound.

Question 12

Attenuation pad (p. 118)

Answer 12

REduces the signal before the preamp input to reduce or eliminate overload.

Question 13

Distant/close/accent/ambient mixing (p. 125-141)

Answer 13

The four fundamental styles of microphone placement to it’s sound source.

Question 14

Spacedpair/x-y/mid-side mic techniques (p. 139-144)

Answer 14

THe use of two or more microphones to create an immersive sound.

Question 15

3:1 distance rule (p. 129)

Answer 15

For every unit of distance between a mic and its source a nearby mic should be separated by at least three times that distance.