From the course: Microphone Techniques: Essentials

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Condenser operating principle

Condenser operating principle

From the course: Microphone Techniques: Essentials

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Condenser operating principle

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- [Instructor] Unlike the magnetic capsule used by dynamic microphones, condenser microphones work on a purely electrical level where the wave form sympathetically vibrates a thin piece of mylar that's been lightly coated with a conductive alloy, a gold alloy in some cases. A condenser uses phantom power to apply a polarized voltage to the thinly coated mylar diaphragm that's directly adjacent to a solid conductive plate. The electrical charge builds up and is stored between the fixed and moveable plates. The area between the two plates becomes a capacitor which is something that holds an electrical charge. In fact, the old school name for capacitor is condenser. As the sound wave hits this thinly coated mylar diaphragm the vibration varies the stored electrical charge. And the variations in this area of charged air, called the dielectric, are the source of the signal that's sent from the microphone to the mixer. If we compare the amount of energy required to move the mass of copper…

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