You'll already know how microphones work-because they're literally loudspeakers workingĪround (or in front of) a permanent magnet. If you've read our article on loudspeakers, Microphones look very different from loudspeakers so most people never realize how similar

Microphones are loudspeakers in reverse.

Microphones like this turn incoming sound into outgoing electricity.īelow: Loudspeakers, like this, work the opposite way to microphones, converting incoming electrical energy into outgoing sound. The protective metal grille is meant to reduce wind and pop sounds. Technically, it's a condenser microphone and picks up sound in a cardioid polar pattern. Photo: Above: This Samson Meteorite is a typical studio-grade professional microphone that hooks up to your computer for podcasting or other high-quality audio recording. How do microphones work? Let's take a closer look! Sounds of our voices, our music, and the noises in our world to other Information we can store, microphones make it possible to send the Have someone listen to what you said a hundred years later! Remarkably, such thingsĪre possible today: by converting sound energy into electricity and Invented in the late 19th century, there was no satisfactory way to Sound- energy we can hear-travels only so far before it soaks away into the world around us.

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