TYPES OF MICROPHONES
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Why so many different types of microphones are available in the market for Sound Reinforcement and Public Address applications ? You may already be selecting right ones with your rich audio experiences but let's take a 5 min coffee break to remain a "audio expert" by understanding each characteristics and the relationship with microphone sensitivity. It helps you to choose right microphones much quicker and/or with more confidence for future professional/commercial audio system projects. |
Here're the typical types of microphones designed for professional/commercial audio systems.
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Handheld
Handheld microphone is one of the most common styles and designed to be held in the hand or clipped onto a microphone stand. It is used for picking up the voice of vocals, speeches, presentations or the sound of musical instruments. Since its sensitivity is typically not high, it is suitable for picking up sounds close to the microphone while not capturing ambient noises so much. |
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Handheld (Paging) Handheld paging microphone is designed to be held/grabbed by the hand for making voice announcements. It is often seen at cashers, boarding gates or on the commercial vehicles where it is usually hanged on the wall while not being used. The equipped curly code and PTT (press-to-talk) switch help quick grab-to-page operations. Since its sensitivity is typically not high, it is suitable for picking up voices while not capturing ambient noises so much. |
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Gooseneck Gooseneck microphone is designed to be used on a table, podium or lectern to pick up the speaker's voice. This form is widely adopted in discussion/conferencing systems with the solid base station equipped with user control buttons. It typically has higher sensitivity than the one of Handheld microphone so that voices can be picked up better even the speaker moves and gets a short distance from the microphone. |
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Lavalier Lavalier microphone is designed to be clipped onto the speaker's clothes or ties. The speaker can move around while speaking with his/her hands free from holding a microphone. It's an essential tool for on-stage presentations or lectures, and very often used with a wireless transmitter. |
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Headset Headset microphone is designed to be attached to the head for the microphone positioned close to the mouth. It is used by active microphone users such as aerobic instructors or stage musicians. It typically has low sensitivity so that voices can be picked up efficiently while the background noises are less picked up. It is very often used with a wireless transmitter. |
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Boundary (Tabletop) Tabletop boundary microphone is designed to be placed on a flat surface such as a table, floor, or podium. When it sits on a tabletop, often in the center or in front of the person speaking. It is ideal for conference rooms, meeting spaces, and boardrooms where multiple people are speaking. They can pick up everyone's voice clearly without needing individual microphones for each participant though it can also capture ambient noises. |
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Boundary (Flash-mount) Flush-mount boundary microphone is designed to be installed or mounted flush with a surface, such as a tabletop, floor, wall, or ceiling. Since it has a low profile, reducing the visual impact and making them less obtrusive compared to other microphone types. It is suitable for a range of environments where the sound in a certain rage of space/area should be picked up more uniformly, including conference rooms, boardrooms, lecture halls, houses of worship, and broadcast studios. |
Microphone "Type" and "Sensitivity"
There's a general relationship between microphone type and sensitivity. Microphones designed to be positioned close to the sound source, like handheld and lavalier microphones, typically have lower sensitivity to focus on the primary audio without picking up too much background noise. On the other hand, boundary microphones, which need to capture sound across a wider area, generally have higher sensitivity.
Ready to Dive Deeper into Microphone Sensitivity?
Check out this article for a more in-depth exploration of this important audio concept!
