Microphone Solutions

The Fascinating World of Liquid Microphones and Their Functions

It all begun with liquid transmitter, which was the first transmitter developed by Alexander Graham Bell and Elisha Gray almost simultaneously, in 1876. And that later came to be known as liquid microphones.

This transmitter had a diaphragm attached to a funnel shaped mouthpiece. There was a metal pin at the center of the diaphragm, extended till the metal cup below, which contained a dilute acid. As the diaphragm moved, the pin also moved up and down and thus the difference in resistance could be observed. And for sound reproduction, the pin and the cup were connected to a battery and telephone receiver so that any sound in the mouthpiece was reproduced and came with lucidity.

Besides Bell, Elisha Gray was another inventor of the liquid microphones as both the experimentation had taken place simultaneously. Gray’s liquid transmitter consisted of a diaphragm attached to a movable conductive rod dipped in acidic solution. Continue reading →

The Advantages of USB Microphones

The advantages of using a USB Microphone.

For a long time now technology has been advancing and this article will look into one of the advances from the audio world, the USB microphone.

Imagine how less complicated recording would be without lots of cables getting tangled behind your computer well there is a solution to this, a USB microphone.This kind of microphone uses one cable which plugs directly into a USB port and is the simple way to computer audio recording. They are usually compatible with both Mac and PCs and are perfect for vocal recording, instruments and podcasts. An advantage of using a microphone like this is that device drivers are unnecessary (in regards to professional microphones like the Editors Keys Studio Series range.), for your microphone to be up and running all that is needed is one USB cable, once the mic is plugged in, your computer should automatically recognise it as a new input device. Another advantage which can also link with the above to is the fact that they are easily transported and can be swapped in an instant which gives you longer recording time which is always a bonus and can be used on different laptops and your recordings can still be edited even when you are not on your own laptop. There are many different USB mics available. They range in shape, size, ability and features but all offer the same opportunities for its user. The higher end mics are more expensive but will obviously result in higher quality audio recordings and are usually used in studios whereas the less expensive mics will suit the needs of a casual user which may be using it for home recordings, anyone can use a USB mic the choice depends on what you will be using it for, whether it be an expensive or cheaper microphone the results will be of good quality. Its important to look for a good size diaphragm and response rate to ensure good quality recording. Continue reading →