All You Need To Know About USB Studio Microphones
Gone are the days when the traditional XLR microphones were the main choice. Nowadays, professionals can choose from a large selection of USB microphones that are extremely easy to use, but most importantly, portable. Even if you are a beginner and want to start practising, you can still invest in a USB microphone.
What is a USB Studio Microphone?
As the name implies, this is a microphone with a USB output that represents a digital audio signal. And since microphones, in general, are transducers that convert sound waves into analogue sound signals, the USB microphone should have an analogue-to-digital converter in order to convert analogue signals from transducer elements into digital signals from its output. Having a built-in digital audio interface, these microphones can be easily connected to a computer or any other digital audio device that has a USB connection port. Said in simple words, USB microphones are a great device that can help you create professional recordings without the need for any additional audio interface.
Types of USB Microphones
Condenser Microphone Transducers
This type of USB studio microphone is commonly used these days because it’s widely available, easy to use and quite appealing. It’s said that these microphones can convert sound into audio by electrostatics where their transducer elements are designed as parallel-plate capacitors also known as capsules. The capsule, on the other hand, usually consists of 4 key components: diaphragm, backplate, electrical leads and housing. The most important thing you should know about these microphones is that they need a constant charge across the plates in order to run smoothly. And, the ideal way for achieving this is with the help of an electrical DC bias voltage through an external power supply unit, phantom power and internal batteries. Except for this, you can also choose electret condensers that have a thin film of electret material on the backplate.
Going back to the condenser capsule US microphones, these need a constant charge in order to work properly. However, you should know that for their work, they’ll need an impedance converter in order to work.
Out of all types, it’s the transistor-based impedance converters that are the most commonly used over the years. These impedance converters drop the capsule’s output signal impedance which makes the microphone ready to use.
Ribbon Microphone Transducers
These microphones have the ability to convert sound into audio through the help of electromagnetic induction. The transducer elements of these microphones are also called ribbon motors and they usually consist of a diaphragm, housing, magnets and pole pieces and electrical leads. Once the sound causes varying pressure between the ribbon’s back and front sides, the ribbon will move proportionally to the sound waves which have the purpose to interact with it. After that, a voltage is induced across the electrically conductive ribbon which vibrates in the magnetic field that is supplied by the magnetic housing. This voltage, on the other hand, has the ability to produce an AC electrical current that becomes the output signal of this type of microphone.
Moving-Coil Dynamic Microphone Transducers
These microphones have the ability to convert sound into audio through electromagnetic induction. The transducer elements of this microphone are called cartridges which consist of 5 elements: diaphragm, magnets and pole pieces, conductive ‘moving’ coil, housing and electrical leads. These microphones work when the sound waves cause different amounts of pressure on either side of the diaphragm, making it move back and forth, and so does the conductive coil. Because of this, an electrical current is induced across the coil which after that is outputted from the moving-coil dynamic microphone.
Whichever type of these microphones you decide to choose, none of them will need a sound card. In fact, this is the whole point with these microphones because your computer will already have a built-in sound card for playing back any sound. And since USB microphones contain the equivalent of a sound card needed for recording, depending on the type of microphone you choose, you can either buy a USB microphone and record with it and then play the recording back through the computer, or you can plug headphones directly into the USB microphone which allows you to record and playback at the same time.
As you can see, these microphones are great for recording on a computer or even on a tablet. They are extremely useful, helpful and do a great job. Plus, they’re affordable which is considered another great bonus. These microphones are extremely simple and easy to use, great for achieving excellent recording results within minutes. When in the search for the right microphones of these kinds, look at a store that is specialised in selling certified and quality audio gear. This is one of the only ways to be sure that you’ll receive the best product for the money without compromising on quality and reliability.