Download Ceramic, Crystal, and Ribbon Microphones

Ceramic, Crystal, and
Ribbon Microphones
Ceramic Microphones
• Ceramic and crystal microphones are some of
the earliest microphones devised. Two plates of
crystal or ceramic are sandwiched between two
pieces of foil. When sound waves hit this
sandwich, the plates twist, creating voltage.
This voltage is the electrical representation of
the sound waves.
• Ceramic mics generally reproduce lower
quality audio, but they are inexpensive.
The most common use of ceramic
microphones is in telephone headsets.
Ceramic Microphone
Crystal Microphone
Ribbon Microphone
• The ribbon microphone works on the same principle
as the dynamic microphone. It uses a thin metal
ribbon suspended between the poles of a magnet to
sense the sound wave. When the ribbon moves, it
disturbs the magnetic field generated by the
permanent magnet, and this induces a voltage in the
ribbon. This voltage becomes the signal output
This design is not commonly found in modern
microphones, because the ribbon moves
mechanically adding unwanted noise to the signal.
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Ribbon Microphones
Ribbon Microphones