What's the Difference Between Dynamic and Condenser Microphone - Music Majlis

At the basic level, microphones help convert sound waves into voltages which are then supplied to a preamp. But the method of converting sound waves to voltage tends to differ in the case of Condenser microphones and dynamic microphones. In the case of dynamic microphones, the energy is converted using electromagnetism.  On the other hand, condenser microphones use variable capacitance to sound waves to voltage. The following differences will make your understanding better. 

What are Dynamic microphones?

In the dynamic microphone, the audio waves are transformed into electrical energy using a magnet. Concerning the working principle, dynamic microphones work very much like speakers but in reverse order. In the case of speakers, the voltage leads to vibration of the diaphragm, and the movement of the diaphragm eventually generates sound waves. On the reverse side, a dynamic microphone takes surrounding audio waves as an input which leads to vibration of the diaphragm which in return creates electric voltage. The electrical energy is then processed and amplified by using a transformer, finally sent to the end part of the dynamic microphone viz the output sound. Dynamic microphones are extensively used as guitar amplifiers, loud vocals, keyboards, snare drums, and toms. The best part of the dynamic microphone is that it can gather a lot of signals without being damaged thanks to its low sensitivity and higher gain threshold. 

What are condenser microphones? 

In the case of the condenser microphones, the energy conversion takes place following the principle of variable capacitance. If you want to relate its working principle, then one can say condenser microphones work similarly to battery technology. Unlike a dynamic microphone, in condenser microphones, the audio waves lead to vibration of the diaphragm with a magnetic plate that’s placed right behind it. This process creates a significant magnitude of voltage boost and transfers it through a phantom power supply (+48V) to amplify the sound wave then transfers it to the output. In absence of the power supply, the will be the creation of no signal as the electric voltage won’t be boosted. Because a condenser microphone is different from a dynamic microphone, you will find some which have a built-in high pass filter, built-in pads, as well as a switch to change the polar pattern. By design, condenser microphones are more sensitive to audio signals, and the magnitude of distortion is too high if the signal is too hot. 

To find out which microphone fits your requirements certain factors need to be taken into consideration. One of the factors that are going to matter is the type of room or venue you are planning to use as well as what type of instrument you are to play on. Depending on your setup and requirements, you must pick one between dynamic and condenser microphones. If you are looking for good quality dynamic microphones or condenser microphones, then do check out MusicMajlis a diverse range of microphone collections.