How do mics work? *Confused*

[TSFB]

All right so I don't really know how mics work. Are there such things as mic amplifiers? Where I can just plug in a microphone and start using it?

Thanks alot

 

[kongwee]

What are you intend to do?

 

[studio2105]

Really basic information. I'll leave it to the regulars to respond

 

[soft]

http://www.mediacollege.com/audio/microphones/how-microphones-work.html

Very detailed answer on this link.

 

[van_halen]

you never sing karaoke before?

 

[blueprintstudios]

TSFB : welcome to soft.

i believe what you're asking may be if there's anything that you can just go plug'n'play like guitars to guitar amplifiers.
yes there is, it's called Vocal PA like those Delta speakers etc.
so it goes like
Mic > XLR cable >[ Preamp > active Poweramp+Speaker ]

 

[ankursamtaney]

All right so I don't really know how mics work

Mics are just little cartridges, where a little angel sits inside converting everything you spoke into the mic into electricity that gets transmitted through the cable into the amplifier .. the hotter the angel, the better the mic sounds! I think that's where they get the adjective 'warm' from!

Sorry TSFB - I just had to say that!

Now, to answer your question:

The 'volume' coming OUT of a mic is too low to get efficiently picked up and amplified by an amplifier, which is why you use a device called a 'pre-amp' which literally means 'before-the-amplifier'. The pre-amp boosts the signal of the mic, bringing it to line-level (line-level = the volume level of, say, a CD player line out, for instance). That line-level output is loud enough for the amplifier to accept and amplify.

Depending on what type of amplifier you're looking at, it may or may not have a built-in pre-amp. If it does, great; if it doesn't, then you need to use an external pre-amp (either a stand-alone pre-amp, or a mixer as most mixers come with built-in preamps).

Many powered / active speakers come with mic-inputs, which means they have built-in preamps.
Likewise, most guitar amplifiers (especially acoustic guitar amplifiers) have built in pres, and so do most home hi-fi systems with mic-inputs.
Power amps (amplifiers used by DJs and Sound Rental companies to power up big speakers), on the other hand, do not contain mic preamps; but more often than not, people using these amps also use mixers. hence the mic goes into the mixer, gets amplified through the mixer's pre-amp, and then gets sent to the power amplifier which further amplifies the output.

Hope that makes sense

 

[studio2105]

Microphones can be classified as a transducer. A transducer is a device or system that converts energy from one form to another. In this case, acoustical energy is converted into kinetic energy, which is then converted to electrical energy. Loudspeakers and earphones are also transducers, essentially being microphones in reverse.

Generally, how they work is that sound waves strike a diaphragm, causing it to vibrate which (in one of several ways) in turn induces an electrical current via electromagnetic induction. This current comes out from the microphone is at a very low level (mic level) and needs to be amplified before it can be heard through loudspeakers. This is where a microphone preamplifier (mic pre) comes in. Any device in which you can plug in a microphone has a mic pre, be it a mixing console, a dedicated mic pre (e.g. a Neve, Behringer etc.) or even a karaoke mixer.

Hope this answers the question, as simple as possible. Some science is unavoidable.