What is the electret microphone used for?

Electret condenser microphones are used to convert sound into an electrical signal and are used in a wide variety of consumer electronic products, including mobile phones, GPS devices, and speech recognition equipment.

Are electret microphones any good?

A good back-electret mic can perform every bit as well as a traditional capacitor design, and in some cases a little better, though the electrical charge sealed in the electret material can leak away very slowly over a period of several decades, resulting in a slight decrease in sensitivity.

What is the difference between an electret and condenser microphone?

Condenser microphones come in two forms: electret condenser and DC-biased condenser. The difference between the two is that the DC-biased condenser requires an external power supply to provide polarizing voltage while the electret condenser uses a pre-polarized diaphragm or back plate.

Does an electret microphone need power?

While the electret condenser microphone doesn’t need a power supply to provide polarizing voltage, an FET impedance matching circuit inside the microphone does require some power. This may be supplied by a small low-voltage internal battery or by an external “phantom” supply.

How long do electret microphones last?

The electret element will still age the same. The 10 year old electret microphones that we have, have lost less than 1 dB of sensitivity during that time. Thus, a lifespan of 30-40 years or more can be expected.

What is electret power?

An electret material is one that carries a permanent electrical charge sealed within an insulating film. This means that no power is required to charge the microphone. (External power may still be required to run the mic’s internal electronics.)

What is an electret capsule?

The term “electret” was coined, because it is the electrostatic equivalent of a permanent magnet. Usually, the electret film is applied to the capsule’s backplate; this variety is called “back-electret”. Electret technology lends itself to mobile devices and very small capsules.

Do condenser mics need to warm up?

Condenser Microphones do not need to warm up. It does make a difference if you let phantom power “excite” the capsule for at least a minute before you start using it. This is because you want the 48v to get the entire circuit going.

Can you break a mic by yelling?

Mics are very resistant to high sound pressure levels and would not break due to yelling. However, some mic diaphragms (like ribbons) are sensitive to blasts of air like vocal plosives. Although yelling is very unlikely to break a mic, plosives (which are common with yelling) may damage the mic.

Is an electret microphone a condenser microphone?

An electret, or back-electret microphone, is one type of capacitor/condenser microphone. All capacitor microphones work by having an electrical charge applied. As the sound waves strike the diaphragm and make it move relative to the backplate, the electrical value of the capacitor changes.