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Microphone Characteristics and Specifications. Audio Days 2011 Paris. David Josephson Josephson Engineering, Inc. Santa Cruz, California. A bit about standards. in the beginning ... US ANSI, DIN, European and UK national broadcasters how standards work today measurement standards
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Microphone Characteristics and Specifications Audio Days 2011 Paris David Josephson Josephson Engineering, Inc. Santa Cruz, California
A bit about standards • in the beginning ... US ANSI, DIN, European and UK national broadcasters • how standards work today • measurement standards • legalisms
Basic electrical specifications • sensitivity – determines preamp requirements • noise level – quieter than recording ambient level? • impedance – does the cable and preamp affect signal? • power requirements – can the preamp supply?
Sensitivity • millivolts per pascal (mV/Pa)
Impedance • actual source impedance • minimum load impedance • balance
Noise level • “A”-weighted vs ITU-R BS.468 • rms average vs quasi-peak • why the number isn’t enough
Power Requirements • IEC 61938 phantom power • “the feeble phantom”
Frequency Response • under what conditions? • direction • distance • sound source geometry • tolerance? • smoothing?
Proximity effect • not only bass boost up close, but bass rolloff at a distance • disappears when there is no gradient (at 90º)
Midrange and HF characteristics • midrange often associated with pressure gradient venting or diaphragm resonance • high frequency variations often due to scattering • ...and we’re still only talking about on-axis, anechoic response
Time-domain characteristics • mostly affect high frequencies • reflections from grille • resonators to boost HF response
References www.josephson.com/refs