The 3 main types of microphones

Microphones, those things we use to capture audio so we can listen back to the sounds forever. We see them on stages (when not in the midst of a global pandemic), we see them on TV shows, we see them at lectures, and so many other places. But while we see them consistently, microphones don’t always look the same. Recording technology in the last century has come such a long way, that there’s now a myriad of options to choose from. Now as a new songwriter, singer, musician, or any other person who needs a microphone: with all the options out there, which to choose?

Well, there’s 3 main types of microphones and they all serve different purposes. And this is what they’re called:

Dynamic

This one’s probably the most popular type of microphone, and as the name implies, they’re really dynamic. What that means is they’re able to handle really quiet or REALLY LOUD sources without clipping. Clipping is what happens whenever a source is too loud and the microphone sort of overloads, if you look at an a waveform of a piece of audio that’s clipped, it sort of looks like a sausage (as described to me by my friend Alex Vennos, thanks for the perfect description!). Essentially what that means, is that the audio source was so loud that the microphone wasn’t able to capture all of the information, so the highest volumes weren’t registered once converted into 1’s and 0’s and into your computer (or back in the day, into the tape and then you’re really doomed). There’s ways to mitigate this harsh sound, but you can’t completely fix a piece of audio once it’s clipped, so it’s good to avoid clipping. So if you’re recording a loud source like a guitar amp or a drum kid, a dynamic mic might be a nice choice!

Some of the most popular dynamic mics are the Shure SM57 and SM58, which are both very budget friendly! They usually run about $100, and on an electric guitar I still use a Shure SM57 even when I have multi-thousand dollar microphones available to use! The Shure SM7B is a popular dynamic mic commonly used for podcasting and recording vocals. I’ve also seen and heard great things about the Beyerdynamic M88.

Here’s an example of dynamic mics on electric guitar

Condenser

This one I’d say is the second most popular type of microphone, and they’re really great for just about anything. Condenser are usually powered microphones (you know that little button that says +48v on your interface, maybe called phantom power? That’s the powering of a microphone!) opposed to the dynamic mics which don’t need any power. Part of the result of this is that they’re really sensitive and pick up a lot more detail and definition. You may be thinking “Great, now I can hear every little detail of what I’m singing or playing so I’m gonna have really high definition audio and I’m gonna be MLG Pro!" (do musicians play video games/follow MLG?) But that’s not always the case. While condenser microphones capture all the little details in a recording, they also capture all of the details. So your computer fan, your neighbors running around, the construction outside your window (thanks, Brooklyn) will all be picked up. Now this can be mitigated with acoustic treatment, but this can get real expensive real fast. Which is part of the reason why commercial recording studios are really expensive. There’s more affordable solutions, but I won’t get too into those today. Just be conscious of the pros and cons before you choose your first mic! (Or even if you’re just deciding on what mic to use on what source). You can also use these on louder sources, but I’d recommend to use a pad when applicable (some mics have them, might look like -20db or -10db, and a lot of interfaces have them).

Some popular budget friendly condenser microphones are the Audio Technica AT2020, the AKG P120, or you could look into a guitar center brand like Sterling or MXL and find good deals on that. (I got an MXL 990 for $30 on shopgoodwill.com in an auction, don’t shy away from the used market!) In the slightly higher but still fairly budget price point, Warm Audio is a company that has great microphones and their most affordable mic is the WA47jr which clocks in around $300 and sounds fantastic, and the Aston Origin seems to be championed for the $300 price range large diaphragm condenser mic.

Here’s an example of condenser mics on electric guitar

Ribbon

Finally, we get to one of my favorites which are ribbon microphones. Some might describe them as having a “Vintage sound.” These are probably less common in the home studio (although I have two at home) for multiple reasons, but one being that they’re really delicate. They have a literal metal ribbon within, and if dropped or mishandled, it could damage the ribbon. They also don’t play well with phantom power so if you power it up, it could cause damage to the microphone. The best part about them though, is that they’re really warm compared to the two other types of mic, and to my ears they sound really natural. To show you what that means from a sonic perspective, here’s the frequency spectrum of my ribbon mic of choice for home, the Royer R10:

Now, let’s compare that to the frequency spectrum of the Warm Audio WA47jr:

Now, if you’ve never read a frequency spectrum diagram, essentially it’s just telling us how loud specific frequencies are. The bottom indicates the frequencies, and the side indicates how loud or quiet they are. The more left you go, the lower/bass-ier frequencies you’ll encounter, and the more right the higher frequencies you’ll encounter. It could be thought of as sort of akin to going left and right down a piano, or up and down a guitar fretboard. For example, on the Warm Audio mic, there’s a bump in the frequencies a little above 10k and it exceeds 0db, whereas on the Royer mic there’s a dip below 0db, and around 20k it’s almost as low as -10db. So the Royer (Ribbon mic) tends to have a more even frequency response, while the Warm Audio (Condenser mic) has some exaggerated high end information. Not for better or worse, they’re just a preference!

And not to get too into the technical side of things, but most ribbon mics are Bi-Directional polar pattern, meaning they capture audio from the front AND the back of the mic (The Beyerdynamic M160 is a good exception, though, and some condenser mics like the WA47jr can actually switch between polar patterns). The polar pattern refers to how a microphone capsule captures audio (just the front, all around, front and back, directly in front without the sides, with the sides, etc.). So that’s another consideration when choosing a ribbon mic, because they capture a bit more of the room sound, and in an untreated room this might work against you rather than to your advantage. Overall, I love the sound of ribbon mics, and a classic combo on an electric guitar amp is a ribbon paired with a dynamic (The Royer R121 and Shure SM57 is usually the pair of choice in many studios).

The downside of ribbon mics is that they tend to be a bit more expensive and not as accessible for home studios. But there are a few options that clock in under $200, like the Golden Age Project R2 or the Cascade Fathead. However the Royer R10 is a fantastic that goes for around $500, and is sort of the little brother to the Royer R121 which is more than double the price.

Here’s an example of ribbon mics on electric guitar

So which one should I buy?!

That’s a great question but one I can’t answer! It’ll all depend on your voice/instrument style and what kind of sounds you’d like. I’d recommend ultimately listening to a bunch of demos on YouTube to have a good idea of the sound, and hopefully this post gave you an idea of what to listen for! And at the end of the day, it’s not so much about the mic but how you use it! The positioning of the mic might be more important than the actual mic itself, so with whatever you choose, I’d advice a lot of experimenting with placement and positioning! I hope this helped you out, thanks for reading if you’ve made it this far, and happy mic’ing!

Nick

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