Audio jargon for the rest of us. If you’ve ever wondered what “cardioid” or “phantom power” means, this page is your friend.
Microphone gear talk is full of jargon. Engineers throw around “hypercardioid,” “phantom power,” “impedance,” and “proximity effect” like everyone went to audio school. They didn’t. This page is the cheat sheet.
A small box that connects professional XLR microphones to your computer. Powers the mic, amplifies its signal, converts to digital. See audio interfaces.
A type of connection that uses three conductors and rejects electrical interference picked up along the way. XLR cables are balanced. 1/4-inch instrument cables generally aren’t.
Same as figure-8 — picks up sound from front and back, rejects sides. Most ribbon mics are naturally bidirectional.
An articulated swing arm that holds a microphone in front of you and folds out of the way when not in use. See boom arms.
A flat puck-shaped microphone that lays on a surface like a conference table or stage floor. See boundary mics.
The most common microphone polar pattern — heart-shaped pickup that captures what’s in front and rejects what’s behind. The Shure SM58, SM7B, and most podcast mics are cardioid.
An in-line booster that adds about 25dB of clean gain to quiet microphones like the Shure SM7B. Powered by phantom power. See preamps & Cloudlifters.
A type of microphone using two electrically-charged plates. Detailed and sensitive. Needs phantom power. See condenser mics.
A unit measuring how loud something is — or how much a piece of gear amplifies a signal. Each 6dB step roughly doubles or halves the level. A whisper is around 30dB. A jet engine is around 130dB.
The thin membrane inside a microphone that moves with sound waves. Large-diaphragm mics catch more low-end and detail; small-diaphragm mics are faster on transients.
A type of microphone using a moving coil and magnet — same principle as a speaker, in reverse. Tough, no power needed. See dynamic mics.
A polar pattern shaped like a figure-8 — picks up equally from front and back, rejects sides. Standard for ribbon mics.
The range of pitches a microphone can capture, plus how evenly it captures them. Most mics are spec’d as “20 Hz to 20 kHz” — the range of human hearing.
How much a preamp boosts a signal, measured in dB. Quiet mics like the SM7B need 60+ dB of clean gain.
A tighter version of cardioid — narrower front pickup, but with a small lobe of pickup directly behind. Common on shotgun mics and stage drum mics.
A measure (in ohms) of how much a circuit resists current. A microphone’s output impedance and an interface’s input impedance need to be reasonably matched. For most mics, modern interfaces handle this automatically.
A small clip-on body microphone, also called a “lav” or lapel mic. See lavalier mics.
Large-diaphragm condenser — the classic studio vocal mic shape. Examples: Neumann U87, AKG C414.
A polar pattern that picks up equally in all directions. Useful for capturing room sound or recording groups.
A +48-volt DC voltage sent up the XLR cable from an audio interface or mixer to power a condenser microphone. Doesn’t hurt dynamic mics, but can damage some ribbon mics.
The puff of air that explodes from your mouth on words starting with P or B, which overloads a microphone unless blocked by a pop filter.
The shape of a microphone’s pickup zone — which directions it hears and which it rejects. Cardioid, omnidirectional, and figure-8 are the three basic patterns.
A mesh or foam screen between you and the mic that stops plosives. See pop filters.
A circuit that boosts a microphone’s low-level signal up to line level. Built into every audio interface; also sold as standalone gear. See preamps.
The bass-boost a microphone gets when you’re very close to it. Why a singer cupping a SM58 sounds boomy. Most directional mics have it; omni mics don’t.
Pressure Zone Microphone — Crown’s name for what’s now generally called a boundary mic.
A microphone using a thin strip of corrugated metal foil suspended between magnets. Smooth and dark sounding. See ribbon mics.
Small-diaphragm condenser — the “pencil” mic. Examples: Neumann KM 184, AKG C451.
How loudly a microphone outputs a signal for a given input sound level. The SM7B’s low sensitivity (-59 dBV/Pa) is why it needs a lot of preamp gain.
A cradle that suspends the mic in elastic so vibrations don’t reach the capsule. See shock mounts.
A long, narrow, highly directional condenser mic for film and TV. See shotgun mics.
Tighter than cardioid, looser than hypercardioid. Common on stage mics that need to reject monitor wedges.
A microphone with an audio interface built into the body. Plugs directly into a computer. See USB mics.
A foam or fur cover for outdoor or wind-prone use. See windscreens.
The three-pin connector standard for professional microphones. Carries a balanced audio signal and phantom power. See XLR cables.