Do Microphones Need Speakers Or Headphones To Work?

Do Microphones Need Speakers Or Headphones To Work?

As an amateur audiophile, I often used to wonder if microphones can work without speakers or a pair of headphones. After all, there needs to be some kind of audio play device (a loudspeaker or headphones) to hear what the microphone is producing.

So, do microphones need speakers or headphones to work?

Microphones do not need speakers or headphones to work, although these audio devices often function together. Microphones convert sound into electrical signals and with the help of a few devices in-between, these signals are converted back to sound via speakers or headphones.

You can understand this better once you know how microphones work independently and how they work when paired with speakers or a pair of headphones. 

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Can Microphones Work Without Speakers Or Headphones

As I already mentioned at the beginning of this article, a microphone works and does what it’s supposed to do (i.e. convert sound into electrical signals) regardless of the fact that whether those electrical signals are converted back to sound and outputted via loudspeakers, headphones, or any other playback system.

Let’s first understand how a microphone works.

How Does A Microphone Work

A microphone is the most important part of any sound system or a recording application as a microphone is where it all begins. If the mic can’t capture the sound clearly and accurately, and with low noise, even the best electronics and speakers/headphones following it won’t produce the optimum sound. 

So, how does a microphone work?

A microphone converts sound into a small electrical current. Sound waves hit a diaphragm that vibrates, moving a magnet near a coil. This movement of the diaphragm causes the creation of an electrical microphone signal. In some designs, the coil moves within a magnet. 

In dynamic mics, the back of the membrane is attached to a coil of wire, and both the diaphragm and coil move back and forth according to the incoming sound waves. The coil is placed inside a magnetic field, and when it moves an electrical signal is induced.

This entire setup may remind you of the way a loudspeaker works. And yes, that’s true! Both, a dynamic microphone and a loudspeaker work with the same acoustic principle, and you could actually say that a dynamic microphone is a reversed loudspeaker.

On the other hand, Condenser microphones use a lightweight membrane and a fixed plate that act as opposite sides of a capacitor. Sound pressure against this thin polymer film causes it to move. This movement changes the capacitance of the circuit, creating a changing electrical output.

From the above discussion, it’s clear that whether it’s a dynamic or a condenser mic, the movement of the diaphragm results in an electrical signal.

From the diaphragm, the signal may travel through some other microphone components, such as transistors, and transformers, before being outputted by the microphone.

This further proves our argument that microphones, whether they’re dynamic or condenser, work by outputting a mic level signal regardless of if their signal is actually sent to speakers, headphones, or any other playback system or not.

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How Speakers And Headphones Work

Whether it’s speakers, headphones, or monitors, we all need them at some point to make and enjoy music. But despite their universal usefulness, how speakers work isn’t a widely known subject.

So, how do speakers work?

Speakers work by converting electrical energy into mechanical energy (motion).  The mechanical energy compresses air and converts the motion into sound energy or sound pressure level 

At the front of a loudspeaker, there is a lightweight metal cone (sometimes called a diaphragm). The outer part of the cone is fastened to the outer part of the loudspeaker’s circular metal rim. 

The inner part is fixed to an iron coil (sometimes called the voice coil, that sits in a hollowed-out ring at the front of a permanent magnet (sometimes called the field magnet, and colored yellow). 

When you hook up the loudspeaker to a stereo, electrical signals feed through the speaker cables into the coil. This turns the coil into a temporary magnet or electromagnet. 

As the electricity flows back and forth in the cables, the electromagnet either attracts or repels the permanent magnet. 

This moves the coil back and forward, pulling and pushing the loudspeaker cone. Since the coil is attached to the diaphragm, any audio signal applied to the speaker causes the diaphragm to move and sound waves to be produced.

The ultimate test of fidelity for a speaker is how similar the waveform in the air (the pressure wave) is to the electronic signal (the sound recording) that was sent into the amplifier.

If every frequency is accurately reproduced to the listener without adding or removing any information it’s probably a great speaker.

can microphones work without loudspeakers or headphones

How Microphones & Speakers Or Headphones Work Together

As I mentioned at the beginning of this article, although microphones do not need speakers or headphones to work together, we do need some extra devices in-between the mic and a speaker to amplify and convert the mic signal to be effectively outputted via a loudspeaker.

These devices that I am talking about are amplifier, audio console and mixing board, or digital workstation.

A mic signal requires at least two gain stages before it can be outputted by speakers and/or headphones.

Mic Level & Line Level

The electrical current generated by a microphone is very small. Referred to as mic level, this signal is typically measured in millivolts. 

Before it can be used for anything serious the signal needs to be amplified, usually to line level (typically 0.5 -2V). 

This amplification is achieved in one or more of the following ways:

Some microphones have tiny built-in amplifiers which boost the signal to a high mic level or line level.

The mic can be fed through a small boosting amplifier, often called a line amp.

Sound mixers have small amplifiers in each channel. Attenuators can accommodate mics of varying levels and adjust them all to an even line level.

The audio signal is fed to a power amplifier – a specialized amp that boosts the signal enough to be fed to loudspeakers.

Once the mic signal is processed through the console or digital workstation, it can be monitored through speakers. 

Speakers and headphones require speaker-level audio signals. These signals range generally depending on the size of the speaker, but they always require amplification from line level.

The line-level signals require gain to be boosted to speaker-level signals for playback in headphones or speakers. 

This necessary gain is provided by the headphone amps and power amps.

Now let’s try to understand the function of each of the devices that are involved from when the signal begins at the microphone and is outputted via loudspeakers or headphones.

What Is a Microphone Preamplifier

A microphone preamplifier is an electronic circuit or stand-alone device that boosts microphone input. 

Microphones put out really quiet levels. But like we already discussed, audio recorders (and other devices that ultimately amplify and send signals to speakers) need something called a line level, which is quite a bit louder than a mic level. So you need a device to boost (amplify) a microphone level to line level. And that device is called a microphone preamplifier.

So if you want to record good quality audio you will need good microphone preamps.

The Focusrite Scarlett Solo (3rd Gen) USB Audio Interface is one of the best performing mic preamps in the market. It has a switchable air Mode to give your recordings a brighter and more open sound. One high-headroom instrument input to plug in your guitar or bass. Two hum-free balanced outputs provide clean audio playback.

What is a Headphone Amplifier

A headphone amp is a relatively low-powered amplifier that raises the low-voltage audio signal from a source device to a sufficient level such that it can be converted (or transduced) into sound waves by the speakers inside your headphones.

A headphone amp can improve detail resolution and dynamic range extension and maximize overall musical clarity.

Some headphone amps also include built-in digital to analog converters (DACs) with a USB or optical port to connect directly with a laptop, PC, or tablet, as well as optical and coaxial connections for compatibility with other digital audio sources.

The FiiO E10K USB DAC and Headphone Amplifier is customizable and designed to improve your laptop’s audio output quality via its PCM5102 DAC chip and is capable of handling PCM files in up to 24-bit, 96 kHz resolution. It features a selectable bass boost and low-pass filter, both with circuitry optimized for a low noise floor when engaged, allowing you to customize the sound of your audio to your tastes.

What is a DAC (Digital-to-Analog Converter)

A DAC takes digital data and transforms it into an analog audio signal. Afterward, it sends that analog signal to an amplifier so that you can play the sound over headphones or speakers. 

Recording engineers nowadays store the analog signals as digital. Recording equipment uses analog-to-digital converters to transform analog signals into digital signals for storage. Nowadays, this usually means storing them as digital signals as digital audio files.

During playback, a DAC decodes the stored digital signals. That’s why we need DACs. Without them, we wouldn’t be able to enjoy digital audio’s portability and convenience.

What is a DAW (Digital Audio Workstation)

DAW is a piece of software that allows you to record multiple tracks, edit them, and mix them together, resulting in a single audio file (i.e. a song). They are typically defined as having some ability to record, manipulate, and playback audio recordings or samples.

You can get a DAW whether you have a Windows, Mac, or Linux computer (although some of them work only with certain operating systems)

In general, there are four main functions of a DAW:

Digital audio processor (record, edit, and mix audio digitally).

MIDI sequencer (record, edit, and mix MIDI notes).

Virtual instruments (receives MIDI info and translates it to different instrument sounds).

Music notation (turn MIDI notes into printable sheet music).

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