How to choose a microphone

A microphone is one of the most widespread contemporary devices. While speakers or headphones enable you to hear your conversation partner, webcams give you the opportunity to see the interlocutor, with the help of this gadget you can be heard.

The modern market offers a large variety of such devices including:

separate microphones
microphones built into the headphones (the headset)
microphones built into the webcam.

If you want to listen to music, communicate with someone, without disturbing others, and use speakers, you can buy the headphones with the built-in microphone, it's rather convenient.

Some types of webcams have the built-in microphone, that's why, the user doesn't have to purchase an additional devices and its settings as well. All you have to do is to install and set-up the webcam.

Technical characteristics of the microphones

There are quite a lot technical characteristics, so, we consider the major ones that are necessary while choosing the device. They define the sound quality:

Frequency range. In theory, the wider the frequency range is, the more intense the recorded sound will be. But the speech frequency base range is 80-1200 Hz. Consequently, you can choose the microphone supporting this range, if you need it for communication mainly.
Speech level. This parameter defines how low the sound detected by the microphone can be. The high speech level of the microphone is a good parameter, but it makes it more susceptible to noise.
Directivity. This parameter of the device specifies its sensitivity to the sounds coming from different directions. Omnidirectional devices (most models) are good for home use because they detect sounds from all directions well. If you need a clear record of the sound coming from a certain direction, you should use unidirectional microphones.

Types of microphones

If you decided to buy the microphone, you should learn about the types of microphones and the ways they can be installed and setup. If you decided to purchase the webcam with the microphone, you should also study the article "How to choose a webcam".

We hope that this article will help you make the right choice while buying the microphone!