Microphones 101
Tibbetts Microphones by Sierra Peaks are state-of-the-art sub-miniature, electret microphones manufactured in the United States. We’ve been manufacturing microphones since 1945 and have perfected the acoustics, electronics, material science and manufacturing process to create the highest-performing microphones. There’s a lot to microphones—so here’s a look at everything you want to consider when designing your microphone's specs with Sierra Peaks engineers.
Electret Microphones
About
The electret microphone is a variation of the condenser microphone. It captures sound with a vibrating diaphragm that also acts as one of the plates of a capacitor. When the diaphragm vibrates, it alters the microphones’ electrical capacitance, which creates the electric signal needed to record the sound.
All condenser microphones require a high-voltage electrical charge, which traditionally requires a significant amount of input power. However, unlike traditional condenser microphones that use an external power supply, electret microphones use elements that are permanently electrostatically charged. This greatly reduces required input power and allows the microphones to be designed much smaller while still retaining their impressive acoustic attributes.
usage
Our microphones are employed singly, in pairs, or in arrays for use in hearing devices, communications headsets, surveillance enclosures, audio monitoring applications, high-performance lapel mics, scientific measurement applications, and much more.
FIDELITY
Low fidelity microphones tend to be noisy and distort the frequency spectrum of the audio recordings. Our microphones have very high fidelity because they have extremely low inherent noise, high dynamic range, and they have a flat frequency response. The result is that the recordings are captured more closely to the original sound than those recorded by lower quality sub-miniature microphones.
SENSITIVITY
Sensitivity is the measurement of the ability of a microphone to detect faint sounds. With sensitivity specifications as high as -33dBV/Pa,* Tibbetts Microphones by Sierra Peaks offer the highest sensitivity available for miniature acoustic microphones. This makes our microphones the best choice for amplifying soft voices, recording distant noises, collecting scientific data, and any other situation where recording faint sounds is important.
*Technical Note: Even the best scientists and engineers can sometimes get confused by the way that sensitivities are expressed. Microphone sensitivity is expressed logarithmically compared to a hypothetical microphone that produces 1 volt of signal per Pascal of acoustic pressure. For every 10x reduction in volts/Pascal, the decibel rating drops -20 dBV/Pa. Our microphones, with a sensitivity of -36 dBv/Pa, produce ten times the electric signal as a -56dBv/Pa microphone for the same acoustic input.