A microphone (colloquially called a mic or mike (both pronounced /ˈmaɪk/)) is an acoustic-to-electric transducer or sensor that converts sound into an electrical signal. In 1876, Emile Berliner invented the first microphone used as a telephone voice transmitter. Microphones are used in many applications such as telephones, tape recorders, karaoke systems, hearing aids, motion picture production, live and recorded audio engineering, FRS radios, megaphones, in radio and television broadcasting and in computers for recording voice, speech recognition, VoIP, and for non-acoustic purposes such as ultrasonic checking or knock sensors.

A Neumann U87 condenser microphone

Most microphones today use electromagnetic induction (dynamic microphone), capacitance change (condenser microphone, pictured right), piezoelectric generation, or light modulation to produce the signal from mechanical vibration.

Contents:
1. Varieties
2. Capsule design and directivity
3. Microphone polar patterns
4. Application-specific designs
5. Connectors
6. Measurements and specifications
7. Measurement microphones
8. Microphone array and array microphones
9. Microphone windscreens
10. See also
11. References
12. External links

1. Varieties

The sensitive transducer element of a microphone is called its element or capsule. A complete microphone also includes a housing, some means of bringing the signal from the element to other equipment, and often an electronic circuit to adapt the output of the capsule to the equipment being driven. Microphones are referred to by their transducer principle, such as condenser, dynamic, etc., and by their directional characteristics. Sometimes other characteristics such as diaphragm size, intended use or orientation of the principal sound input to the principal axis (end- or side-address) of the microphone are used to describe the microphone.