Electret microphones are capable of high-quality output, and are prized for their smooth frequency response. However, unlike other types, they can’t simply be plugged directly into a mixing desk.

Fig. 1: Diagrams from Wente’s 1916 patent application show the condenser microphone in cutaway view. Diaphragm (#6), which is grounded, is stretched only 5/10000th of an inch from the backplate (#7), ...

Any modern phone call placed, voice recording captured, karaoke song belted or conversation amplified via hearing aid would not be possible without James West. West, now a professor of electrical and ...

Of all of the types of microphones in use today, the electret microphone is the most commonly used version; 90 percent of all microphones used today are of the electret variety, resulting in almost ...

Using a speaker as a microphone is a trick old enough to have become common knowledge, but how often do you see the hack reversed? As part of a larger project to measure the acoustic power of a ...

Here is an Electret Condenser Microphone – ECM preamplifier circuit based on ultra low noise BC650C transistors. Due to difficulty of finding BC650C, instead of them, as you can see in the schematic, ...

If you’ve ever used a cellphone, hearing aid, or baby monitor, listened to live or recorded music, or recorded anything yourself, you’re indebted to James West. West is the co-inventor of the electret ...

The “cube” in this tale was the sound booth at Springfield Assembly of God Church (Springfield, VT), where I'm the sound man. We have an electret microphone hanging from the sanctuary ceiling that ...