Two ways to make a microphone from regular headphones. A high-quality microphone for a computer What can you do with a microphone

Almost all headsets that are designed to work with a PC have such “pathetic” characteristics that if you try to use the microphone from such a headset for recording or karaoke, you will get nothing but disappointment. There is only one reason here - all such microphones are designed for speech transmission and have a very narrow frequency range. This not only reduces the cost of the design itself, but also promotes speech intelligibility, which is the main requirement of the headset.

Attempts to connect a regular dynamic or electret microphone usually end in failure - the level from such a microphone is clearly not enough to “build up” sound card. Additionally, ignorance of the input circuit of sound cards and incorrect connection A dynamic microphone completes the job. Assembling a microphone amplifier and connecting it “wisely”? It would be nice, but it is much easier to use an IEC-3 microphone, which was once widely used in wearable equipment and is still quite common. But, of course, you will have to connect “wisely”.

This electret microphone has fairly high characteristics (the frequency range, for example, lies in the range 50 - 15,000 Hz) and, most importantly, it has a built-in source follower assembled on field effect transistor, which not only matches the high impedance of the microphone with the amplifier, but also has an output signal level that is more than sufficient for any sound card. Perhaps the only drawback is that the microphone requires power. But its current consumption is so small that two AA batteries connected in series will last for many months of continuous operation. Let's take a look at the internal circuit of the microphone, which is located in an aluminum cup, and think about how to connect it to a computer:

The gray color indicates the aluminum glass, which is a screen and is connected to the common wire of the circuit. As I already said, such a microphone requires external power, and minus 3-5 V must be supplied to the resistor (red wire), and plus to the blue one. We will pick up a useful signal from white.

Now let's take a look at the computer microphone input circuit:

It turns out that the signal should be supplied only to the very tip of the connector, marked green, and the sound card itself supplies +5 V to the red one through a resistor. Made for food preamplifiers headsets, if used. We will not use this voltage for two reasons: firstly, we need a different polarity, and if we simply “turn” the wires, the microphone will produce a lot of noise. Secondly, the PC power supply is switching and the interference at these five volts will be considerable. The use of galvanic elements in terms of interference is ideal - pure “constant” without the slightest pulsation. So, complete diagram connecting our microphone to the computer will look like this.

Almost all home devices, from phones to laptops, are equipped with their own microphone for communication. Particularly zealous fans of programs such as Skype or Mail Agent even buy themselves stationary microphones to improve communication with subscribers. Free-standing devices, wireless headsets, built-in mechanisms – today a microphone can take on the most bizarre forms. However, like all devices, it can break unexpectedly, which is why it will be useful for everyone to learn how to make a microphone from headphones.

In most cases, owners simply dispose of the failed electrical appliance and go shopping for a new one. But there is no need to rush in this matter, because anyone can assemble a microphone from ordinary headphones. To turn your phone headphones into a high-quality microphone for your computer, you will need to prepare suitable materials, namely:

• headphones from any brand, the simplest included headphones from your phone will do;

• 3.5 mm plug, better known as “jack”;

• high-quality wires for connections (carefully examine their integrity, do not damage the insulating material);

• soldering iron of sufficient power;
• sufficient amount of solder, rosin.

You can choose one of two options. You can use the headphones directly, or you can turn them into a full-fledged headset. The procedure will not take you much time and will not cause difficulties.

First way

Making a microphone out of old headphones is the most economical way out of the situation. Upon completion of the work, you will be able to receive not only a new device, but also breathe life into “junk” that no one needs. First you will have to do some soldering work.

If you strictly followed the instructions and did not overdo it with solder, which could cause a short circuit at the solder points, then when you connect the headset to the laptop, you will hear light clicks. This means that the microphone is working normally.

Second way

This is a much less effort and resource-intensive way to create a microphone at home. To do this you will need a telephone, computerBluetooth adapter and headphones included.

Connect mobile device with a computer via Bluetooth connection. Connect the headset to the phone jack and you will get a working microphone. This method will allow you to quickly restore a lost connection, but use it only permanent basis Not recommended.

This scheme is used as a temporary replacement when there is no time or money to purchase a good microphone.

Such a system is characterized by instability, because the Bluetooth connection can be interrupted at the most unexpected moment. Added to this is the need to constantly monitor the battery charge in your phone. Connecting it to an outlet will add more wires, which may make it difficult to use.

As you can see, from ordinary telephone headphones, which are included with most models, you can make an excellent headset for communication. Of course, it will never replace a real microphone. DIY devices can significantly inferior in quality transmitted sound to factory analogues. However, with quality parts on hand, you can try to build a real microphone.

Microphone is a device that converts sound vibrations into electricity. In sound transmission, the microphone is the primary link in sound reception. A microphone is a useful device that can be used to communicate on the Internet, as well as to record voices or sounds (instruments, special effects). However, high-quality microphones cost a lot of money, and cheap ones will not provide sufficient sensitivity and quality.

In this article we will tell you how to make a microphone suitable for daily use with your own hands.

What can you use a homemade microphone for?

Of course, making a condenser microphone for vocals or podcasts with your own hands is almost impossible - their design is too complex, which can become a hindrance for a person with little knowledge of electronics.

Electret microphones are much simpler in design and therefore more reliable. Besides, small sizes and the low cost of electret microphones allow them to be used almost everywhere where sound reception may be required.

Here is a simple way to make such a microphone with your own hands.

What will you need?

• Electret capsule - it can be pulled out of the old one cell phone or radio;
• Jack 3.5 plug for connecting a microphone to a computer;
• Microphone body - a syringe cylinder works well;
• Paper clip - for fixing the case and further attaching the microphone, for example, to clothing;
• Thin wire - cut off a small section 1-1.5 meters long;
• Black foam rubber - a small piece for protection from the wind.

Manufacturing procedure

To make it easier for you to navigate, look on the Internet for photographs of a homemade microphone or a device for a standard electret microphone (“lapel”).

• To make a microphone body, you need to cut off the tip from the syringe body with a knife. You can erase the markings on the syringe with a solvent;
• Insert a wire through the cone of the syringe and tie a knot at its end to secure the microphone in the body;
• Solder the electret capsule to the wire from the node side - connect the shielded braid to its body;
• Install the capsule into the body, and secure the cone with the eye of a stationery clip;
• Solder the second end of the wire to the plug, additionally connecting the left and right channels together;
• Make a narrow round hole in a piece of foam rubber for the microphone. You can cut off any excess corners with a knife - this will give you a decent windproof cap.

That's all, homemade microphone ready! You managed to create a sensitive measuring microphone with your own hands, which is also good for communication.

DIY microphone stand

As a rule, expensive and high-quality microphones are bought for serious work or a hobby, be it professional sound recording, broadcasting or hobby vocals.

In the vast majority of cases, for comfortable work and for maximum access to the sound source, you have to additionally purchase a special stand for such microphones. Now we will tell you how to make a tabletop microphone stand at home.

What will you need?

Lamp on a clamp - can be purchased at any electronics store. Attention: the mass of the lamp must match the mass of your microphone, otherwise the microphone on a weak clamp will easily fall under its own weight.

The holder depends on the type of microphone you have: for a dynamic microphone, the holder can be purchased at a price of 250 rubles, for a condenser (spider type) - at a price of 500 rubles.

It is possible to find and purchase an adapter for a microphone holder for easier installation on a clamp.

Manufacturing procedure

• Cut and pull out the lamp wire;
• Disassemble and remove the lamp shade;
• Attach the microphone mount to the thread on the lamp pantograph - due to the mismatch of the thread, you will only be able to screw the microphone mount once;
• Attach the microphone holder to the mount;
• Place the microphone itself in the holder and secure the stand to the table.

Ready! Now you have a convenient, adjustable microphone stand that can be easily attached to your desk, and the clamp design allows you to screw a pop filter and other accessories to it.

DIY microphone photos

Without computer microphone It’s very difficult to get by now, without it you can’t use voice search, you won’t be able to chat with a friend via video call. However, not all computers have built-in microphones, and moreover, they often do not have very good sensitivity. You can solve this problem quite simply - assemble the microphone yourself.

Scheme

The circuit is extremely simple, containing only two resistors, two capacitors, a transistor and an electret microphone capsule. Almost any low-power transistor can be used n-p-n structures, for example, KT3102, BC547, BC337. An electret microphone can be obtained, for example, from a broken headset or handset, or you can buy it at a radio parts store. The sensitivity of the microphone will greatly depend on this element, so it is advisable to take several and check which one is best suited. The advantage of this circuit is that it uses phantom power. Those. sound signal transmitted over the same wires as power. If you take a voltmeter and measure the voltage at the microphone input of your computer, it will be about 3-4 volts. When connecting the microphone circuit, this voltage should drop to a level of 0.6-0.7 volts, thus external source No power will be needed and there will be no extra wires in the workplace.

Circuit assembly

The circuit contains a minimum of parts, so it can be assembled by hanging installation. But, sticking to tradition, I etched a miniature printed circuit board. The paths can even be drawn with a marker or nail polish. A few photos of the process:

Download the board:

A microphone capsule is soldered on one end of the board, and a shielded wire on the other. Please note that the wire must have a shield, otherwise the microphone will produce terrible noise. The braid of the wire is soldered to the negative, and the two inner cores are connected and soldered to the output of the circuit. It is imperative to maintain the polarity of the microphone capsule, otherwise the circuit will not work. One of its outputs goes to minus, and the second to plus. Determining the polarity is very simple - you need to ring the terminals with the metal body of the capsule. The terminal that connects to the housing is negative.

Microphone assembly

For ease of use, a board with soldered parts must be placed in a suitable housing. Because Since the board has a narrow, elongated shape, you can use an ordinary ballpoint pen as a body. To do this, you need to remove the writing rod from it and check whether the board is the right width. If the circuit is assembled by hanging installation, then it can be given any shape and there will be no problems with capacity. In addition to a pen, any elongated object will work well, be it a marker or a simple plastic tube.

The board is placed inside, the microphone should stick out slightly from the case. The wire comes out from the other side. For reliability, the board along with the wire can be sealed inside the case. The tip of the handle needs to be cut down so that the hole becomes wider and the sound waves can easily reach the microphone capsule.

We solder a 3.5 jack plug to the other end of the wire to connect to the microphone input of the computer. At this point, the assembly of the computer microphone is completed, you can turn it on and check the sound quality.

On them you can not only play around with voice search in Google (there are a lot of extensions for the Chrome browser for this, they are almost all the same, they use the same thing, but it seemed to me the most convenient extension“Voice search 2.02 - in all input forms a microphone icon appears by clicking on which you can say or dictate, or rather, a search request like in the picture) but with speech recognition somehow, but still work.

I was not able to achieve any kind of reciprocity from Siri on Apple, to the extent that it could be “used” for something serious, after all, it is “imprisoned” by English language It has an effect, but I already know the addresses of the nearest dumpling shops. In any case, Google remains the leader in speech and voice recognition; it’s a pity that it is not yet possible to use it programmatically and in Russian.

So the main weak point of microphones is sensitivity, and then of course the price.

Here is an example of how you can get around these two restrictions for very little money, and if you have the details listed below, then for free, you can get a fairly sensitive homemade microphone. A photo of how to make it yourself, a description of how it works and microphone diagrams are below.

Made by me homemade microphone It is highly sensitive and can even perceive the ticking of a clock at a distance of several meters. It also allows you to record high-quality sound using a computer. The recording quality also depends on the capabilities of the sound card in system unit. In the design of the microphone unit, components of worn-out electronics are used as much as possible.

An electret microphone can be taken from any old radio (in extreme cases, from mobile phone). I used two microphones at once (+), which made it possible to significantly expand the directional pattern of sound perception. The signal from the microphones, amplified by the low-noise transistor VT1, is fed to the operational amplifier DA1 (see Fig. drawing - microphone diagram). The amplifier's output can be connected to regular headphones or further fed to recording and signal processing devices ( desktop computer, laptop, etc.).

Drawing 1. Microphone circuit

The microphone amplifier is powered from the battery of any old mobile phone. Its battery life is tens of hours. You can use a free USB port on your computer to charge the battery. The amplifier can be left constantly plugged into the port, since the charging current is low. Wire with USB connector I took it from the mouse. The amplifier output connector used 03.5 mm, like for headphones, from any player, the volume control, too, and the rest of the parts, including the SA1 power switch, were any small-sized ones.

All components should be placed on small board made of fiberglass (photo 1 - above). I glued a small piece of foam rubber onto the battery, and laid the board on top (photo 2). I tied it all together well with electrical tape and tried on the regulator knob (photo 3). Then, to eliminate interference and interference, such a “sandwich” was placed in a tin screen, which was soldered to the common wire (photo 4, 5).

Microphones need to be secured in a piece of dense, soft material. After that, I cut out a niche in a piece of foam rubber (which, for example, is used for washing a car) and inserted the entire block into it (photo b, 7), and put a fabric cover on top of it (photo 8). You only need to provide slots for the plug, switch and volume control.

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