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> A speaker is very different to a microphone. Is it? I've definitely had fun little experiments where I turn a microphone into a speaker or use a speaker as a
by dwohnitmok 6y ago
> A speaker is very different to a microphone.
Is it? I've definitely had fun little experiments where I turn a microphone into a speaker or use a speaker as a microphone. It's just a matter of whether I'm powering the membrane or whether the membrane is powering me, i.e. its just a matter of which side of the mechanism I sit on. It's a conversion between electricity and mechanical vibration that can be driven from either side.
I'm sure there's a lot of engineering trade-offs that change if you're looking to optimize for recording fidelity vs output fidelity, so the details of their implementation are probably quite different, but at their core the two don't seem all that different.
Maybe they're totally different in the MEMS world?
- shard 6y agoObviously depends on the type of speaker and microphone, but I have actually used headphones as a mic in a pinch before (in a lab setting, not in everyday use).
- leetbulb 6y agoI'm with you on the speaker versus microphone. Both piezo and magnetic coil driven can be used both ways. Just like an electric motor versus an alternator. They're essentially the same thing, but optimized for different purposes.
- anamexis 6y agoI think the engineering trade-offs are significantly large enough to make microphones and speakers "totally different" in the conventional, non-MEMS world. Sure, at the very core of it, it's just trading electricity for mechanical vibration, and this functions in both directions. But the engineering that has gone into specializing both speakers and microphones is staggering.