“Is a smartphone microphone better than a laptop microphone?”

(Answer requested by Kimberley Johnson)

They sure can give different results, can’t they? But it’s not so much because the guts of the mikes are wildly different. Rather, it’s how they’re used.

In a laptop, the microphones will pick up not only the intended sounds, but also vibrations from the hard drive and fan; plus maybe keyclicks; and even some vibrations arriving via the floor and table. Plus, the mikes are often in awkward locations, aimed upwards at the ceiling or off to the sides — not at or close to your mouth or other sound source.

In a phone, the mike has a much easier job: There are no internal vibrations to contend with (there’s no mechanical noise at all!); ambient vibrations tend to be dampened by the soft tissues of the hand that‘s holding the phone; and you normally bring the phone and its mike fairly close to your mouth or sound source.

But, for phones and PCs, if you’re really serious about audio recording quality, an external plug-in microphone will almost always give you superior results to anything built into the device itself.

Permalink: https://langa.com/?p=3855

COMMENT / QUESTION on THIS ITEM? See the Comment box at bottom of this page!

NEW QUESTION? Ask here!

(Want free notification of new content? Click here!)