Piezoelectric microphone

1. What is a piezoelectric microphone?
2. What are piezoelectric microphones used for?
3. How does a piezoelectric microphone work?
4. Are piezo microphones good?

What is a piezoelectric microphone?

A contact microphone, also known as a piezo microphone, is a form of microphone that senses audio vibrations through contact with solid objects. Unlike normal air microphones, contact microphones are almost completely insensitive to air vibrations but transduce only structure-borne sound.

What are piezoelectric microphones used for?

The crystal microphone uses a piezoelectric crystal as its transducer. Piezoelectric crystals are durable and cheap, and they have relatively large electrical output; for this reason, they are often used in telephones and portable sound systems.

How does a piezoelectric microphone work?

These microphones use certain crystalline materials which can develop voltage on opposite sides when they are bent or deformed. In Crystal Microphones, the crystals used are cut and then positioned in such a way as to produce the desired output voltage for the microphone.

Are piezo microphones good?

Despite having a high output, the frequency response of the Piezoelectric microphone did not match that of professional-level Dynamic and Condensor mics at the time. As a result, they were never considered to be suitable for professional studio environments.