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gE.1?ORT·NO. M.005 .
R~s~archDepartment .' l?th May 1945
Serial No. 1945/17' " '1 ' ...
'Work. carried ou tby' . 'p'rawings Nos •. ~ q<)5.1," "I

D. E. L. Shorter. . to 'M. 005'. 5

D. N;, H. Lambert.

'"," '

.' ·1'b.e.:f9rm
and dimension~ of the microphone are s,hown in F~g.l.
.'

The
inicrq~hQn~head, cpntaining the ribbon and magnet, systelit~ is flloiInted on a
'pa~r of apns prOjecting from the be-se ,. and, can be rotated 1;0 g1 v~any' . .
',requip.e.c'I, 1iilt~. The "base contains the ribbon/line·transf'ormep·anqa shock... ,
ab~9~b~ngmounting~ . It also carries e. t~eb-wayt1GaI1nbn'? soeke~A~;rom
whfcb.'· t he output is taken. . ' '" _.. .,,,', ........ _

.'rhe ,weight .of the. microphone wi thoui plugorco;rdis- 2lb~

l'Q oz ••,. of
. whichl :J.P~ 6 oz. is accounteti f0rby the ba.se •.. (For compar~son; the
~.eigb.t,pf our Type. AX' micro;phCln6 is ,9 lb.) i, \

DETAIIS' -OF' OONS.'I'RGOTION

--- .

. .... . The' ::i.ri.ternRl construction will be seen f;r::om, Figs. 2, and 3,vvhich s.ltOVr
the' :nii'.c:ropb.~7epQrt.iailY dismantled.' ..

.'~a6net. ~Sys t em
, ,~'" .'
...
This:rions,is'tsor·two pairs ,(jf.)lor·seshoe magnets mounted fa.ca 'to: face,
. M'l€l 'central space~ 'being almost· .filledby .the pole-pieces and ~ibbon,!'Flux
is' fedinto;thepole-piec6S at the centre of each, and t.he oross-sebt1onis
ta·pered away towards ·the ends, where the amount ~of fIuxbecomes less.
A<;lcurate spacing between the pole-pieces is maintained by thin rods,p'resum-
ably of.' non.;..r!l.(~guotic material, bent at' rigb. t angres,passed t'hrough holes
near libEl ends of the . pOle~pieces ond solder~d. These . rods pass behind t~e'.
·ri~b.o:n·in the photograph, and so are not Visible, butane of the fixing ,.
ho~es 'can be seen. . The dimensions of the magnet's end pole-pieces aregiv: en
in Figs.4, 5 and!); whichare1;akon from the ma.kers' drawings Nos. 6.1104, (
S.1105·and S.1100-.. ·.Tb.ewhole' nagnetassembly J:s held'together by a band of
." wb,a't ·eppearsto.bo stau t paperrotind the ~Otl. tSi'de, -enCl.' is :reta·ined fn place
by small we·d.gesdrivenbetweariit.;a,p.d t'heou~er c.a$e:~ ..
, ".

Ribbon ".' \,"

.' .
. This is 'ofconventio~al type~~.8crri.longari·d ,The 4f'mm.· W~d'e..
th~ckness, .estimated·f:rom impe·dance.nieBsurements, assuming the ,materie.l to
'he:a:luminiu.m,works,ott.t:at,O~00007tt (thO.'_latte,r .figu:rlo will; be seen to be
about three times the thickll~ss Qf~ouro.wn.,ribbon~.;Whicnare.~bout
 0.000025"'). Exruninat~o~ against a light 'reveals a large number of minute
pinholes. ' ,The gap between ribbon and poles appears. to be about the _same as~
in ourowri. micrdpholie (0.015"). The method of mounting ther1bbon 1s unusual. '
The r1 bbon 1 s tu rue dove r BIt ,1'1 gh. t angles a t eaoh end, and me. de ott on to
clamps .which are mouIl,ted'on, a frame ofbakeliserltabr1';c 's~,cured to the nagnet
asseinbly by two screwS:~ "(Asecond, similar, frame is 'provided on the other
side of the magnet assembly, and the two frames between them keep the magnets
in aiign.ment. ), Oonnections from these clamps are taken by wires sold~~~e:dto
tabs attac'lil.ed::toinsulated studs Which project on either side o.t'ther';ea,s~ng. '
Thus, ,,'by unsolde:r1ngt)lese two w:J.res. and remavingthe two scr~ws;\ . the",ribbon
asseIQ.biy c~pe, removedcomple te .trhis construe tionfecili t:etesthe removal
of dirt or filings tromthe' gap without damage to the ribbon" and,a:t.sothe
replaceIllE!n~ ofa ,fau;ltY1.'ibboIlby cbanging the ccmpl,ete assembly for a spare.

Casing Of Mic rOVhone' Head.,

,Am.etal. ~asing fi tsfairly"olosely ,round the,fou,r opposed magnets, 'the

enclosure bei!l.g, completed 9Y 7;}V,) T1'J.etal, end oflpsesch having.a window filled
with wire gauze of about 17 mesh,)'sto the trich, behind w1:+ichis a single l;ayer
of fabric of the type used on our own m1crdphones.,' The f~bric is s~uck to
the wire gauze round the edges only. The end, caps are a push: tit into, the
outer case. '. . ",.'"

Oonnections :£~r.;.. P.ibbon to Transfol\mer

These are effected by two strips of phosphor~bronze or similar material,

which lie in recesses in the two arms which support the microphone :head,
appropriate insula tion being provided.. The upper ends of these strips are
"drilled an(l. split as shown; and are sprung over the projecting stq.ds already,
r~ferred to. \ (The stud-so are gripped fairly tightly, and ,the contaot friction
, is.' Slirtic~entto maintain .the microph6ne heed at tile, required angle.) Leads
oomli1g. trom the ribbon/Une transforme:r are soldered to the ,:J.owerends of' the' '-.,
,conducting strips. ' ' .

-,
, Base

The base, of, tli~ ~:lcro.pilqn.e oonsists()f a hollow casing,' apparently of

dursl.umin. ,The side op9ningswhioh appear in'Fig.-3are,normally .coveredby
the two d.eta.chable~ides. Of the same mat-er~al',extensions ofW:Q.~qh carry. the.
miorophone head. . The wholemicrophone:i,s gUpport~d one central pillar
which passes through two rubber mountings t one at thebo,ttom,the. other half,
way up thecas1ng. The "ribbon/line transformer is mounted on the top of this
. pillar.' The conneot,ions from the transformer are brought out direct from the
windings ana soldered to the, connecting strips on the, ribbon side, arid to' piris
on the, "Cannon" socket on the line, /?'1de. Since t;he~e c()~ecting strips and
pins,movew1th~the casing, wttile t'P-El transformer Js fixed to :the oentral pillar,
movement of ,the microphone on i ts':tubber mountil1g"",throws a slight strain on the
soldered jOints, w:Q.ich might ult1m8tely iead'to fai'lure.'.,
 . ":",,,.

- 3 -

The transformer is .smaller i:Q. size than our smallest standard core' (S
Size) . and is unscreened...

Iml'edarice' At lOGO cls, 512 + 28j ohms •

., ' AtlQ" ooe)' 0/ s, 525 +94j 0hmS.
6pen circuit inductance of trc.rlsf()rmer Oil line winding ~
mensuredat 0 mV, 50 <?/s = 1.1 H.

Sensitivity Measure'den warb~etone\ 950.!. 650 c/s, -78 db on

I volt/dyne/cm (open circuit).
(This corresponds to -4 db on· our TypeAX or-10 db on .
. our Type il.XT,when allowance is made for impedaricem1smatch)·.

Fre9-~en~y. Response
. ' ' .

No f~cili ties of ,the nor:'n:J:', ~ype were available for frequency response'
mecsu+emEmt, end weather condi~jl.Clp. swe1'e unf,rivourable for outdoor work. "The,
experlment was therefor~ t~iedof substituting the velocity microphone under
test for anothar velocity microphone of known frequency,response at elarge
nUmber of closolY,spaced frequenciqs,at a fixed point: a short distance in'
front ofa loud;sp,:)gker in fi live room and noting the difference in outP1.lt . .
This me,t11o'i, ol' ('~il.rJarison of two veloc.i ty 'microphones has been found to be
reliabl~ forfrG~'_'_,mcies below 1000 c/(3. In ord~r to gain' some ldea of the
erro:r ~nvolved iri _the -rest of the fr:equency range where .the wavelengths are
smaller, one of tb,0 ridcrophon8,s V?'JS slightly sh:1.fted to show the effect ot
inaccurateplacinf!; ~nd it was cOLcluded~hatat frequencies of the 'order of
5.000 cls orovert:teerror dele to this cause might amount to +1 db on e~ch
reading,. hence +2 db on the difference. if. check was made cby compa ring' two
nominally, ~.dop.tical microphones by this method, and tl:,le,differences .werefound·
to lie well :within the above limits. 'Bearing these figures in_ mind, El .. ~
smoothed curV'G wes drawn to show' the ',salient features of 'the response in"~\so far
as i t can .b.e determined by, this method. ,This curve, after: correction' for the
response' of thestt;lndard microphone, is shown 'in· Fig.? A second curve,
shown on the :same ,snee,~, was taken .with.the. front_ Bud bac}{:.c,oversremoved •.
From this, it. will be, seen that these covers pro,duce. a.ldssatlow frequencies,
and' are also, ,responsible for the cre-vesse in the respon-se at',4000 cls and tor
alas,s at 10,000 c/s.'~

. In this, and 'in all the listening tests., the m'icrophone' was, operated ihto
amplifiers wl th 30c.n input impedance. " FrOln;t1l8 meestired output impedance,
it is estimated that 'the effect 0·1' this;o.n the.frequency resvonse would be to
reduce the. low frequency loss due to'-thf;3,output trans'former by abo,tit I db at
50 c/s. Th~ frequency responsecurves.arecorrected ,for tnis, a}id gi ve.. the
response whic1;l:~ouldbeobtained into a500!l.1oad. .. .
Transient Response

The transieIlt response ot the ribbon was investig~t.ed by the method

described in Research Report No. M.OO2, by observing the output atter suddenly
removing 8 small sinusoidal in~ut at various frequencies. The etfects ot
resonance modes were noted at 50 c/s, 100 c/s and about every hundred cycles
per seC,ond up to about 500 c/s; wi.th an isolated mode at about 900 c/s.
These modes were not, however, so pro nouno'ed·as those which we have encountered
in the past"Wi,th' dilralum1n ribbons. The:f'undamental resonance treq~~Ilcy
could not b'~;:::~~tictlY ascertained;' itap:peared tobe well below 20 ,'rjfiJ~~;;\ (The'
ribbon was tound to be very slack with a tendenoyto sag out ot the gap when
the microphone head wes ;placed in a horizontal position.).

ListenilW Tests
~ ." .
The microphone was lis ~ened to on speech trom tour difterent male voices,
both' in the open air and in El medium sized room. Direct co,mparison was made
with one 'ot our own Type A1. InidroPhonesi The difterences noted were not v:ery
greet, but qui te detinitely ndticea'ola on El direct changeover. Compared wi th'
the Type AXm1,crophone the Crosley microphone ShOWed a slight lossot bass
(mgreuloticeable in the open nir tests) end also ot high frequencY-response,
except tor a slight 'high pitched chink or whistle on some of the VOices, the
total etfe'ctbeiIlg' somewhat lacking in clari ty .~t oblique anglesot '
incidence, the h~gb. trequency response was tound to he slightly improved.

To cover the case where the microphone is suspended trom the root with
the head nearly horizontal, a speech test was made wi th the head at right
angles to the base~ The qUality was unpleasantly rough at the upper treq-
uencies, presumobly due toretlection trom the base, which in this condition
is only 2 'inches' behind the ribbon.
, \
'. .. ~

An\ independent series ot listening tests was carried out by Operations

Department. The tollowillg is an extract trom Dr. Alexander's report on the'se
tests:

"We conducted tirst ot all a speech test in Studio 8, Broadcasting

.House, withihe'normal drama nrren.gementsot screens. The general
output was ot the order ot 5 db down on o~r Type AX. In the
opinion ot ,.S.E. (8), H.P.E. and ,myselt, the quali~y was interior to
that ot our Type AX. 'The bass we s rather boomy and the high I

tl:'equency reproduction inclined to be "edgy".

l'Later we tried out the microphone' on the Vari~ty Orchestra playing

,in Studio 8, comparing it once ,again with our Type AX. ,The
quality on the whole was good. However, morecaretul listening
showed the,bas.s instruments - 'cellos, double bass- were not SO,
well reproduced, the extreme ba'ss being weaker and higher bass notes
inclined to bel peaky. <iUSO the high trequency reproduction seemed
to be interior, noticeable on the Violins."
 . ""'" ..

Magnetic'InQuction ;Piok-Up

. The maximum induction pick-up from a nogmetic' fie'ld' was measured at

50 c/s and 1000c/s. The amount of pick-up is greatest wi th the microphone
heed at right angles to its supports, with the ribbon clamps uppermost and
the field normal to the plane containing the supports " a posi tiori Wh1.cli;wl'll
.be seen to giYe the maximum are!:] ·01' th,e loop formed by.the ribbon circuit.
T1le;pi ck--:up' is ·le ss with .the microphone head in line \~i th thq: su~port s, and,
figures for both positions are given. Inttie following table, 'tl+e corres-·
ponqing figures for the' Type A and ,AB microphones are given. .'

....
MAXIMUM OPEN "CIRCUITmV/LINE/OM~'
"' .. ,
.' Ty.peA . TYpe AB .1 c~sley (corrected:t·o300.o. .
or' ~ · o u t P l l t · : · .
Head at riM-t;. Iiead.in~ine
angles to ba.se wi tb.base
". ! .• '
1:
....
.;

(50 <;./s·. p (Too iqwto be .,', 6

Total ( (measured . .
, '·pick;....up . ( .....' . ... ~ . ... ,,~ ;.

(i60<{' c/ s. 76

" . Pick-up' due ( .'

to tran s- '. (1000 cl s 2
forme(~l'prie(
. ,~ '\
.
'; ","

,
REIAlIVE SICm..,u,/INDUCTION PICK-uP, db
\
\ .
'.'
Orosley (corrected to 3000·
"
.Type J.. Type. AB' Type .A.XBT outm t
or .AIB Head at right Head in line
.-
,.. ," '. ;
.. allgles to base with base
..
,
-50c/s 0 JI:nductibn . pick-up ~a.l -10
'. (tot':) low' to measure
L

•
..
: '.
1.000 c/s 0 "'+30 .•.. .. +36 .. .... -5 +1
\
 r·

.\

.. 6 -

At the present time, the majority ofmiorophones in use, are Type .AJ;3 or
A.XB, with balenced wiring in the ribbon circuit.
,,'
. CONCLUSIONS'

The. following notes cover the principal features in the cleaigr! and per-
formance O:f';;t~is microphone compared wi t.'1 those of other ribbon vel;ocity
miCl?ophonE:1'~;;:4h;'i~eneral and o'J.r own in particular. -
,
.·:;;ii":'·'
. .';, ,',' ,~~. "'.

.ADVANTAGES DISADVANTAGES
, "~ ....·.'Small Weight and 'Size. :rrullodvan-: . Low Sensitivi tl. It is uhderstooa
·t·age- has .. not beentnken of, the small .that the m.a tarisl us.ed for the magnets
,''",'s1zeof thamicrophone head. For 'is Ainico V, the equivalent .of~ the
.... ou!:'.Ji>llrl'0ses the shock-absorbing Ticonal used in theAXBT microphone' •
. . . . :'mount ing need not necessarily form a ThUf:'l, the difference in sensi tiv1ty of
.:pe.:;'tna.,nentpart .Of t he . mi crophone 10 db compared with the latter is the
(compare our TYpe'B niicrophone)'. .. price which must be paid fort hesir+all
size and weight.
Ease of Replacement of Ribbon.
"
;Low Freg,uency Loss. . For close range
workingi' this loss may not be altogether
a. di sadvantage. It is hard to avoid
it with the present magnet st~cture.

Irregula.rities in Low Frequency .

Response. These could be removed by
the ./ldopt ion of a thinnerri bbon •.
..
Irregularities in High Frequency
Response. These,' cotildbe roi tigat-ed,
if not completely cured, by slight
modifications of the outer cese.
It should be noted tht:'lt: the microphone'
is !lot usable wi th the head at right
angles to the base., a ,position which
.. may·somotimes be required when it is
slung above. an orche strs.

Polar Response. Although it has not

been pos si ble to take' ~polar response
measurements'8 slight C4ange in freq ..
q,e'ncy response can be heard at oblique .
. angles, even in. the horizontal plane.
This is thought to be inevitable with
tJie pole l'ieces partially enclosed by
the permanent: magnet. \
... ? -

p'ISiIDV.iINTAGES (cont' d)

Susceptib ili ty to' Interference. The

rolatively high induction pick-up is
thought to bo inevitable with the
present method of leading out the
ribbon connections, complete compen-
sa tion being di fficuit to achieve as
long as the microphcme head is movable.

RUbb:l.D.g Contact in Ribbon Circui\.

The ribbon, the impedance of Which is
less tlwn 0.24)" has two rubbing contacts
in series With it. It should in fair-
ness be said, howev~r, that no signs of
bad contact could be detected on the
specimQn ~~der. test.

(H. L. Kirke)
H - 4· - 45~
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FIG. 3

B . S. C. RESEARCH DEPT.
CROSLEY DRN. ICHD. I REPOR.T
RIBBON VElOClTV MICROPHONE TRO. ApfJ1I~ M.OOs·a
f2- ~ 45 'FIG 4
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PO E PECE
MATE~ AL ' ARM 0 M G E. M -AI.
2 OF;::: PEI< lJf IT SCALE:TWICE: FULL SIZE.

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MA. ER1A' _. A sr
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C~SLEY
ELO iTY 11CROPI )t E.
RESPONse :

--- .. -

F ..",'l"""<Y '" cycl~" pe .. aero"d, B .8C. RESEARCH OEPT

REPORT
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