Eargle's The Microphone Book: From Mono to Stereo to Surround - A Guide to Microphone Design and Application (Audio Engineering Society Presents)

Amazon Exclusive: A Letter from Ray A. Rayburn, Author of Eargle's The Microphone Book

Ray A. Rayburn

Dear Amazon Readers,

It would be an understatement to say that I was honored when Focal Press approached me about updating John Eargle s classic The Microphone Book. John was a respected member of the New York section of the Audio Engineering Society (AES) during my early days in the audio industry and I learned much from him at the meetings. He worked for RCA Records in New York as I did some years later. He also helped JVC develop CD4 quadraphonic recording, which I worked on during my time at RCA. We both recorded orchestras and other classic musical groups, although I also recorded artists such as Frank Zappa. The AES honored John with a Fellowship award in 1971, and awarded me a Fellowship in 2009.

Like John, I love everything to do with audio, and audio starts with the microphone. I study things I love, and microphones are no exception. I find everything about them interesting--from their history to the technology, to the multitude of ways they can be used. I collect microphones, and even build my own custom microphones. I design sound systems for clients ranging from the U.S. Senate to the local church, all of which require microphones. All of this passion and experience helped shape my perspectives, along with my approach to writing this book.

My hope is that this book will introduce readers to the fascinating world of microphones, while providing them a deeper and appreciation and understanding of the critical role they play in shaping our recordings. Whether you're a recording engineer, sound reinforcement engineer, technology geek, microphone collector, sound designer, or just an audio enthusiast, you will find something of interest in The Microphone Book. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed updating John Eargle's timeless masterpiece of microphone technology, application and technique.

-Ray A. Rayburn

Take a Look Inside Eargle's The Microphone Book [Click on Images to Enlarge]
The Superlux R102 is an example of a modern, inexpensive ribbon microphone with sound similar to some of the "classic" ribbon microphones of the 1930s through 1970s. It's also an active ribbon with output levels similar to a condenser microphone.
This cutaway view of a Neumann SM-69 stereo microphone reveals its pair of large diaphragm condenser capsules. So-called "all-in-one" stereo microphones like this make stereo recording very easy since only one microphone needs to be placed instead of two.
The Core Tetramic is an extremely small surround microphone (note the quarter next to the microphone). Its software makes it possible to use its four-channel recording to produce
full surround recordings.
Sound reinforcement systems today have largely replaced the lapel, or lavalier, microphone with earset microphones like the Countryman E6 earset microphone seen here. The E6 and all the similar microphones that came after it have greatly improved the sound quality of many sound reinforcement systems.
This classic Altec 639 combined ribbon and dynamic microphone elements. By selectively blending the sounds from the two elements, six different directional patterns and six different sound qualities could be obtained.