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How to Make Microphone Out of Loudspeaker

Loudspeakers and dynamic microphones function on a similar principle. Both operate with a wire coil inside of a magnetic field. The difference is that the microphone responds to sound waves and creates an electrical signal, while a speaker responds to an electrical signal to create a sound wave. Since the methods of operations are similar, it is possible to use a speaker as a microphone. This technique is used in recording studios to record specific low-end sound sources like kick drums.

Instructions

    • 1

      Choose the appropriate speaker. A passive speaker will be easier to work with than a powered speaker. If you have any speakers that are not in an enclosure, they will be the easiest to set up. Choose a medium to small woofer for the best response. Anything above 8 inches will not pick up anything other than the lowest frequencies. The Yamaha NS-10 speaker woofer is a popular choice to make into a subkick microphone in many professional recording studios.

    • 2

      Remove the speaker from its housing. You do not have to take the speaker out of the enclosure, but the enclosure may negatively affect the sound when using the speaker as a microphone. If the speaker has both a woofer and tweeter, like a Yamaha NS-10, you only need to remove the woofer. Depending on the type of speaker, taking it out of the enclosure will mostly likely involve removing a handful of screws.

    • 3

      Connect an XLR connector to the speaker. Use some microphone cable to wire up the speaker. Connect the shielding of the cable to a point on the speaker's metal chassis. Connect the two wires to the positive and negative terminals on the speaker. Connect a male XLR connector to the other end of the cable. The shielding connects to pin one, the positive wire connects to pin two and the negative wire connects to pin 3.

    • 4

      Mount a bracket to the speaker. This is easiest to do at one of the screw holes on the speaker. You can then mount the bracket to a microphone stand and position the speaker in front of a sound source for recording.

    • 5

      Use a step-up transformer. The output of your speaker when used as a microphone will not be very high. The step-up transformer will increase the output to a usable signal. The impedance of your speaker when used as a microphone is not the same as a standard microphone, so the step-up transformer will also help with impedance matching.

    • 6

      Plug your speaker into a mic input. Once you plug in the speaker as a microphone, it functions like any other microphone. Set up your gain structure, route your signal, process the audio and record just like any other input.

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