So as I stated above I want to make an acoustic analysis of vowels. I am still new to the field, so I want to know which microphone to choose, lavalier or condenser? Also, what about the quality of the microhpone and based on what to choose (frequency response, polar pattern, signal/noise, etc).
I currently have a lapel mic with these specs:
Polar pattern: Omini-directional/ Frequency response: 65Hz-18KHz/ Signal/Noise: 74dB or more/ Output Impadence: 1000Ω or less/ Power requirement: LR44
Is it OK or should I look for another mic.
Thank you in advance
Omnidirectional directivity pattern is okay. Actually all these parameters such as directivity, frequency response, S/N and impedance may be finalized based on your requirements. First directivity is okay but note that the sensitivity will not be same for all directions. So may be thought accordingly. Frequency response desired should be as broader as possible. I feel your case is fine from 65Hz to 18kHz. The S/N can also be improved if desired by various S/C devices and approaches available. I strongly feel that you should not worry about the output impedance. If you are using data acquisition for recording, the input impedance must be high (1M ohm or so). Consider the parameters of further device(s) used after microphone is also critical.
The classic answer in pro audio is: it depends.
If your budget allows, I recommend a good quality, omni-directional condenser, reference mic, place about 12'" from the mouth - and about 45 degrees off the center line axis. The Behringer ECM8000 Ultra-Linear Measurement Condenser Studio Microphone only costs about $35 on Amazon. There are better, more expensive units, but this one's probably good enough for your testing.
Don't use a lavalier mic.
You'll probably need some sort of USB microphone interface. Look at the Focusrite Solo, and the Presonus AudioBox.
Beyond the microphone, two key elements must be consistent: You need to use the same room for all testing, and the same microphone position.
The room needs to be very quiet (NC 30 or lower), and have no echoes. A very small amount of reverberation is ok.
Hello Montaser,
I encourage you to read the 2010 paper from Švec & Granqvist:
Svec, Jan G., and Svante Granqvist. "Guidelines for selecting microphones for human voice production research." American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology (2010).
You should find some answers there.
According to the frequency spectrum of the voice given in the attached link:https://home.cc.umanitoba.ca/~krussll/phonetics/acoustic/formants.html
one can use a microphone whose bandwidth is greater than any highest formant frequency. As the colleagues said many microphones can be used to locate the formants. You can use either condenser and or dynamic microphone.
If I myself carry out this task I would try different microphones as verification.
Best wishes
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