From the course: Microphone Techniques: Essentials

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Equivalent noise

Equivalent noise

From the course: Microphone Techniques: Essentials

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Equivalent noise

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- [Instructor] One specification that's not on the Beta 58 or SM57 spec sheet is equivalent noise level. Self-noise, equivalent noise being pretty much the same thing this is 6 dB-A weighted scale. A-weighted focuses more on where our ears are most sensitive and that's between about one kilohertz and four kilohertz. So if you see the A-weighted scale you'll see that it rolls off in the low end and it rolls off in the high end. The C-weighted scale which isn't used here is a flatter scale that represents amplitude throughout the entire audible spectrum. You might roll off a little bit at the bottom and a little bit at the top but it's pretty much a flat responding spectrum. So this noise level within the range that we hear best is 6 dB. What that means is that this microphone's self-noise, the amount of noise that it makes internally is about the same as an ambient acoustic volume level of 6 dB. This is quiet mic, that's a low spec. If we look at the P820 Tube microphone which we…

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