Hello,

I would like to like at the frequency response of audible sounds using an oscilloscope.

If I go to RadioShack and buy a simple electret microphone, can I simply connect the osciiloscope leads to the output of the microphone and ground?

A response would be most appreciated.
Tammy

 

You'll need a preamp for an electret mic. They won't give an output unless they're powered.

Here's one that you might consider:
http://www.geocities.com/ferocious_1999/md/micpreamp2.html

I think AudioGuru posted a design awhile back; a search may uncover it.

 

Hello,

An electret microphone needs a power supply for the build in amplifier.
See the wiki on electrets for more info.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electret_microphone

In the EDUCYPEDIA there is more information on microphone types.
http://www.educypedia.be/electronics/microphonestypes.htm

Greetings,
Bertus

 

If you want to know frequency response, an oscilloscope is not what you want to use. You should be using a spectrum analyzer, which gives you the amplitude of discrete frequencies across a spectrum.

Buy a computer microphone and use that, you can find programs that will give you the FFT of the signal. Matlab can do this.

Steve

 

If you can record something in a .RAW format, you can use Linear Technology's LTSpice to generate an FFT plot.

 

There are also several dedicated numerical computing environments similar to Matlab that could be used that will provide wider import options and finer tuning for the FFT algorithm: http://forum.allaboutcircuits.com/blog.php?b=65

Octave is particularly good.

Dave