Microphones

BeStar Electret Condenser Microphones have found applications in a broad variety of uses such as telephones, high quality and small recording devices, hearing aids, megaphones, headsets microphones, hands free devices and so on. The electret microphone was invented at Bell Labs in 1962 by Gerhard Sessler and Jim West. The externally applied charge in a condenser microphone is replaced by a permanent charge in an electret material. An electret is a ferroelectric material that has been permanently electrically charged or polarized.

Due to their good performance and ease of manufacture, hence lower cost, the vast majority of microphones made today are an electret microphone; estimated global annual production is over one billion units. Most all cell-phone, computer, PDA and headsets microphones are electret types. Though the electret microphone was once considered low quality, the best ones can now rival traditional condenser microphones in every respect and can offer the long-term stability and ultra-flat response needed in measurement microphones. Unlike other capacitor microphones, they require no polarizing voltage.

The BeStar electret microphone selection includes Noise Canceling, Uni-Directional, Piezo MEMS / Surface Mount and Omni-Directional versions with a range of sensitivity and sizes to cover all typical requirements.