h as a diaphragm that is directly connected to a core of wire called the "voice coil" that is suspended in a magnetic field The movement of the diaphragm causes the voice coil to move in the magnetic field and thus creates an electrical signal that's proportional to the acoustical pressure waves from the source that you are recording.

 Use electrostatic properties, and consists of two thin plates, one moveable and one fixed, that form a capacitor.  The moveable plate moves in relation to the acoustical pressure waves, the capacitance is changed between the plates, and the voltage across the plates will change in proportion.

Can react even quicker and often have even better high frequency response, but at the sacrifice of the low end warmth... The smaller condensers are usually used for acoustic guitars and overheads/cymbals for drums, because you usually want a lot of high-end detail with very quick transient response for these types of sources, and you don't care as much about the low end.

Are usually associated w ith being warmer and bigger sounding, and thus are quite popular for vocals or solo instru ment work.

Dynamic Microphone Work well in live sound situations because they don't tend to cause feedback problems as much as condensers do (although a lot of this has to do with the pickup patterns used and the placement of the mics and the room acoustics). Can usually handle much sound pressure level than condensers (although today's condensers can handle much more) and usually work better for percussive sources (close mic'ing drum kits) or really loud sources (close mic'ing guitar cabinets) They are a lot more durable and can handle a lot more abuse than a condenser microphone as well Condenser microphones require an external power source (phantom power) while dynamic microphones do not.

Condenser Mic -Are usually preferred for sources where you want more of that brighter, yet clear and detailed high frequency sound, such as vocals, acoustic guitars, piano, drum overheads or room mics, etc - Condenser microphones are easy to miniaturize, while dynamic microphones cannot be miniaturized. - Condenser microphones' frequency response tends to be uniform, while dynamic microphones' typically is not. - Good for vocal or instrumental reinforcement and recording - High sensitivity and extended high frequency response - When it comes to picking up high frequency or low amplitude signals, condenser mikes are the answer. Dynamic mikes just aren't sensitive enough.

Due to the fact that dynamic microphones depend on air pressure moving the large mass of the coil, they tend to lose light delicate sounds. Dynamic microphones are not usually expected to reproduce the sounds very faithfully.