How Microphones Work

Microphones are devices that convert sound into electrical signals through a process called transduction. Transduction is the conversion of one form of energy into another. Microphones convert the mechanical energy (vibrations) into electrical energy (an electrical signal). This electrical signal is then fed into an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) that converts the signal into a list of numbers that can be used by the computer. This conversion process is called sampling. Some microphones have built-in ADCs, while others use the ADC built into the computer's sound card.