NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY, CALICUT

DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRONICS AND

COMMUNICATION ENGNINEERING

ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELD THEORY COURSE REPORT

EL ECTROM AGNETIS M IN AUDIO S YS TEM

GROUP M EM BERS

NAME KANANATH AN KE SAV AR APU SAI SAB AR I SH K SAM E E R KI T H E R

KAJAR U B AN SUM ANT H ANAND MUHAMED
ROLL NO B190519EC B190669EC B190665EC B190696EC
BATCH E CE -A E CE -A E CE -B E CE -B

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b190519ec@ nit c. b 1 9 0 6 6 9 e c @ n i t c. b190665ec@ nit c. b190696ec@ nit c.
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1. ABSTRACT
This report is intended to give a clear explanations on dynamic speakers and microphones
which work under electromagnetic principles. This report includes the history of speakers
and microphones, their mechanism, design parameters to be considered, limitations, and
modifications that can be achieved.
Keywords: Faraday’ law, electromagnetism, transducer, diaphragm, vibrations

2. INT RO DUCT IO N
Technology had evolved so much that no one in those days would have imagined that our
speech can be converted into current and that current can be converted back into sound.
These function can be performed using microphones and speakers which falls under the
category audio systems. A speaker is a device that converts electrical signals into to acoustic
energy, and conversely microphone converts acoustic energy into electrical energy. Audio
system plays a major role in current telecommunications system, entertainment sector and
various other sectors.

All sound sources have different characteristics. For example each sound sources have their
unique wave form, unique phase characteristics and frequencies. None of the audio systems
can reproduce such characteristics equally well. But designing the system appropriately and
overcoming the drawbacks as technology evolves, we can get us almost closer to
reproducing those characteristics.
In this survey we will be looking at the following basic sound system that is achieved using
electromagnetism.

1. Dynamic speakers
2. Dynamic microphones

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3. EVOLUTION OF AUDIO SYSTEMS
1. Speakers:
 Horns
 Electro-dynamic Loudspeakers
 Flat panel speakers
 Planar
 Electrostatic
 Multi-cell diaphragm speakers
 Ribbon driven speakers
 Plasma Arc speakers
 Piezo-electric speakers

a) Horns
 They are the earliest form of application and do not use electricity. It was used
for audio recording, record keeping and voice radio.
 The problem with horns is that they could not amplify the sound very much.

b) Electro-dynamic Loudspeakers
 This is a device that uses an electromagnetic coil and diaphragm to create sound.
This is the most common type of speaker in the world today.
 To provide a very strong magnetic field for high wattage speakers, an
electromagnet is used instead of permanent magnets.

c) Flat panel speakers

 The flat panel acts as a diaphragm and several kinds of speakers come under
these. Few kinds are:-
 Standard flat panel speaker – To help in sound production, the diaphragm has
paper bonded both sides. The four corner points of the flat diaphragm are
attached to a cushion. The exciter pushes the centre of the diaphragm forward
causing a bending in the surface, generating sound waves.
 Electrostatic - The electrostatic flat panel speaker uses two metal grids with a
diaphragm. The diaphragm has a constant charge, high voltage audio signal is
created by the grids which are really electrodes.
 Planar - This has a conductor attached in the diaphragm of Styrofoam. The
diaphragm moves forward and backward to make sound.

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  Ribbon driven speakers - Low mass aluminium foil film is used as a diaphragm in
this type of speaker and this thin strip is suspended between 2 bar magnets. This
type of speaker does not need a transformer between the amplifier and the
speaker.
 Multi-cell flat panel speakers - This speaker has the coil directly mounted on the
diaphragm. The long permanent magnets create separate 'cells' and the whole
diaphragm ends up moving uniformly. This type of speaker requires a
transformer because each small cell has lower impedance than a standard
speaker with single exciter.

d) Plasma Arc speakers

 Plasma is ionized gas. Plasma is responsive to electrical fields, therefore you can
turn electric signal of sound into an electric field which manipulates the plasma.
The plasma does have mass and will vibrate creating sound similar to how a
diaphragm moves air to make sound.
 This speaker has a limitation in the sound quality.

e) Piezo-electric speakers
 These speakers work on piezoelectric effect. It works on the mechanism where
initial mechanical motion is created by applying voltage to piezoelectric device;
later that motion is converted into audio signal using diaphragm and resonator.
 The frequency response of these speakers is inferior to the today’s technologies.
So, they are only used as beepers (single frequency) applications which are
mainly used in watches.

2. Microphone
a) Condenser – It is commonly used in studios to pick up sounds with great
detail and accuracy. This is accomplished with a lightweight membrane
(diaphragm) suspended by a fixed plate. Sound pressure against the diaphragm
causes it to move, which in turn creates electrical output.

b) Dynamic – It works via electromagnetic induction. This, coupled with their

potentially high gain before feedback, makes them ideal for on-stage use.

c) Ribbon - The ribbon is electrically connected to the microphone's output, and

its vibration within the magnetic field generates the electrical signal. Ribbon
microphones are similar to moving coil microphones in the sense that both
produce sound by means of magnetic induction.

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d) Carbon - The carbon Microphone uses a capsule or button containing carbon
granules pressed between two metal plates. A voltage is applied across the metal
plates, causing a small current to flow through the carbon. One of the plates, the
diaphragm, vibrates in sympathy with incident sound waves, applying a varying
pressure to the carbon. The changing pressure deforms the granules, causing the
contact area between each pair of adjacent granules to change, and this causes
the electrical resistance of the mass of granules to change. The changes in
resistance cause a corresponding change in the current flowing through the
microphone, producing the electrical signal.

e) Piezoelectric – It uses the phenomenon of piezoelectricity.

f) Fibre optic - A fibre-optic microphone converts acoustic waves into electrical

signals by sensing changes in light intensity, instead of sensing changes in
capacitance or magnetic fields as with conventional microphones.

g) Laser - A laser beam is aimed at the surface of a window or other plane surface
that is affected by sound. The vibrations of this surface change the angle at which
the beam is reflected, and the motion of the laser spot from the returning beam
is detected and converted to an audio signal.

h) Liquid – It is based on Ohm's law that current in a wire varies inversely with
the resistance of the circuit. The sound waves from a human voice cause a
diaphragm to vibrate which causes a needle or rod to vibrate up and down in
water that has been made conductive by a small amount of acid. As the needle
or rod vibrates up and down in the water, the resistance of the water f luctuates
which causes alternating current in the circuit.

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4. PRINCIPLE AND THEORIES
Before understanding the working principle of an electromagnetic speakers and
microphones, let us discuss on how we hear sounds. In simple terms, sound is defined as
vibrations which travels through a medium. That is, sound is produced when a body
vibrates. These vibrations move through a medium (for example air) and enter into our
eardrums. These sound waves vibrates our eardrum and sends the signal to our brain.

The air in front of the vibrating object doesn’t move. Instead they oscillate back and forth.
These molecules makes the air molecules in front of it to oscillate too, thus creating a sound
wave which we hear.

Now let us discuss about the fundamental electromagnetic laws and theories which we use
in speakers and microphones. The most important law that is used is Faraday’s Law.
Faraday’s Law describes how a current conducting wire produces magnetic field and
conversely how a changing magnetic field produces current in a conductor. From motors in
our house to transformers used in power supplies, functions under this law.

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When the magnet is moved in and out of the coil, a current will be induced and the direction
of the current depends on the pole of the magnet which is facing the coil and the direction
of movement. But when the motion is stopped there will not be any current produced.
Now let us take a look into Lorentz force, which can be deduced from Faraday’s law. The
Lorentz force is a force act on a charged particle due to electric field and magnetic field.

Consider a charged particle travelling in a

magnetic field and electric field. The resultant
force on the particle due to these fields is
expressed as follows.

Where E is the electric field, v is the velocity of

the charged particle, and B is the magnetic field.

The image in the left shows the forces more clearly with the directions.

We can further modify the equation for a current conducting wire. Also in absence of
electric field the equation reduces to,

Where I is the current through the wire and L is the length of the wire.

Let us look into another electromagnetic law, which is

known as Ampere’s law. It says that the magnetic field
which is created by an electric current is proportional to the
size of that current with a constant proportionality equal to
the permeability of free space. The equation explaining the
Ampere’s law can be given as,

Where B is the magnetic field, I is the current which created

the magnetic field and µo is the free space permeability.

But when winding a wire into a coil is more effective. That is, it creates more magnetic field
around it and the strength of the field is depends on the size of the current and the number
turns in the coil.

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5. MECHANISM AND ELEMENTS

M E CHANISM O F DYNAM IC S P E AKE RS:

With the above understanding of the fundamental laws of electromagnetism, now let us
look into the mechanism of the electromagnetic speaker.

The main components of the speaker are magnet, conducting coil and diaphragm/cone.

1) The steady magnet

The magnet section of the speaker consists of a pole piece which has the south pole of the
magnet, a ring shaped magnet which has the north pole and a top plate or disc (a north
pole, pole piece and south pole magnetic ring can also be considered). These are arranged
as per the diagram shown below. There is an air gap between the pole piece and the
magnetic ring which allows the coil to move freely.

WHAT KIND OF MAGNETS ARE USED:

The functionality of the speaker depends on the strength of permanent magnet used
because it is due to the field produces the magnet that helps the coil to vibrate
(move back and forth).

Looking into quality the best magnet is neodymium, which is preferred due to its
high magnetisation and small size. These magnets are further coated with plasti c for
making it more durable and prevent it from rusting. Neodymium magnets are made
from an alloy called NIB (combination of neodymium, iron, and boron). Magnets are
also made using other alloys like ALNICO and CERAMIC (iron oxide and strontium
carbonate)

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2) The (voice) coil
The coil carries the electric current which has the
information of the sound. The coil is assembled on a
former and placed in-between the pole piece and the
magnetic ring.

As we have seen earlier, when a current is passed

through a coil, a magnetic field is produced. The magnetic
field varies according to the current flows. This magnetic
field reacts with the magnetic field which is caused by the
steady magnets. Due this, the voice coil and the former
experiences a force which eventually makes the coil move
back and forth according to the variations in the current.
While designing the coil, the mass of the coil should be
put into consideration such that it doesn’t play major role
in the movement of the coil.

3) The diaphragm/cone
The diaphragm/cone is made from materials such as paper, plastic, metals, etc. and each of
these materials have their own characteristics. Plastic diaphragms are popular choice due
their low production cost.

The diaphragm is attach to the voice coil which moves back and forth. This causes the
diaphragm to oscillate (or vibrate). The vibration creates sound pressure waves and
eventually we hear it as sound. (This phenomenon is discussed in detail above)

The main requirement of the diaphragm is that it should be low mass and rigid at the same
time.

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4) Other elements

Let us now take a brief look into some more components which helps the speaker pro duce
sound.

The frame is used to hold the diaphragm, and it is attached to the top plate.

The surround (or suspension) which is attached to the basket, is a rim of flexible material
which allows the diaphragm to move.

The spider which is a ring of flexible material, is attached to the voice coil, in such a way that
it keeps the coil in position but also ensures that it moves back and forth and not sideways.
The basic idea is to make the coil move back on forth and it clearly achieved by this
arrangement.

Let’s assume that the current is flowing in anticlockwise direction, observed from the top. At
each point of the coil the fixed magnetic field is perpendicular to the current flow (direction
of current at any point is tangential to the coil at that point). Hence the force experienced
will be vertical direction, here in the example the coil will move downwards.

So it is clear that the sound produced completely depends on the value of current and as
well as the direction thereby an audio signal is processed in a way such that the output
sound mimics with the original audio signal.

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The whole setup is known as Moving Coil Dynamic Loudspeakers Driver which includes

 Diaphragm
 Voice coil (moving coil)
 Magnet (including pole pieces)
 Housing

This driver acts as a transducer. It converts electrical energy to mechanical energy

(vibrations). The driver utilizes electromagnetism to transduce electrical energy .

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 M E CHANISM O F M ICRO P HONE:
The mechanism of a dynamic microphone is almost same as the mechanism of speakers. It
has the same main components such as diaphragm, coil and a steady magnet.

As shown in the figure the thin diaphragm is attached to a moving coil, and the coil is
allowed to move freely along the magnet.

When the sound waves are produced and as it hits the thin diaphragm, the diaphragm starts
to vibrate according to the rhythm of the sound waves. Due to this vibration the coil starts
to oscillate. We have already seen the phenomenon regarding the Faraday’s law above. So
when the coil starts moving along the magnet, it cuts across the lines of magnetic flux and
an electric current will be generated in the coil. This electric current varies according to the
variations in the sound waves.

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6. PARAMETERS OF SPEAKER
As we have said earlier, reproducing the exact original sound doesn’t exist. Many of the
requirements are incompatible when applied to practical speaker design. If we want one we
must sacrifice another. Let us look into some of the main parameters that needs to be
considered while designing.

1) Distortion

Distortion is said to be how much the reproduced wave deviates with the original. Many
factors such as cone behaviour, uneven magnetic field, coil end windings and etc.
contributes to distortion. Minimum distortion should be considered while implementing.

2) Sensitivity

It is one of the most significant parameter of a speaker. A speaker's sensitivity indicates the
loudness of a speaker - in either a non-echoing environment or a room environment. Some
manufacturers specify the sensitivity measured in an average room e nvironment, while
others take into consideration a non-reverberant environment while measuring it. The
higher the sensitivity, the louder the sound will be.
3) Impedance

If a speaker has low resistance (impedance), more current (flowing from your amplifier) will
pass through the speaker and vice-versa. Therefore, the lower the impedance, the more
current flows through the speaker. But while designing the impedance should be neither
low nor high. If the impedance is low high power will be drawn, but if the impedance is high
the current will be reduced and the output will be not as expected.

4) Frequency Response

It is sometimes mentioned as frequency range and is measured in Hertz (Hz). A wide

frequency response is usually considered a top priority and most commercial models
compete to get the widest range possible.

5) Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR)

The sound that a speaker produces includes some level of noise. In other words, audio
signals are sent to a speaker which are then converted into the sound (via internal driver
movements) that we hear. But the sound that we hear are not purely audio signals that a
speaker gets, in fact, it also includes some level of noise. This noise is added by internal
components of the speaker/device. Higher the SNR, greater the sound quality will be.

While designing microphone similar parameters can be considered.

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7. LIMITATIONS
Loudspeakers are mainly judged or rated mainly on frequency linearity, to achieve
good frequency response at low frequencies the truncated cone used must be larger in size.
Practically speaking even if we increase the size of cone it is difficult to attain good
frequency response at higher frequencies. We can obtain it by using larger magn ets also,
but the problem is the speaker becomes heavier.

In mounted speakers, for good performance, the suspension of the speakers should show
rapid response to the signal and should get back to its original position (or equilibrium
position) quickly. But practically the cone has to compress and expand the air inside the box
and hence its efficiency reduces.

Electromagnetic speakers consume a lot of energy and gets heated also and at time device
may get damaged due to overheat.
The output current which is produced by the microphone is very low. It cannot be directly
reproduced. The current needs to be amplified before being fed into the speaker.

The diaphragm and the coil of both the speaker and the microphone should be very low so
that the diaphragm can vibrate quickly and the coil can move fast.

8. MO DI FI CA T I O NS
Speakers: Usually for increasing the bass efficiency in woofers bass reflect enclosures are
used. Looking into the structure of these enclosure u can find an open port below the driver
while all other are in the back are closed also sound absorbent material is mounted inside
the enclosure. This system has the capability to send low frequencies (or bass frequencies)
to move outside the enclosure and be in phase with the sound produced by the driver. The
location of these ports effects the quality of sound adversely so things need to be more
precise.

Microphone: Omnidirectional are not used that commonly since it captures signals from all
directions but it is not a disadvantage it has its own purpose like for people who explore
nature and for example they are in a forest and they use these microphones to collect all
types of sound that they can here . Now directional microphone, like cardioid microphone
and shotgun microphone are capable of distinguishing the signal and also cancelling the
noise signal .however low signal those which are a part of the message signal can also get
cancelled. For this a parabolic reflector is used and the microphone is kept in the focus .This
helps us to record voice with much clarity and those small frequency gets amplified as the
reach the microphone.

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9. CONCLUSION
In this review paper, we have categorized the modules in audio system and a discussion regarding
the principle, mechanisms, design and limitations is done. In addition to this the discussion also
includes the evolution and theories of the system. Mechanisms of audio systems involve the
concepts of Electromagnetism.

10. AKNOWLEDGMENT
The authors acknowledge and thank those who helped us directly and indirectly in
producing this report. A special thanks to Dr. Dhanaraj K.J for encouraging us to do this
report.

11. REFERENCES

1. “ELECTROACOUSTIC DEVICES MICROPHONES AND LOUD SPEAKERS” – edited by Glen

Ballou
2. “AN INTRODUCTION TO LOUDSPEAKERS AND ENCLOSURE DESIGN” - by V. Chapel
3. Article written on “LOUDSPEAKERS” by Chris Woodford.
4. Article on “HOW DOES A MICROPHONE WORK” available at www.ccisolutions.com
(anonymous author)
5. A report on “Application of Electromagnetism in Speakers”- by B18 ECE batch of NIT
Calicut.
6. A video explanation on “HOW DOES A SPEAKER WORK?” By Johan Segeborn

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