What is a condenser microphone?
The condenser is one of the oldest microphone types, dating to the early 1900s. It uses a thin, conductive diaphragm suspended near a charged metal backplate to form a capacitor (battery). This is why condenser mics are sometimes called capacitor mics. The capacitor draws its charge from an external voltage source: most often phantom power, although some condenser mics use dedicated power supplies instead.