Have you ever wondered why your speakers sound so much louder than your phone or computer? In this post, we’re going to dive into the topic of amplifiers and how these devices work in the audio world.
Below, you can check out our video where we discuss amplifiers and how they work in detail.
What Is An Amplifier?
Amplifiers, also commonly known as amps, are essentially why your speakers can produce much louder sound than your phones and computers. This is because the job of an amplifier is to raise the power of an audio signal.
When you use an amplifier, it will increase the smaller input signal you’re using to play music — such as a headphone jack in your phone — to deliver a larger and more powerful output signal. To do this, an amplifier uses electrical energy from a power source to increase the voltage or current of the input signal so that it can produce a much greater signal at its output.
The difference in amplification, or how loud the output signal is compared to the input signal, is known as gain. Gain is the measurement of how much an amplifier “amplifies” or increases the input signal.
Gain is also known as the ratio of the output voltage, current, or power to their respective inputs. For example, if there’s an input signal of 1 volt and an output of 30 volts, then the amplifier’s gain would be “30” volts. The amplifier has increased the input signal by a factor of 30. This increase is called Gain.
Amplifiers may seem relatively straightforward where a weaker signal goes in and the amplifier “amplifies” the signal. Although this is essentially what amplifiers are and how they work, various types of amplifiers differentiate in design and usage.
In fact, a quick google search will reveal the vast amount of amplifiers, ranging from high-powered amps used in concerts and large events to tiny, single transistors used in hearing aids. But we’ll get into that in another post.
For now, let’s go over the three main audio levels, which include mic level, line level, and speaker level, and how an amplifier processes them.
Microphone Level And Preamplifiers
Microphone level is described as the amount of voltage generated by a microphone when it picks up sound. Typically, the voltage is then sent as a signal to a mixing console.
However, the amount of voltage is not powerful enough to be converted to line level, which is required to produce audio at the speaker level.
In order to increase the signal of the microphone level to line level, you need a preamplifier.
A preamplifier — included in the mixing console — will increase the gain or amplitude of the microphone level signal and convert it to a line level signal.
Line Level And Amplifiers
Line level refers to a specific level of amplitude or strength of an audio signal produced using mixers, signal-processing equipment, and other audio gear. The signal is powerful enough to be worked with but not powerful enough to drive a speaker.
This is where amplifiers come in. Amplifiers are used to boost the line level to speaker level which delivers enough power to generate a magnetic field that will move the magnet of a speaker driver.
A speaker driver is a loudspeaker transducer located inside the speaker that converts electrical audio signals to sound waves, which would be your music or audio.
Speaker Level And Post-Amplification
Speaker level is essentially an amplified line level signal. Once a line level signal enters an amplifier, it will exist to the speakers at speaker level.
The post-amplified signal will be a much higher voltage than the line level signal and will allow for much louder and more powerful music.
Hopefully, we were able to give you a better understanding of amplifiers and how they work. In future posts, we’ll go over the different classifications of amplifiers and headphone amplifiers specifically.
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