How to Make a Telephone Microphone! | LearnAudioEngineering.com

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Get ready for a fun and creative project as Robert shows you how to craft your very own DIY Telephone Microphone!
Learn step-by-step how to repurpose an old telephone receiver into a unique dynamic microphone
Perfect for beginners, this soldering project is easy to follow and requires minimal tools.
Discover how this lo-fi microphone option adds a nostalgic lo-fi flavour to vocals, simulating the sound of a telephone call.
The Telephone Microphone has a distinctive mid-range sound that's the secret weapon to capture the character of instruments like guitars and drums.
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[@LearnAudioEngineering]

Check out this video if you'd like to process a regular microphone to sound like a telephone call: kzbin.info/www/bejne/bae3pHR4qL5qeJI

[@theeohbeetees5640]

after building one for myself, ive implemented it fir vocals for a very GARAGE rock surfy psychadelic kinda vibe.

[@harrygibson4602]

Hiya - did you ever use it in a live setting?

[@NyqWill95]

@@harrygibson4602 there was this garage punk band called The Coachwhips, and they used a telephone mic a lot. They sounded fucking dope

[@thegloobster]

Ginger Root uses one of these in live performances as a vocal effect and I just freaking adore it. One of these days I'll take the rabbit hole down to solder town. Awesome effect! Thanks for posting man!

[@DanielTortoledovideos]

This is great!!! Thanks for being so clear about it. Very inspiring, I’ll start experiment with this material soon

[@Flamethatburns]

There are 3 pins on the XLR plug. Number 1 pin is for ground, not needed, so tape it off, or cut it off to avoid touching the other wires. Number 2 pin is for the positive wire, and number 3 pin is for the negative wire. If you are not happy with the sound, simply reverse the wires on the phone to see if it is any better. In theory, the proper way to connect a speaker for a microphone application would be to connect the negative of the speaker to pin 2 of the XLR, and the positive of the speaker to pin 3 of the XLR. Yes, that is reverse wiring from normal.

[@bletheringfool]

next question, which pin is no. 1, 2 or 3?

[@HR2635]

been using it for years.. but most say that I made a plugin chain of a simple EQ , a distressor and a compressor.. which I use as a "phone" parallel chain.. and then send a bit of snare drum and toms thorugh it (often I make a similar channel for guitars, bas and vocals).. makes drums POP in the mix (midrange is the key to mixing).. with a phone mic you need to set it up on all sources.. so.. super cool. It works great!, but if you need it on more sources in one take, the plugin approach will server you better. Just my 5 cents. Og and great video! Simple and to the point!

[@averagejoekickass]

great tutorial! I didn't have a lot of previous tinkering experience, but the instructions were really easy to follow. I was delighted to find out that the phone mic totally worked! thanks a lot!

[@LearnAudioEngineering]

Great to hear the project worked out for you, Joe! Thanks for sharing your success. This reminds me to do more videos like this one!

[@mariocaballero461]

just discovered your channel and I love it!! keep going mate!

[@LearnAudioEngineering]

Many thanks, Mario! glad you enjoy the videos

[@LakshayKukreja11]

Thanks a tonne for this man! Just made my own lo-fi telephone microphone following your instructions! Sounds great!

[@LearnAudioEngineering]

Thats awesome! I'm Glad to hear this helped you complete the project! :) Thanks for watching and letting me know. All the best.

[@Cosmic.Noodles29]

what kind of telephone did you use? (E.G rotary, landline

[@LakshayKukreja11]

@@Cosmic.Noodles29 I used an old landline.

[@Cosmic.Noodles29]

@@LakshayKukreja11 Thank you so much!!!

[@jefferyreber1682]

Very cool project! I plan on doing this myself for textured vocal applications. I was lucky enough that I got a pre-1980s handset from a telephone at a pre-sort thrift store for dirt cheap which will be nice for the fact that telephones pre-1980 used carbon transmitters for the microphone rather than a dynamic microphone which was used in the ear piece. I'm planning on implementing the XLR's phantom power to feed the carbon transmitter and a switch mounted in the handset body to select which microphone sound is desired. I just wish XLR cables were either cheaper or the bulk spools to make your own came in shorter lengths. Cutting up a short XLR cable ends up being relatively expensive for such a simple project, but I guess we gotta do what we've gotta do.

[@oshid.l391]

Amazing, thank you for this video!

[@eliaugust]

Awesome video, and useful!

[@theUnknled]

Gonna have to try it myself.

[@worstnightmare56]

Great Work .Solved my big Problem.Keep it Up

[@LearnAudioEngineering]

Glad to hear that, thanks for watching!

[@squeakyproductions]

Great video!!

[@the_musicalfreakshow]

totally following this tutorial! thanks

[@LearnAudioEngineering]

Glad it was helpful! Thanks for watching

[@CellyMadeThis]

I’d be curious to see how you’d do a tin can like the ones from the early days of recording. Is that right that they actually used mics in a can in early US blues and folk recording?

[@russpiva9772]

Yes, also by taping a bunch of tin cans together to make a long cylinder, creating longer decaying reverb

[@inalavalamp]

Should there be any concern about not grounding the xlr? Is there a way to do it with the grounding that's already in the the cable?

[@DarthPudden]

Thank you. Gonna make one for an old school, live radio show

[@LearnAudioEngineering]

Awesome! have fun :)

[@TomASwift]

Here I am in 2023… I saw a cover of Radio Star with some guys using a telephone handset as a mic for that distinct distant mic sound. I turned to KZbin and search this up. First video on the subject and you nailed it. Thanks!

[@JW_Mayfield]

Thats the sound i want fir a song om writing. Thank you for sharing!

[@LearnAudioEngineering]

Glad to help! :) Just checked out your latest upload (The Hank Williams cover) very nice job! Did you record it all with just the one mic? let me know. Thanks for watching!

[@martinfederico7269]

I've been looking at ZVEX tea ball microphone (high impedance) and it looks like something I could build for 15 bucks and it's like 300$ could you do a video on how to make one or give me some clues on how I could build one?

[@PirateZomby]

This is righteous, and exactly what I needed! Using a TRS instead of an XLR ought to work the same way, right?

[@NikosPage]

Mic pres use xlr connectors for a reason

[@kenfleischman]

Cool. Gonna get that Coachwhips feel going now lol. Thanks!

[@LearnAudioEngineering]

Just search Coachwhips up, HOLY DIRTY MIDS! Tele mic will work great for you bigbless

[@marcelt.7999]

Great tute! Just curious as to why you used the speaker and wired it as a mic instead of using the actual mic? Is it because it's placed better within the phone?

[@charlespatt]

Newer phones often have condenser mics in them that need power to operate, but the speaker is almost always dynamic where it doesn't need external power to function.

[@felixknott5326]

great video, best explanation I have seen I'm going to make one of these tomorrow to use as a vocal mic like John Dwyer did in Coachwhips. The output of this mic is cool to go straight into a PA right?

[@LearnAudioEngineering]

yep! you should be just fine. good luck! thanks for watching.

[@felixknott5326]

@@LearnAudioEngineering excellent thank you

[@chrisjacob1446]

This comment read my mind.

[@thejake4145]

Same here. Got the riffs down and now its time for some lyrics

[@gamermcclout]

Fellow John Dwyer fan, nice!

[@bacceb9009]

Nice !!

[@jeremytobias9139]

Thanks man. Needed a mic and couldn't afford one. A guitar cable I already had, and a 8 buck second hand phone n I'm set

[@LearnAudioEngineering]

right on! glad to help :D

[@fargo_cs]

If i wanted to make one of these with a gain knob, is it as simple as putting a potentiometer in one of the lines?

[@AFunkyHypnoCat]

hey man, how come it doesn't matter which end of the cable you solder to each end of the microphone contact points? I'm unsure if there is a 'correct' way to do the wires, whether to an XLR or a 1/4 inch mono guitar jack

[@dizzyD1199]

I think I messed up too much when soldering. It’s cause the speaker from the phone I got had a weird placement of the pins to be soldered. I think I burnt them too much cause they are black. Do I need to get a new vintage phone or could I still fix my current problem?

[@Scott-dx7uc]

Has anyone tested the TZ stellar X2 microphone? How does it hold up against the U87? It caught my eye but wanted to hear someone else's opinion.

[@hexadecimal973]

I have a few questions, I found some old phones just like that in an old abandoned factory. They are a little dirty but intact, I heard that if I wanted to use the mouth piece as a microphone I would need a amplifier for it, which I don't have and they're crazy expensive right now over here, but if I were to use the ear piece receiver then I wouldn't need any power for it. So here's my question, with a little bit of introduction first. A year ago I bought a shure sv100 microphone online but it has some difficulties picking up sounds because it's not connected to an amp and a power supply. It comes with a cable that has the female XLR plug one one side and 1/4 inch jack on the other, to which the microphone connects with a built in male XLR plug. Now can soldier a cable to the microphone and have a male XLR connector which I can connect to the cable of my existing microphone? WIll it work? Thank you.

[@yeetskeitskeit4262]

Cool!

[@Caniballe]

Perfect. Thanks! Once I made it on my family´s house telephone and I put it in an "output" of my stereo and called my girlfriend. Once she answered the phone, I turned on the stereo and her telephone became a speaker! Her sisters runned to the living room to see what was happening! LOL!

This didn't work well for me. I got signal and I could record stuff but I also got a lot of noise. I don't know why. I need to boost the preamp a looot to get a good signal. Do you have any idea why did that happen to me?

[@brandielee7971]

Would this work on one of those handsets that plug into a headphone jack?

[@peterianitelli4727]

Do you need an interface or can you just plug it in to your pc?

[@Zero45Club]

Hi, thanks for sharing this! I’m wondering why not use the original mic? Obvs the speaker works but what’s wrong with the mic? Looks like the one I’m playing with has a ground connected, wouldn’t that be simple enough to connect to the sheath on the cable?

[@cheapironman1916]

the mouthpeace is a carbon mic which needs phantom power

[@dickpeterson6364]

Would it be possible to maybe solder some wire to the microphone positive and negative then connect the wires to their corresponding place on a 1/8 inch audio jack?

[@ninacruzz3103]

is there a way to make a playback version where once its picked up it loops a message?

[@Pyrotechnics]

Is there a way you could do this with an AUX cable?

[@beninfarum923]

how do you do this with a 3.5 mm headphone jack?

[@sloopycloopy9686]

thank uuuu

[@joshfetil6059]

hey man I'm planning to recreate this buy a xlr cable to usb or xlr cable to usb woutl i still get the same sound

[@rachelletobias7402]

How do I change the ear piece on my old phone so that I don't need to put it to my ear to hold for calls, but connect a speaker

[@m1ghtyboy]

This is great! because I don't own a mixer am i good to use some generic XLR > 3.5mm/USB adapter? Or is there any better way to input this into a PC without XLR?

[@carboncringe9558]

Since it's not grounded, I don't think it's necessary to use phantom power. I'm not an electrician, though. I'd say that XLR to 3.5 would work. Theoretically, you can do this with any audio input cable.

[@TrueNovice]

Could or have you tried to do this with adapter cords without taking the phone apart

[@No11961]

I can switch the XLR cable with USB cable ?

[@MicheleBalin]

Can I use a broken telephone? I buy it on ebay but i dont know if it works

[@vriska222]

will this work with a 3.5mm audio cable?

[@vask8ers1]

Hello! I was wondering if you have to solder it or is there a way to tape it?

[@LearnAudioEngineering]

You might try wrapping the wire around and then using electrical tape. Soldering would be much stronger, but in a pinch it might work!

[@NealNot]

Why do some people need to install batteries, and some don't, when making vintage phone XLR microphones?

[@itskidleo]

Will this work on one of those Amazon vintage "retro" phones or does it have to actually be vintage from the 70's/80's for that same internal circuitry?

[@4968ace]

speakers all work the same way pretty much. no worries.

[@DisturbedDante]

Would this work with a xlr to usb cable or an xlr to amp cable?

[@sukicchan]

can you still hear yourself on the other end after transforming it?

[@avzer5408]

Can i do this but with a 6.5mm jack?

[@NriC04]

But how can i use it as a pc headset tho?

[@mojo0872]

Why not move the speaker to the talking side? What about taking a speaker from another handset to put one in each place on the phone? Any thoughts?

[@LearnAudioEngineering]

Oooo a Stereo Telephone sounds like a really cool idea. I've made two so far, I'll hunt around and find a match for a stereo pair! lmao Thanks for the comment!

[@rickeydenler2385]

These things Shine for Chicago blues harmonica applications

[@LearnAudioEngineering]

I will try this the next time I record harmonica!

[@dizzolve]

why not use the mouth piece? Is it too sensitive?

[@mr.anonymoose2810]

Can you use the microphone from the phone instead of the speaker?

[@ethandurian7272]

Is there any reason you don’t use the full length of the xlr cable?

[@LearnAudioEngineering]

just a personal preference, you could dedicate a full length cable to your phone mic if you like.

[@kevycoldcuts]

How would you properly ground it? Is it not a concern?

[@LearnAudioEngineering]

Hey Kevy, you can attach the ground to the positive as well If you're concerned. I haven't had any issues with it, Here's an outro skit I recorded using 2 tele mics: discountlionsafari.bandcamp.com/track/outro

[@BIGpony777]

we have the same preamp

[@666cordyceps666]

why didn't you use the telephone microphone itself? Or, why did you use the speaker instead? Cheers, man! I'm digging your awesome channel!

[@MrPrtyMrthn]

The microphone needs phantom power.

[@martinfederico7269]

@@MrPrtyMrthn If I used batteries in the handset as phantom power, will it sound better than the speaker?

[@MrPrtyMrthn]

Martin Federico I think Simon the Magpie made a switchable one... and, no it wouldn’t sound better necessarily, just insanely louder.

[@martinfederico7269]

@@MrPrtyMrthn thnx!

[@1968joseph1]

You can move the earpiece speaker to the mouthpiece position so you can use the phone in the intended position. I don't think the way it looks singing into the top bothers young people as much as me.

[@UrielRosasMusico]

The mic and speaker function in reverse, but I have question. Why not using the mic of the telephone itself? I watch other videos where they use the speaker as well as a mic. But I want to know why. Thanks. Nice video!

[@dubcavern6414]

Ever get an answer to this?

[@Kareem-Ahmed]

Because the telephone mic is a capacitive or condenser type microphone, like all cheap small microphones especially in compact electronics. It does not generate its own electricity, so that it needs a DC power supply; by contrast, the telephone speaker is a dynamic speaker which acts like a dynamic microphone. These microphones are larger & more expensive, and they generate electricity when vibrated by sound.

[@BenjaminLandauMusic]

Just strip one LR06 to the mic...

[@tomasdahuabe]

@@dubcavern6414 The carbon mic needs phantom power so it needs more complex wiring and has a wider spectrum than using the speaker, so less lo-fi-ish sounding

[@montypr340]

Is it possible to use a aux cable instead of a xlr cable

[@LearnAudioEngineering]

yes!

[@RS-pp7ng]

Did you solder the ground as well?

[@leonardojustino5249]

i think it's not necessary, but dunno why

[@fleishballchen979]

hey i have a question can i use a p2/p3 cable to do this ?

[@leonardojustino5249]

if it has a hot (+) and col (-), you can use

[@ailuwu]

i know this video is pretty old but i'm wondering (and please keep in mind i have zero clue about audio engineering, cables and etc. i'm just a 20yr old girl with w a hobby so i'm definitely missing some technical language lol) what sort of cable would i need to connect this to my computer? is something like that even possible? the one you're using on your video looks like the one you plug in speakers which clearly works for you in professional audio engineering. but i'd just like to record some songs on my computer with the "filter" these mics have. would the process be too complicated? :/ thanks for the video, great explanation and definitely learning some stuff!!

[@LearnAudioEngineering]

Hi! Great question. In order to get the signal into your computer you would need an audio interface like this: Scarlett Solo: www.amazon.ca/Focusrite-SCARLETT-SOLO-3RD-GEN-USB-Audio-Interface/dp/B07QR6Z1JB?th=1 If you're making a telephone microphone like this, and you don't want to use the male XLR plug used in the video, you could use a 1/4" male TRS end instead, similar to what you would plug into a guitar amp. You would plug this into your audio interface, which would connect to your computer via USB. hope this helps, sorry if any of the information was over-explained. Please feel free to ask any follow up questions. Alternatively, If you have a USB microphone that you regularly use, you could always process that to sound like a telephone. What DAW are you using? perhaps I could make a video on this. (Thanks for the idea :D)

[@LearnAudioEngineering]

Hey, heres a new video about how to make any mic sound like a telephone: kzbin.info/www/bejne/bae3pHR4qL5qeJI

[@steem_punk]

Is there a way to do it with an acoustic cable rather than an XLR? Like a guitar amp cord, for the life of me I can’t remember what it’s called but yeah

[@joshmccorkle3042]

You mean a 1/4" TS cable, I think. Sometimes they call them instrument cables. I think that would actually work better, since they're unbalanced (two contacts), exactly as needed for the pos and neg terminals on the handset speaker. The wires inside a TS cable should be colored the same way - solder the red to the positive on the speaker, black to the negative.

[@steem_punk]

@@joshmccorkle3042 thank you! I’ll come back when I make it :D

[@bletheringfool]

I've made one of these and while it technically (barely) works, the vocals coming through are extremely quiet and there is a god awful buzzing noise. What am I doing wrong?

[@kirkmcintyre53]

Can you use a normal trrs jack?

[@LearnAudioEngineering]

yes

[@wolfsiejk]

My xlr has only 1 wire for some reasone

[@ramakrishnanpuranattukara6566]

Is it from india

[@hailgays8n]

brian chippendale from lightning bolt used a telephone mic for vocals, sounded fuckin awesome

[@TheCozyCinnamonRoll]

How much do you think this will cost( I don’t think I have any of the materials but I really want to do this)

[@LearnAudioEngineering]

Hmmm.....Good question. Old landline phones are getting trickier to find at thrift stores, but it you get lucky you can find one for $5-$15. Sometimes you can find someone with a box of them in online classified ads. If you have an old cable you're willing to sacrifice, you can cut and solder the ends and you're done! If you don't have those materials you could grab a basic soldering pen for around ~$15, and another ~$10 for a roll of solder. A good Neutrik connector or plug will cost you around $5, and a foot of cabling might be another couple of bucks. All in you're looking ~$60USD at the top. Obviously this adds up initially, but its well worth the investment if you're looking to get into more DIY projects. I've hand soldered every cable in my studio so I know they work, are designed custom for my space, and are of the highest quality possible. And if something isn't working I know I can probably fix it, and the onus is on me to do so. :P Now just in case you're not up to doing all this for a fun effect, I'm working on a video thats coming out on Sunday about how to make a SM58 sound just like a telephone call. I'll link that to you when it's out! Hope this helps, Thank you for watching and best of luck with your future projects :D

[@TheCozyCinnamonRoll]

@@LearnAudioEngineering thank you so much! That’s less expensive as I thought it be! I really appreciate it!

[@yung-stephen]

could you do this with a 1/4 mono cable rather than an xlr?

[@LearnAudioEngineering]

Yes! it would work well thru an amp.

[@yung-stephen]

Learn Audio Engineering how would you go about soldering to the terminals, since there's only one wire and a ground? Would you just solder half the fibers to one side and half to the other?

[@yung-stephen]

Learn Audio Engineering never mind i figured it out and built it today and it works great thank you!

[@cybergod801]

@@yung-stephen how did you do it?

[@yung-stephen]

Kidd Koolaid solder the shielding/negative/ground fibers to one terminal and the positive fibers to the other, it doesn't matter which is which

[@cyrildia]

I am the only one being bugged by the fact that the cord is on the wrong side? They usually are where the mic is, it looks upside down ! (But sounds good) :p

[@kitni]

wait so most of the diy telephone mics are actually the earpiece, which is not intentionally the actual sound we usually hear through telephone? Still, it sounds like one.

[@LearnAudioEngineering]

I mean that is the side you are listening to on a phone :) its what the other person's voice comes out of! Thank you for watching!

[@FrenchAudio2000]

Two of my classmates in my program looted two rotary telephones from an asylum we went spelunking in and I'm so excited to hear them

[@samman9864]

Metal asf

[@FrenchAudio2000]

@@samman9864 So we ended taking more. Mine has a killswitch, my friend's has a pickup switch for the two microphones, and my other friend did the smartest thing my giving it parallel outputs

[@jesaniiii9426]

Would this be doable with a USB cable or should i just do this then buy an adaptor?

[@soupmaker4484]

Would this by chance work with a usb cable?

[@thisisfeinter]

No, that's a Digital connection. A lot more complex. Requires an analog to digital converter first. This is only analog.

[@soupmaker4484]

K thx

[@luispavon1371]

I wisj somebody would sell these on Amazon.

[@RedlikMusic]

admit you come here because of that no surprises cover

[@NailzzZz]

😂 mee

[@boyface]

called out

[@hazminibnusani6819]

Yess 😅

[@Sethrogenlookalike]

*proceeds to sing Is This It

[@keisaboru1155]

You could also just buy a old recorder or something cheapo . But well . We gon leave it at that

[@pkneeyahx]

Speaking into the earpiece looks and feels wrong. Why didn't you use the mic?

[@markopolo5511]

I used to throw out:30 and he's out of months

[@mr.anonymoose2810]

I am only here from radal

[@sungkeh]

666 likes

[@LEDUMM]

A real pain here...

[@toxic1428]

xd

[@nofalex]

DOES NOT WORK ON OLDER PHONES!! DON’T WASTE YOUR TIME

[@Daniel69700]

Could I use a 6.35mm jack instead of a XLR?

[@LearnAudioEngineering]

sure!