Microelectromechanical system (MEMS) microphones offer plenty of
advantages typical of MEMS devices, including tiny size, low
power usage, and consistent performance over time and
temperature. But the audio specifications of these microphones
have not been sufficient for certain designs - including ones
where you need to capture sound from a distance or use multiple
microphones. Now high-performance MEMS mics are changing what is
possible, and many acoustics experts would say self noise is the
first specification to consider. Self noise - what you need to
know Any microphone produces some level of noise: through its
electronics, its transducer element, its housing. This inherent
noise is known as self noise. It’s a familiar sound to anyone
using a cell phone. For example, self noise contributes to the
hiss you hear when your mobile phone is on and nobody is
talking. For an electronics designer, microphone self noise is
an ever-present constraint. The idea is to have the mic present
as much signal as possible