How to Make Your Own Studio-Quality Mic for Only $20

I’ve been following Andrei Gabriel (AKA Electronoobs) on YouTube for quite a few years now. As an electronics hobbyist, it’s one of my go-to YouTube channels for information about a lot of electronics-related things.

Sometimes, my electronics obsession meets my photo/video/audio obsession. This is such a case and definitely fits in here on DIYP. In this video, Andrei builds a studio-quality microphone using only $20 worth of supplies.

Buy or DIY?

There are definitely pros to buying your own microphones. For a start, you don’t need to understand how they work in order to have one. They’re also usually a lot more durable and reliable. Of course, if you build your own, you know how to repair it. And commercial off-the-shelf mics can be pretty expensive.

Andrei’s project is based on the project DIY Perks posted back in 2021. He built his own microphone in that video, using the same JLI2555 capsule. Andrei has created his own electronics for the microphone on a custom PCB instead of a piece of stripboard. He’s also made the schematics available to download.

When it comes to the quality of self-built microphones vs commercial models that use the same capsules… It depends. I mean, someone probably hand built the prototypes for those commercial models. They had higher R&D budgets, but they were still DIY.

How good they sound will largely depend on the builder and component choice. It will also depend on personal taste, too.

Get the files and make your own

Building your own can be an exercise in fun or frustration. Many of the components, especially the capsules themselves, can be extremely sensitive and easy to kill. If you take your time, it’s a fun and inexpensive build, but it can get expensive very quickly if you’re not careful.

You can download all of the Gerber files for the custom PCB, along with along with STLs and other project files on the Electronoobs website.