What is megaphone?
A megaphone is a cone-shaped acoustic horn used to amplify a person’s normal voice or other sounds and direct them in a specific or targeted direction. It is usually handheld or portable. It is also known as a “loud hailer” or “bullhorn”.
It is a funnel-shaped blow-horn or speaking trumpet that can be used for many purposes. The sound is passed into the small and narrow end of the megaphone by simply holding it up to your face using your hand and speaking, chanting, or cheering into it, and then the sound waves radiate out from the wide end of the megaphone.
When the megaphone increases the acoustic impedance of the vocal cords and matches the impedance to the air, it increases sound volume. More sound power is radiated, and the horn directs the sound waves towards the targeted point or direction.
A megaphone distorts the sound of voices because its frequency response is higher than the sound frequencies. Nowadays, people use an electric megaphone, a device for amplifying the voice using electric power.
When was the megaphone invented, and who invented the megaphone?
Many historians believe that the megaphone first came into use during the 17th century. Initially, megaphones were designed in a conical shape and made of lightweight material to make it easier for the user to carry and hold them. It was named “Megaphones” by Thomas Edison in 1878.
People use both traditional as well as electric megaphones for many purposes. However, electric megaphones are often used more than the older versions. The world’s first electric megaphone was developed in 1954 by TOA, a Japanese electronics company.
Electric Megaphones
An electric megaphone is an electronic hand-held device or system used to amplify a person’s voice or any other sound by using electric power. Electric megaphones consist of an electrically-powered amplifier, a foldable horn loudspeaker, and a microphone to amplify the voice or sound. The microphone converts the sound waves into electrical audio signals in an electric megaphone.
The power of these audio signals is increased by an amplifier, which is powered using a battery. The loudspeaker re-converts the audio signals back into sound waves. An electric megaphone can amplify the voice or sound to a higher level.
It was developed in the early 1920s. Initially, these megaphones were not portable because of the vacuum tube amplifiers used in them, which made them too heavy and inconvenient.
However, later portable or handheld electric megaphones were designed and invented, which made it easy to use the megaphones everywhere for different purposes. The handheld electric or power megaphone is generally shaped like the old acoustic or traditional megaphones, but it works differently and better.
The pistol grip on the side of an electric handheld megaphone contains a trigger switch that activates the microphone and speaker on the other end. To start the device, you have to hold it up to your mouth and press the trigger simultaneously as you are speaking. Some versions feature a separate microphone attached to a cord, allowing the user to address a crowd without the instrument hiding their faces.
Some also feature a horn loudspeaker known as a reflex or reentrant horn. The sound waves move in a zigzag pattern through concentric ducts that get wider. Electric or power megaphones come in various designs, sizes, and characteristics like capacity, weight, affordability, and the availability of alarms and shoulder straps. The method of the megaphone impacts its range and projection.
What are megaphone used for? What is the purpose of megaphone?
There can be multiple uses of a megaphone. It is used for different purposes. You can use it to address huge gatherings and audiences when stationary public addressing systems are unavailable. Law enforcement officers and institutions often use it.
Not only this, fire departments use megaphones as emergency equipment or communication tool to communicate in the case of an emergency. Moreover, directors use it to give directions on film sets where it is hard to hear while they are shooting.
Many politicians and workers use megaphones at political rallies and events. Aside from that, it’s used for outdoor events like public protests and cultural and sports events.
Cheerleaders use megaphones to shout out cheers during a game, competition, or event. When there is a huge crowd, the police often use megaphones to communicate with the people as well as for other purposes.
How megaphone works?
Many people might question how a megaphone works or amplifies sound. Well, megaphones are cone-shaped. It is an effective voice amplifier because of its design and shape.
Its structure directs your voice towards the target. When you speak, the sound travels in all directions simultaneously from the mouth. Just a part of our emanated sound moves in the targeted direction where we want it to reach.
A megaphone works like a funnel. It directs the sound that we emit in the direction where we want it to go first after channelling the sound. A megaphone helps us control the voice or sound toward the targeted direction or audience and increases the loudness of the sound.
Sound waves work uniquely, resulting in this effect. When sound waves move quickly from confined to wide spaces, some are reflected directly to the source.
Eventually, when you speak, these sound waves move from the narrow space of your mouth and reach the open areas around you. For this reason, some of the waves reflect toward your mouth. It has the clear effect of lowering the volume of your speech.
However, when you talk into a megaphone, the sound waves exit your mouth and take some time before they reach the great open spaces.
Consequently, the waves travel along the length of the megaphone’s conical shape, eventually becoming wider till the waves exit from the wide end of the megaphone. To put it another way, as sound waves travel through the megaphone, lesser waves reflect, increasing the volume of the voice.
What’s the difference between bullhorn & megaphone
People are mostly confused between the megaphone and the bullhorn. The basic difference between a bullhorn and a megaphone is that a bullhorn is a megaphone that electronically amplifies the volume of a person’s voice. In contrast, megaphones are funnel-shaped devices or speaking trumpets that enhance the user’s voice and direct it in a certain direction or targeted area.
Megaphones can be of two types; electrical and non-electrical. But bullhorns are high-powered and an electrical megaphone or speaker. A bullhorn is a type of megaphone or loudhailer with a built-in microphone and amplifier, that can amplify your voice using electric energy.
It is important to remember that a megaphone has a diameter equal to the wavelength of the sound it amplifies to be effective. UM Audio manufactures the world’s best megaphones.
Coming back to the topic, the megaphone is usually a long funnel or cone-like device, making it multiple feet long because the wavelengths in a human voice can move to a great distance.
A bullhorn is not as long; it is more like a small cone-shaped megaphone. Bullhorns electrically amplify the sound because of their loudspeaker and amplifier.
Why are Megaphones shaped like funnel?
The megaphones are designed to be shaped like a funnel because it is the same reason why we make a funnel-shaped cup over our mouths by using our hands to make our voices more resonant and loud when we’re speaking or chanting.
These funnel-shaped megaphones transfer the sound much more controlled way by directing it outwardly in a certain direction or targeted area. The sound that comes out of your mouth travels in all orders, from left to right, up and down, and even straight ahead.
The megaphones are shaped like a funnel because it helps in directing the sound toward the target and significantly reduce the sound scattering to the sides. A megaphone doesn’t just run the sound in a specific direction but also increases the volume of that sound.
When a sound wave quickly moves from a small space to a wide area, some of the sounds reflect backward. That’s exactly what happens when your voice travels out of your mouth and into the free space around you.
The sudden shift causes part of the sound energy to be reflected backwards, which is then absorbed by the mouth, reducing the volume. Using a cone-shaped megaphone allows a gradual transition from your mouth to the open area.
Our megaphone can produce more loudness by reducing sound reverberation. The sound directed at a specific target or space reduces dispersion. When the sound is directed to a target, it also helps in reducing the absorption of the sound waves.
A megaphone must be as long as the wavelength of the sound for maximum effect. Like the one used by cheerleaders, a professional megaphone is also several feet long because human voices have wavelengths of up to several feet.
Like how a megaphone is funnel-shaped, many other musical instruments are also shaped like a funnel for similar reasons. Interestingly, our ears also have a funnel-like shape!
Why we are the best manufacturer of megaphones?
In the megaphone and IR extender industry, we are the leading manufacturer. With an initial concentration on the production of electrical accessories, we launched our company in 2013. Our devices are currently sold in 50+ countries, and we’ve worked with many well-known audio/video and home companies.
As our business model has evolved over the years, we have shifted our focus to include portable megaphones, automotive megaphones, IR extenders, and other accessories for these devices. New ideas, near to customer needs, and cost-effectiveness are all hallmarks of the majority of our offerings.
Do our products meet international standards?
The design and production facilities at our plant are ISO9001-2008 certified. We’ve arrived at Ningbo, the world’s biggest port and epicentre of the tiny home electronic industry.
Our firm produces 50000 megaphones and IR extenders thanks to our four manufacturing lines and more than 50 employees. There are professionals in each department: Industrial Design and R&D, Quality Control, Marketing, and Shipping, for example.
Why buy from us?
Customer satisfaction is of utmost importance for us. We take it as a guiding principle behind our company’s mission to create and manufacture tomorrow’s technology at a reasonable price today.
Having been in business for over a decade, we are well-versed in OEM/ODM services. Whether it’s a new idea or a new product, we’re open to anything that will help us satisfy the demands of customers, end-users and the market.
Where can we buy the best megaphone?
UM Audio is the leading megaphone manufacturing company based in Ningbo, China. We offer megaphones of different wattages of mini, car, and handheld megaphones.
We’ve been producing and developing megaphones for over ten years. We’ve provided them to over thirty countries, organisations, and militaries throughout the globe, including the UN, UNICEF, and the NDRRMC.
Our company has been in business for a decade with the industry to provide high-quality products at the best possible pricing. Customer satisfaction is a priority. We believe that megaphone is a helpful and practical tool used in different events.