Can really loud noise damage a microphone? If I take a camcorder into an area that is really loud, like the deck of an air craft carrier, could the microphone on it get damaged somehow?
Answer to that is yes, the suspension might be damaged or even the coil former.
IIRC though the mics on camcorders are electret types and are usually pretty damn tough.
What is more likely to cause damage is a sudden shockwave from an explosion or if you fired a gun very close to it.
I doubt very much that you would be allowed close enough to the ops on a flight deck to hurt it.
The main problem is likely to be distortion, mics have a sound pressure rating, only a few can accurately cope with aircraft taking off.
Like casdave said, it probably won’t hurt it, you just won’t get very good sound. It’ll just get too loud for the mic to handle and you’ll just get (very loud) white noise.
Gunshots??? Ummmmm… uh-oh. So does that mean I should not bring my cell phone onto the range with when shooting?? Am I messing my phone up?
Does it matter if the microphones are on? If I have a microphone in a very loud environment (carrier deck) will it be just as prone to damage off as if it were on?
Sound energy decreases rapidly as you move away from the source or if there is any insulating material.
If your mobile is inside your pocket it won’t hurt it any down the range.
I was using an example where the gun was virtually next to the phone mic.
It does not matter wether the mic is active or not since the potential damage is caused by an air pressure wave(ie mechanical damage not electrical)
If the pressure wave rises and flls relatively slowly like an aircraft bringing its engines up to speed you are unlikely to experience problems its real sudden high air pressure that does them in.
Vibration could do some damage such as when working very close to very large engines such as big supply generators but then the noise would be so great you would feel the air in your chest cavity vibrate.