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In the basic sense,

Passive pickups rely on the coiled windings of wire and a set of magnetic pole pieces to sense the strings' motion. When a string oscillates above the magnetic pole and through the magnetic field, a current is induced in the coil windings. This is the basic fundamental idea behind a simple coiled pickup.

The passive pickup however is much closer to the dynamic of a microphone. It relies on the same fundamental, but uses an external power source to boost the signal before it leaves the guitar. This allows for a few extras, such as tone modification, smaller magnets (this translates into better sustain for the guitar) and a 9V battery pack.

In terms of sound, you'll have to try out some pickups to see what you like. Personally, I like the dynamic feel to a passive pickup; especially if it's well built (Try on a dimarzio or a Seymour Duncan). Some people prefer the consistency of an active pickup system and a little more tone control. ninja

I love the active emg , better sound to my ear then the passive . I use to have a H4 on my guitar but it was just too muddy , plus too much feed back . So I changed it to a 81 and it just was so great and massive . It was sharper and ballsy too . I love the tone of it . domokun mrgreen domokun

Well not sure , I know the 81 says emg in sliver on it and the 85 has emg in gold . The passive ones are just plain white and sometimes say what kind it is . Kind of like the H4

it has a better tone . But its a tone that some well be 50/50 on . Some like it , some dont .

you'll ony forget if you dont take care of your guitar and careful of your guitars pickup . Only get the invader if ya want some high treble too , a dime pickup is better to my ears . Its got enough lows and high to even out in kickass sound .