Higher quality audio makes people sound smarter • Hacker News Board

Re: Higher quality audio makes people sound smarter

#301

Post by Cd00d » Thu, Apr 15, 2021, 4:15 PM UTC

nvarsj wrote: post #229

benkuhn wrote: post #13

It's also really easy to have high quality audio! The author recommends a "podcasting" microphone, but a $35 standalone headset mic[1] is almost as good and much easier to use. If you want to hear a comparison, I got kind of obsessed with this problem at one point and took some comparison recordings here[2]. (You need a standalone mic since most headsets, even really nice ones, have really bad mics because most heads…

The ModMic is also excellent, and you can attach it to existing headphones [1]. I use this at home with my prized Sennheisers. It baffles me that some people don't seem to care about their audio quality on calls. The most obnoxious are those who use speakers and you get echo on all your talking, and despite telling them, they still never bother to get a decent mic. Another common offender are the Bose QC35s: they hav…

> It baffles me that some people don't seem to care about their audio quality on calls. The most obnoxious are those who use speakers and you get echo on all your talking, and despite telling them, they still never bother to get a decent mic.

I see comments along these lines here all the time, and I don't get it. I'm on zoom a majority of my day, and have maybe two colleagues that don't just use the laptop mic/speakers and have a headset. I almost never have trouble hearing or understanding or listening to background garbage. In fact, those with headsets will sometimes be worse because they're making a lot of mouth sounds close to the mic.

Maybe it's just that Zoom is good at this? TBH, when we used to use Webex on dedicated phones I felt like I couldn't ever hear or understand anything. Maybe that's where this microphone feedback comes from?

Re: Higher quality audio makes people sound smarter

#302

Post by gxqoz » Thu, Apr 15, 2021, 4:15 PM UTC

yosito wrote: post #288

Interesting that this it the top story on HN the same day that Zoom is promoting "professional" quality audio. And there also seems to be a user in the comments working really hard to promote Zoom. Seems like a marketing campaign to me.

Link?

Re: Higher quality audio makes people sound smarter

#303

Post by rectang » Thu, Apr 15, 2021, 4:17 PM UTC

ghaff wrote: post #289

rectang wrote: post #282

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And then there's always some jackass on the call who refuses to use headphones, causing an echo due to the feedback loop between their speakers and their microphone, which makes everybody else sound terrible.

It really depends on the setup. I've tested by asking people with both computer speakers and wearing headphones and been told they didn't hear any difference.

It doesn't affect your own voice! So asking, "do I sound different now" doesn't tell you anything!

Refusing to wear headphones only spoils it for everybody else.

Re: Higher quality audio makes people sound smarter

#304

Post by Heliosmaster » Thu, Apr 15, 2021, 4:17 PM UTC

benkuhn wrote: post #13

It's also really easy to have high quality audio! The author recommends a "podcasting" microphone, but a $35 standalone headset mic[1] is almost as good and much easier to use. If you want to hear a comparison, I got kind of obsessed with this problem at one point and took some comparison recordings here[2]. (You need a standalone mic since most headsets, even really nice ones, have really bad mics because most heads…

This is the reason why i got some Wired Bose Soundsport, and I had to get the lime green ones because they don't make it anymore. No wireless for me.

Re: Higher quality audio makes people sound smarter

#305

Post by Godel_unicode » Thu, Apr 15, 2021, 4:20 PM UTC

nvarsj wrote: post #229

benkuhn wrote: post #13

It's also really easy to have high quality audio! The author recommends a "podcasting" microphone, but a $35 standalone headset mic[1] is almost as good and much easier to use. If you want to hear a comparison, I got kind of obsessed with this problem at one point and took some comparison recordings here[2]. (You need a standalone mic since most headsets, even really nice ones, have really bad mics because most heads…

The ModMic is also excellent, and you can attach it to existing headphones [1]. I use this at home with my prized Sennheisers. It baffles me that some people don't seem to care about their audio quality on calls. The most obnoxious are those who use speakers and you get echo on all your talking, and despite telling them, they still never bother to get a decent mic. Another common offender are the Bose QC35s: they hav…

I have found that many of the people who didn't shower in hot weather are the same people who don't care about their audio quality; I think it requires a certain amount of empathy for other people to realize how jarring and annoying bad audio is for the listener.

It's also similar to the anti-mask problem, frankly. Even if you don't care, you should realize that others do and not abuse them for your own convenience.

Re: Higher quality audio makes people sound smarter

#306

Post by chromaton » Thu, Apr 15, 2021, 4:22 PM UTC

emilburzo wrote: post #287

chromaton wrote: post #231

I realized after many Zoom calls that a good presentation in both audio AND video are very important. My choice for audio is a Shure headworn XLR dynamic microphone. These are the type used by professional singers, public speakers, etc. Being headworn means that you don't have to worry about talking directly into the mic; you can move around a bit. This type of mic also has great noise rejection. We use it for livest…

What do you use for headphones? (I'm assuming the Shure is just a microphone)

The USB adapter has a headphone jack so I plug my Samsung headphones into that.

Re: Higher quality audio makes people sound smarter

#307

Post by slantyyz » Thu, Apr 15, 2021, 4:23 PM UTC

hctaw wrote: post #203

ghaff wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think a lot of people get wrapped around the axle of having the "right" $500 microphone whereas there are a ton of decent USB mics under $100 that will make a big difference. Also consider a good external webcam and doing something about lighting if you can. I realize that not everyone has a great physical environment to work with. But I'm struck by how many people who seemingly haven't made any real effort after a…

> I think a lot of people get wrapped around the axle of having the "right" $500 microphone whereas there are a ton of decent USB mics under $100 There are diminishing returns for sure. But something worth considering is anything priced over $200 is likely closer to "pro" than "sumer' and is priced accordingly. You don't need an SM7 if you're not making money with it... and it's priced for those folks. It's actually…

I have a Shure MV7 USB/XLR microphone, and while pricey, I like it a lot, as it's very easy to tune how you sound using the ShurePlus Motiv software.

It also has a headphone jack that you can use for monitoring.

Unfortunately the USB connection on the microphone is micro-usb, which is pretty sad for a microphone that was released in 2020. It also doesn't come with a stand.

Re: Higher quality audio makes people sound smarter

#308

Post by ghaff » Thu, Apr 15, 2021, 4:24 PM UTC

bonoboTP wrote: post #254

ghaff wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are things you can do with hangings and screens and so forth if you want to. I do have an office but my background includes some ugly file cabinets so I got a fabric print to hang over them. You can also do virtual backgrounds with a lot of software if you rig up a green screen. (That's not absolutely necessary but it tends to look bad otherwise.)

Zoom is quite good in virtual backgrounds even with no green screen (on Win and Mac. Linux is worse)

Probably depends on lighting but I'm not sure I'd call it "good." I find it's often a noticeable distraction when people move around.

Re: Higher quality audio makes people sound smarter

#309

Post by jimsmart » Thu, Apr 15, 2021, 4:24 PM UTC

stunt wrote: post #88

It really bothers me that I can't lock mic gain on macOS. You can adjust it, but then it will self adjust itself automatically. Somehow some background noises in my room trigger it to increase the mic sensitive to 100% after a few minutes. It's much worse with iPhone EarPods.

I'm pretty sure that macOS doesn't do this by default at all, based upon over a decade of experience.

This StackOverflow seems to agree — but it also offers suggestions to help find the actual culprit (a lot of third-party software seems to auto-level the mic volume), and also offers a further suggestion of configuring an Aggregate Audio Device (using the default Audio MIDI Setup app) which doesn't have a mic-level control that apps can mess with.

Perhaps one of the solutions discussed here might help you.

https://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/97810/mac-osx-micr...

Re: Higher quality audio makes people sound smarter

#310

Post by chromaton » Thu, Apr 15, 2021, 4:26 PM UTC

sofal wrote: post #250

chromaton wrote: post #231

I realized after many Zoom calls that a good presentation in both audio AND video are very important. My choice for audio is a Shure headworn XLR dynamic microphone. These are the type used by professional singers, public speakers, etc. Being headworn means that you don't have to worry about talking directly into the mic; you can move around a bit. This type of mic also has great noise rejection. We use it for livest…

I'm curious about how portable your setup is. Currently at home I have a giant dynamic mic (EV RE20) on a boom arm, but that's not going to be something I can use at the actual office when I hop into a little enclosed pod for a Zoom meeting or something. Does your setup work for that kind of thing?

It's not too bad. I'd get a small case for the stuff if I wanted to move it around regularly. It's a little pricy and might be delicate, so I leave it at my desk. Watch today's livestream to hear it in action: https://www.facebook.com/events/303545994740352

In my bag, I keep a USB lavalier mic, which is smaller, but not quite as good quality.