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Higher quality audio makes people sound smarter

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Re: Higher quality audio makes people sound smarter

#401

Post by Notorious_BLT »

thescriptkiddie wrote: post #281
nvarsj wrote: post #229

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

Has the modmic gotten better? I've had one for years and it has always sounded like garbage.

I got their wireless one recently and everyone I regularly use it to talk to immediately noticed the quality and commented on it. Can't speak to the wired ones.

Re: Higher quality audio makes people sound smarter

#402

Post by asimpletune »

aikinai wrote: post #50
shoto_io wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have noticed with colleagues the insane improvements in video and audio after their amazon shopping sprees. At the same I haven’t updated my camera because I don’t have a nice room to work from and I feel a bit ashamed to show my tiny box with a high resolution... sounds weird, I know, but that’s how I feel

Use a longer lens and you won’t have to show any of your tiny box! I hooked up my mirrorless camera behind/on top of my monitor and have a 35mm (APS-C so 50mm equivalent) which is perfect to just frame my head and show basically nothing behind me. I don’t know why webcams are always so insanely wide; we don’t need to see your whole room with your head only taking up 5% of the frame. Just like audio, I wish everyone e…

“Why so wide”

Maybe because the laptop case can only be so thick, which would limit focal length?

I guess that could be improved by reducing sensor size but then it may affect performance in realistic lighting conditions.

Re: Higher quality audio makes people sound smarter

#404

Post by dr_zoidberg »

glacials wrote: post #368
AstralStorm wrote: post #258

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, given that most people still use Windows, VB-Audio software mixer and virtual soundcard plus Cantabile as effect host together work exceedingly well. And cost nothing or very little. (But do support the authors.) Hardware has ease of setup and excellent knobs going for it, but if you're going for cheap, you should spend money on a condenser microphone, some mounting hardware (e.g. gooseneck, spider mount, maybe…

Your setup is great for enthusiasts like you and me, but everyday folks don't want to deal with mounting hardware or audio interfaces or learning what a condenser mic is or spending more than $50.

For that case, a couple of years ago I bought a small Blue microphone (their cheapest model I think), and got amazing audio quality from it. My main requirement though was getting a USB mic, since my laptop at the time had the nasty habit of getting noise into the audio-in line.

Re: Higher quality audio makes people sound smarter

#406

Post by ghaff »

eertami wrote: post #398
ghaff wrote: post #327

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Interesting. I normally use the external speakers on my iMac. I have verified with a number of different people that they're not getting echo. Yet one sees other people utterly convinced that using external speakers is bad, bad, bad. That may explain it.

Try talking while they are also talking. You'll see the problem. It's easy to have conversations with friends on discord where 3-4 people are talking at once all with headphones. However this has never worked on a zoom or hangout with less techy family members or work colleagues using ext. speakers.

That may be part of it. On calls that I'm on people generally don't talk over each other.

Re: Higher quality audio makes people sound smarter

#407

Post by slantyyz »

justincormack wrote: post #375
slantyyz wrote: post #295

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm using my retired Samsung A5 Android phone's rear facing camera connected via USB to my PC using DroidCam (costs a few bucks). DroidCam also does wifi, but I find USB to be better. The quality is pretty good from the A5, but if I need even better, I use my current phone's rear camera outputting to HDMI to an El Gato CamLink using Filmic (which outputs clean HDMI on Android or IOS, but isn't cheap as DroidCam). Fil…

I tried using Filmic with iphone and hdmi capture but the latency was terrible. Is it ok with Android?

It's been a while since I used it, but IIRC, it seemed OK to me when I tested it, but you can always try lowering the resolution to reduce the latency.

Re: Higher quality audio makes people sound smarter

#408

Post by eropple »

Drew_ wrote: post #257
MattGaiser wrote: post #248

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It baffles me that some people don't seem to care about their audio quality on calls. 1. It is a bunch of extra work and expense for something I probably do not really want to be on. Easy audio communication is bound to induce more audio communication. 2. I have to maintain a bunch of infrastructure for it, manage configuration, and deal with all the wires. It is far from a free and easy improvement. 3. I rarely sp…

There are very good USB mics like the Blue Yeti for example. Plug and play with just one cable. You don't have to have a studio recording setup to get your voice to come through nicely.

The Blue Yeti is an okay mic, but is a little pricey for what you get and also buys you into some other stuff you may not want to spend the money on, like a bit of a heavier-weight arm, etc. to be close to one's mouth. It's also a little sensitive for spoken word and while it can sound great in a treated room it's not great for conferences or untrained users due to its habit of picking up a lot of ambient noise through untrained positioning or habits (drumming on a desk, that sort of thing).

Most folks I know recommend the Samson Q2U or the Audio Technica ATR2100 instead as easy mics to deal with for untrained users; shameless plug, but I wrote an article for Mux about this not long ago which explains in some depth why one mic may be preferable to another for untrained users: https://mux.com/blog/zoom-like-you-mean-it-1/

Re: Higher quality audio makes people sound smarter

#409

Post by ghaff »

bonoboTP wrote: post #387
ghaff wrote: post #291

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unless you have a green screen and proper lighting, my observation is that background replacement is often obvious and distracting. (Background blurring is somewhat better.) My observation is that, once people got over the novelty, many stopped using it.

Noticeable yes, but you get to display a nice full bookshelf behind you instead of your messy bedroom. You'll look smart.

Fortunately I have an office I was able to more or less stage manage. You're right that in a lot of circumstances virtual backgrounds will still be better than reality.

Re: Higher quality audio makes people sound smarter

#410

Post by thamer »

jakebasile wrote: post #196

I have no evidence to back this up, but I strongly believe that video quality would have similar effects. I am a hobbyist photographer and began using my gear to improve my video quality on calls 6-8 months ago and people have continually commented on it, from executives to regular schmucks like me. We're a visual species and having a better view of the person you are talking with will help form connections. It doesn…

You don't need a professional camera for this. There are a few apps like Camo[1] or NeuralCam Live[2] that let you use a smartphone as your webcam for a much better image quality than most webcams. Just get a phone clip with a flexible arm to mount it on your screen.

Note that since they create a custom webcam device, these programs don't always work with native videoconferencing apps (check their websites for a list of supported apps). A common workaround is to use the platform's browser-based call interface, where the virtual webcam usually shows up without issues.

[1] https://reincubate.com/camo/

[2] https://neural.cam/live/

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