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Higher quality audio makes people sound smarter

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Re: Higher quality audio makes people sound smarter

#411

Post by ghaff »

tokamak-teapot wrote: post #399
rectang wrote: post #335

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As discussed elsethread, asking how you sound as you switch between headphones and speakers doesn't tell you anything . People who don't wear headphones make others sound bad (when the echo cancellation software fails). I experience this problem all the time: Zoom, Whereby, Google Meet, Slack etc. If people are disciplined about muting their mic when they aren't speaking, that helps. But as soon as you have one parti…

I’m just saying that I’m in meetings probably 4-5 hours a day with usually between 3 and 15 people and the proportion of people wearing headphones is probably 20%. We don’t seem to have echo issues, though with previous conferencing software this was sometimes an issue. I used to use headphones but they don’t seem necessary any more. Maybe Teams is just good at this?

Things have almost certainly improved at least on some platforms. I do wear wireless headphones (but use a wired mic) for critical recording situations. But, yeah, tons of the people I have on my often hours of calls a day are not wearing headphones/earbuds and I just don't hear the problems that the "never use speakers" folks raise.

And I've never used Teams. Combination of Bluejeans, Google Meet, and Zoom mostly.

If I were this rogue speaker person ruining things for everyone else wearing headsets, I'd maybe accept that I was a general problem. But that's just not what I see.

Re: Higher quality audio makes people sound smarter

#412

Post by vlmutolo »

nicbou wrote: post #138
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 was an excellent writeup. There's only one thing I would add: put the camera closer to where people's faces are. It feels like you're looking directly at them, and it makes a big difference. I made a habit of looking directly into the camera now.

Or, even better, position the camera far away and zoom in if the camera has an optical zoom. This gets rid of a ton of distortion in your face.

Re: Higher quality audio makes people sound smarter

#413

Post by vlmutolo »

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…

I'm sure this will get lost because I caught this thread late, but there's one more thing you can do with a "real" DSLR-type camera for better image quality: zoom in.

Ideally, the camera is as far from you as possible, and zoomed in on your face. "Zooming in" is really just increasing the focal length, and zooming out is decreasing the focal length, producing an effect best known as "fish eye".

This is one of the first things people will tell you about photographing a human being for a portrait (which is essentially the same problem as a video conference). Get rid of distortion on the face. Use a focal length of at least 50mm (zoomed all the way in on the lenses mentioned in your article). Otherwise, the nose gets blown up and everyone looks worse.

Re: Higher quality audio makes people sound smarter

#414

Post by 13415 »

airstrike wrote: post #297
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…

Thank you. Do you also happen to have recommendations for those of us happy to spend a little more on a "podcasting" or any similar higher quality microphone?

This depends a lot on your budget, voice and whether your room is treated or not. My room is not treated. I use a Røde M3 condenser mic just outside the camera range for Zoom calls, it's fine but sensitive to outside noise. A mic with hypercardoid pattern or a lavalier would probably be better for that purpose. In any case, the audio quality is very good. For recording audiobooks, I use a dynamic Røde Procaster.[1] It's outstanding and was the right choice for my voice. It has very good background noise rejection. I'd recommend it.

Generally speaking, there are many good condenser microphones but I'd recommend a dynamic microphone if you can get close to the mic, your room is not treated, or there is outside noise.

[1] I'm in no way affiliated with Røde, just happened to like their mics. There are many other good choices in the same price ranges.

Re: Higher quality audio makes people sound smarter

#415

Post by walshemj »

MattGaiser wrote: post #248
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…

> 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…

And come appraisal time you get marked down, your peers will have possibly negative opinion of you.

Re: Higher quality audio makes people sound smarter

#416

Post by obsequiosity »

technofiend wrote: post #324
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 booming, echoy audio you get in most zoom calls from people sitting 4 feet from their microphone is a little aggravating. If you'd like to help your colleagues hear you better and want something subtler than a large microphone on a big boom arm then go for a lavalier microphone. See https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/ME4--sennheiser-me-4... for one example, but even a $10 microphone from Microcenter, Amazon…

What would you recommend for someone who specifically would want a large mic on an arm? Would that pick up keyboard noise?

Re: Higher quality audio makes people sound smarter

#417

Post by kingsuper20 »

analog31 wrote: post #280

An often overlooked issue is background noise. As a musician, I'm familiar with microphones, recording, etc. I always give people the following advice: If you can hear it, the microphone can hear it. This includes HVAC noise that is ridiculously hard to get rid of in most office and home locations. If at home, you can always temporarily turn off the HVAC while you record yourself. In fact, I've recorded at a commerci…

"If you can hear it, the microphone can hear it."

As an aside, I can't tell you how many times I've played in venues with mics scattered around and the sound guy will leave them on between sets.

Every...single...thing you say if you wander around the stage (or slightly off-) will get booted out to the audience. Hilarity ensues.

Re: Higher quality audio makes people sound smarter

#418

Post by walshemj »

andrewzah wrote: post #225
PascLeRasc wrote: post #127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You’re always gonna connect XLR over USB anyway, so not really. It’s just that XLR gives you a lot more flexibility to change microphones, use your interface to control gain or add padding, or if you’re a musician record instruments. But a USB AT2020 or similar is gonna be excellent for calls no matter what.

This is not true. USB microphones do not have as high quality as XLR microphones connected to a usb interface. In general, USB mics have a lower signal to noise ratio (SNR) and a higher noise floor. Does this matter for gaming or calls? Not really, as it will definitely sound better than crappy laptop or headphone mics. But there is a marked difference. The AT2020 usb mic doesn't even go up to 20khz. Not to mention t…

Err no an xlr mic into a sound card is going to be better.

Re: Higher quality audio makes people sound smarter

#419

Post by bscphil »

vlmutolo wrote: post #413
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…

I'm sure this will get lost because I caught this thread late, but there's one more thing you can do with a "real" DSLR-type camera for better image quality: zoom in. Ideally, the camera is as far from you as possible, and zoomed in on your face. "Zooming in" is really just increasing the focal length, and zooming out is decreasing the focal length, producing an effect best known as "fish eye". This is one of the fir…

Yep, this is correct. Others in the thread have recommended getting the camera as close as possible to compensate for the wide angle lenses of webcams, but this is suboptimal. It creates the unmistakable visual impression of being right in someone's personal space while you talk to them. You can create the same effect where someone is easy to see just by using a camera with a narrower field of view and a longer focal length, without the distorting effect caused by being too close.

Re: Higher quality audio makes people sound smarter

#420

Post by walshemj »

rightbyte wrote: post #360
formerly_proven wrote: post #269

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Okay, you are suggesting something (level meters, "you are clipping the shit out of your input"-indicators) that would actively improve things. Let me suggest instead that they shall start by not actively harming things. Microsoft Teams is an excellent study subject for "how on earth do you make something this bad while owning all of Skype's IP?".

Ye. How about a simple bar indicator to see if your mic works when you speak.

And have the ability to turn of AGC !!!!!!!
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