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A good livestreaming setup is a well-tailored suit

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Re: A good livestreaming setup is a well-tailored suit

#121

Post by justincormack »

crazygringo wrote: post #101
zests wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There doesn't seem to be a great consensus on the best microphones to use on my usual sources (HN). This is surprising because the difference between laptop mic or bluetooth mic and a good microphone is enormous. I also don't mind spending a bit more $$$ because this is for my day job. But when buying a mic, I've read many types of good microphones (bluetooth streamer/podcaster looking mics vs XLR traditional looking…

I think your main choice is primarily just condenser vs dynamic -- for budget, that means something like a Blue Snowball vs an AT2005 (similar to the Shure you mentioned). And that's ultimately a question these days mainly of aesthetics -- how do you want your voice to sound? I personally prefer the condenser for being a bit more "full-range" (brighter, more sensitive = more realistic) but plenty prefer the dynamic p…

Choice also depends on how much you use it. I do a lot of calls so I gave up on the mic on a stand that needs to be moved in place and mounted a small condenser on a boom above my head so its not in the way of the monitor and is always in the right place.

Re: A good livestreaming setup is a well-tailored suit

#122

Post by 6510 »

bluefirebrand wrote: post #69
handrous wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It signals that they have money... and/or high conscientiousness—you can fake that with enough money, to e.g. pay for someone to entirely take care of having your clothes clean and ready on-time and waiting right where you need them, of course, but for anyone other than the "employ multiple full-time people as 'help'"-rich, fine clothes require more care and attention from the wearer than a hoodie and jeans. Wearing…

> Wearing fine clothes that fit well, and not looking uncomfortable in them, also signals that effort (not just money..) Having the time to put in that effort requires some amount of money. To afford to have someone take care of the kids for a bit, or to pay someone to work on your car on the weekend instead of fixing it yourself. It takes money to have the free time so you can spend the time clothes shopping instead…

Clothing, second hand, is pretty much worthless. It also offers a much larger selection compared to just than what is hip today (uhh all black? white cloths forbidden?) which allows you to create your own style for next to nothing. Just ask the article of clothing if its you and listen to what it says.

A guy once pointed around the room and described what 20 people were wearing, where they bought it, what it costs, how fashionable he considered it. I ask him what I was wearing. He said: I have no idea! Its so wrong that it works, its more refined than everything in the room. I cant imagine spending more than 10 euro on the set (shoes aside)

Re: A good livestreaming setup is a well-tailored suit

#124

Post by handrous »

6510 wrote: post #122
bluefirebrand wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Wearing fine clothes that fit well, and not looking uncomfortable in them, also signals that effort (not just money..) Having the time to put in that effort requires some amount of money. To afford to have someone take care of the kids for a bit, or to pay someone to work on your car on the weekend instead of fixing it yourself. It takes money to have the free time so you can spend the time clothes shopping instead…

Clothing, second hand, is pretty much worthless. It also offers a much larger selection compared to just than what is hip today (uhh all black? white cloths forbidden?) which allows you to create your own style for next to nothing. Just ask the article of clothing if its you and listen to what it says. A guy once pointed around the room and described what 20 people were wearing, where they bought it, what it costs, h…

> I cant imagine spending more than 10 euro on the set (shoes aside)

Indeed, for men, shoes are the hardest part to work around on a budget. Cheap looks cheap (and tends to fall apart really fast) and used is rarely actually cheap unless they're so beat up that, at best, you can manage smart-casual out of them. You can save money buying used, but "cheap" is practically unattainable.

The materials (leather, mostly) are just too expensive for actually-cheap men's shoes to be A Thing, at least for mainstream looks which basically all require leather shoes above a very-casual register. Even alternative fashions usually find a way for it to be hard to get away with cheap shoes, it seems (much "street" fashion, for example) usually subbing in expensive casual styles (pricey sneaker, or conspicuous-consumption work or military boot styles) for the oxford or loafer or whatever.

Re: A good livestreaming setup is a well-tailored suit

#125

Post by tinus_hn »

closeparen wrote: post #91
rjknight wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The point of the article is not "how to do it", but rather to observe that this kind of thing, previously a (relatively) niche concern, has become important to a general audience. The article even suggests that there's a business opportunity for fashion businesses to create tailored videoconferencing spaces, which is predicated on the notion that most people lack the time or inclination to set up their own bespoke se…

A lot of serious, famous people live in grand, nice houses in older neighborhoods with hopelessly oversubscribed Comcast. The CEO of my Fortune 500 company presented at a remote all-hands at about 0.25 frames/second. Now at that level, maybe you can spend the $10 million it would take to pull fiber to your house. But we’re not taking about buying some prosumer electronics here, we’re talking years of permitting and d…

You can get enough bandwidth to do a good stream wirelessly.

Re: A good livestreaming setup is a well-tailored suit

#126

Post by gumby »

EForEndeavour wrote: post #105
gumby wrote: post #48

I don’t know about fancy mikes but just using a phone as the webcam made a profound difference for me. And my AirPods seem to work well as microphones for me.

https://twitter.com/IanColdwater/status/1405575186691330054 "I don't know who needs to hear this, but your colleagues want to hear from you, and your AirPods sound like shit"

I have wondered about this but we record a lot of our meetings and I have heard myself and I sound pretty clear. Admittedly this is me judging myself, but I do listen critically to see. Also I was interviewed for a podcast recently and I asked a few friends if I was clear and they all said yes, even when I said why I asked.

FWIW.

Re: A good livestreaming setup is a well-tailored suit

#127

Post by tinus_hn »

rozab wrote: post #8
jumpkick wrote: post #4

What point is the author trying to make in comparing the two iPhones? There was a setup but no payoff.

As they say, it's the skuomorphism. The original iPhone aimed to replace various existing things - instead of TV, we've got YouTube! Instead of a notepad, we have the notes app! No need to carry around paper maps with charming little pins stuck in anymore! This is equivalent to dressing up nicely as one would for an in-person meeting and plonking oneself down in front of a laptop webcam, according to the author. In t…

It also demonstrated the almost limitless possibilities of the UI. Smooth scrolling textured windows! Tap a button and they curl over to reveal a new pane! And it comes with a UI that was designed, not thrown together by a coder!

Re: A good livestreaming setup is a well-tailored suit

#128

Post by walshemj »

davidandgoliath wrote: post #111
periheli0n wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I find it shocking that bad uplink in private homes is still a problem in the US. In times where a good proportion of public life happens on the web, most of shopping is done online, and media are dominated by streaming, why do people not run rampant against the lack of a decent wired uplink?

It isn't still a problem. Misguided wifi setups certainly are though.

You should avoid connecting to video conferencing via wifi if at all possible

Re: A good livestreaming setup is a well-tailored suit

#129

Post by silicon2401 »

PragmaticPulp wrote: post #42
silicon2401 wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would rather give them a few minutes than spend the entire meeting straining to understand people over their echos, terrible mic quality, etc.

That’s the false dichotomy that lures people into these over-complicated setups. You don’t need a professional podcasting microphone to be understood. Plenty of us do just fine without. I have pro audio gear at my disposal, but I’ll still reach for the MacBook Pro built-in Mic when it’s convenient. It just works and I don’t have to worry about placement, reflections, setting gain and clipping, keeping noise sources a…

I agree that it's not black and white. We don't need a full audio studio for a video call. However I will tell you if you're using a macbook mic, I'd find it really painful to listen to you talk. It's not as good as you think. I've only encountered one or two people at work who have good-sounding audio, and the difference is really night and day.
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