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Higher quality audio makes people sound smarter

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Re: Higher quality audio makes people sound smarter

#121

Post by monkey_monkey »

josephg wrote: post #103
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

Do you have any recommendations for cameras? I've been using a macbook camera all year because all the cheapo logitech webcams on the market are clunky and look awful . What do you recommend?

If you have an iPhone, you could use that in conjunction with something like Reincubate's Camo. There was an interesting discussion about it on HN recently [1]

[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25869460

Re: Higher quality audio makes people sound smarter

#122

Post by xenocratus »

simplyinfinity wrote: post #101
xenocratus wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> my ears will continue to bleed from the awful audio people broadcast into this world. I wonder, most people must notice how terrible everyone in e.g. video conferences sounds; If it is physically hurting your ears or being difficult to follow then it's understandable, but otherwise (as you mention with the masks) this sounds very superficial. Do you also complain about people wearing the wrong kind of clothes (and…

Acoustics & audio quality is important when trying to pay attention. Crappy acoustics can fatigue you and give you headache. Crappy audio can distract you, make you mishear things and overall is tiring to listen to. I've skipped online videos and lectures due to crap audio. I've gotten headaches and sore throat after sitting & talking in echo-y rooms for 30 mins.

Fair, though I meant complaining about understandable (but low-quality) audio or video.

Re: Higher quality audio makes people sound smarter

#123

Post by hn8788 »

diarrhea wrote: post #2

People vastly undervalue good audio quality. It also often makes the difference (given equal visuals) between great amateur and pro in e.g. the YouTube scene. I didn't have data to back this up before, but I bought a good microphone specifically for this purpose. People will simply like the audio, and by extension what I am saying and also me as a person, better. Meanwhile, my ears will continue to bleed from the awf…

I feel the same way about audio quality. There are enough people making informative videos on similar topics that bad audio is a deal breaker, so I'll look around until I find one that doesn't sound like it was recorded on a 5 dollar walmart microphone.

Re: Higher quality audio makes people sound smarter

#124

Post by ghaff »

xenocratus wrote: post #91
diarrhea wrote: post #2

People vastly undervalue good audio quality. It also often makes the difference (given equal visuals) between great amateur and pro in e.g. the YouTube scene. I didn't have data to back this up before, but I bought a good microphone specifically for this purpose. People will simply like the audio, and by extension what I am saying and also me as a person, better. Meanwhile, my ears will continue to bleed from the awf…

> my ears will continue to bleed from the awful audio people broadcast into this world. I wonder, most people must notice how terrible everyone in e.g. video conferences sounds; If it is physically hurting your ears or being difficult to follow then it's understandable, but otherwise (as you mention with the masks) this sounds very superficial. Do you also complain about people wearing the wrong kind of clothes (and…

Maybe it's superficial but if you make yourself harder to understand and/or unpleasant to look at on video, I'm far more likely to tune you out, especially on a multi-party conference call that I'm probably only half paying attention to anyway.

So present yourself however you want. And I'll pay attention however much I want.

Re: Higher quality audio makes people sound smarter

#125

Post by qwertox »

In the Linux Unplugged podcast (Episode 401 "Own Your Mailbox") they said that PipeWire now allows you to use your smartphone as a Bluetooth microphone (A2DP, first 30 seconds of the episode).

https://linuxunplugged.com/401

https://gitlab.freedesktop.org/pipewire/pipewire/-/releases/... ("Make it possible to use an A2DP source as an input device. You can then use your phone as an A2DP microphone, for example.")

Re: Higher quality audio makes people sound smarter

#126

Post by ChrisMarshallNY »

ChrisMarshallNY wrote: post #39

I just use a pair of Bose QuietComfort III headphones. The audio from the built-in mic is very good. Zero background noise. I suspect a really good condenser mic, with a filter, would be better, but these headphones work great. I have noticed that people that use earbuds (in particular, Apple AirPods Pro), seem to also supply a lot of background noise. That does not happen with my headset.

I appreciate the feedback.

So far, it hasn't been an issue, but I don't do podcasts; just the occasional class. Most of the folks that I know, who do podcasts, use wired mics with filters.

Re: Higher quality audio makes people sound smarter

#127

Post by PascLeRasc »

pc86 wrote: post #83
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…

Great article! Is there any inherent audio quality difference between USB and XLR in your experience?

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.

Re: Higher quality audio makes people sound smarter

#128

Post by ChrisMarshallNY »

mciancia wrote: post #60
cbreuel wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you're using them with Bluetooth, you're not only sounding worse than you could but also the audio that you get is much worse, because Bluetooth audio in bidirectional more is very low quality. I also use a QC3, but I bought a good desk USB mic and use the headphones just for output. I can hear people much better and vice-versa, and I'm even less tired throughout the day.

Tbh it's kind of strange that it's 2021 and we still can't have good quality bidirectional audio over bluetooth. WHY?

Mostly because of the need to keep BT a low-energy medium.

Bluetooth was designed for embedded devices that need to conserve power.

That said, I know that there's active work going on, to improve this exact thing.

Might be a while before we see video over BT, though.

Re: Higher quality audio makes people sound smarter

#129

Post by benkuhn »

OGWhales wrote: post #109
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…

Oh hey, I use that mic from your first link. Works quite well for the price. For anyone wondering, I do have V-MODA headphone, so I knew it would fit but it does fit in a couple other headphones as well.. it just won't fit in everything, so be aware of that.

Yeah, in particular you need headphones whose 3.5mm cable is detachable. Thanks for flagging, I should have included a warning!

For other headphones you can use the various flavors of Antlion ModMic, but it’s more expensive and less convenient because you have two cables.

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