5 ms·

They also played back a part of your own voice into your own earpiece, which helps make it sound like you’re in the same place. Zoom does not (at least AFAIK),

by ken 6y ago

They also played back a part of your own voice into your own earpiece, which helps make it sound like you’re in the same place. Zoom does not (at least AFAIK), so I have no way to judge if I’m speaking at an appropriate volume.

justincormack 6y ago
It doesn’t due to potential echo but you can set this up yourself with most headsets or with a mic and mixer; you need to with headphones that shut out your voice or you will shout to compensate.
- Cthulhu_ 6y ago
  I tend to put my headphones on only halfway, also to catch anything going on in the background (noise cancelling headphones + my back is to the bedroom door).
  - closeparen 6y ago
    It's pretty awkward to wear only one ear of my Bose headphones, but with earbuds it works great. Apple's are the least bad solution I've ever found for voice calls.
  - munificent 6y ago
    I have open back headphones that I use at home (can't use at the office because too much sound bleed), and they are great for video calls because of this since they let in the sound of my own voice.
- ken 6y ago
  True, but there are other ways it could provide this information to me. It could display a volume level meter on the screen, for example.
closeparen 6y ago
The best communication system I've ever used was the Clear-Com party line intercom in my high school's auditorium. The thing was older than me by at least 10 years. Hand assembled circuit boards in steel chassis. But: - The headsets were comfortable and practical. I have not seen anything sold for office or even gaming use begin to approach the ergonomics. Plantronic, Logitech, none of it. - Every headset had foldback, so even the big sound-isolating cans felt natural to speak into. I've spent several hours messing with virtual sound cards trying to make this work with Zoom and never managed it. - The signal was so clear, and the mics were so good, that as long as you enunciated you could speak just a hair above a whisper and be reliably understood. I remember analog PSTN voice, and this was 10x better. Might have to do with less aggressive EQ. - Full duplex, no gating. Absolutely no problem with multiple people speaking at the same time. At very busy parts of the show we might intentionally have two simultaneous interactions on the same channel. It was a bit of work to unpack in your brain, but no harder than it would have been in person. - Obviously no noticeable latency (basic fitness for purpose - these things are for calling cues). - There was a little bit of analog hum + background noise from each station, so when someone opened their mic you would notice, but it wasn't disruptive. When the channel was busy, this sort of substituted for body language and you'd be invited to speak at the first opportunity. - Physical switch to open and close the mic. I know Zoom has spacebar PTT, but one button press latch on/off is also important. It's absolutely astounding to me just how much better these systems are than their nearest alternatives 30+ years later. If I ever control a tech office, particularly with an operations component, I'll seriously consider installing one.
- wjdp 6y ago
  Having used these systems in theatres/live events while I was at Uni I fully agree. These systems are amazing. The reason is very similar to landlines. A dedicated board in each station that shares three copper lines with every other station. In this scenario you cannot beat analogue. The ease of setup is also fantastic. All you need is some XLR cables. At some point on the line you need a power supply, which usually acts as a signal splitter so you can have lines going in different directions. Then just plug everything together.
- eropple 6y ago
rcfox 6y ago
That's called sidetone. You really don't want your computer's sound system to generate that for you because the latency is even more distracting than not having it. It's much better to have it done in hardware, either by having the sound hardware direct mic input directly to the headset or with a headset that has it built in.
- bluGill 6y ago
  A good recoding system can do it in software and be acceptable. You can even do some filters on the output (recommend because the right over feedback to singers improves them) and get good results. You are allowed just over 5ms to do all of the above, which is possible but not easy.
  - rcfox 6y ago
    Possible, sure. But I'd expect most systems running Zoom would have at least 10-20ms of buffering between audio capture to audio output.
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]

by ken 6y ago

justincormack 6y ago

It doesn’t due to potential echo but you can set this up yourself with most headsets or with a mic and mixer; you need to with headphones that shut out your voice or you will shout to compensate.

Cthulhu_ 6y ago
I tend to put my headphones on only halfway, also to catch anything going on in the background (noise cancelling headphones + my back is to the bedroom door).
- closeparen 6y ago
  It's pretty awkward to wear only one ear of my Bose headphones, but with earbuds it works great. Apple's are the least bad solution I've ever found for voice calls.
- munificent 6y ago
  I have open back headphones that I use at home (can't use at the office because too much sound bleed), and they are great for video calls because of this since they let in the sound of my own voice.
ken 6y ago
True, but there are other ways it could provide this information to me. It could display a volume level meter on the screen, for example.

closeparen 6y ago

The best communication system I've ever used was the Clear-Com party line intercom in my high school's auditorium. The thing was older than me by at least 10 years. Hand assembled circuit boards in steel chassis. But: - The headsets were comfortable and practical. I have not seen anything sold for office or even gaming use begin to approach the ergonomics. Plantronic, Logitech, none of it. - Every headset had foldback, so even the big sound-isolating cans felt natural to speak into. I've spent several hours messing with virtual sound cards trying to make this work with Zoom and never managed it. - The signal was so clear, and the mics were so good, that as long as you enunciated you could speak just a hair above a whisper and be reliably understood. I remember analog PSTN voice, and this was 10x better. Might have to do with less aggressive EQ. - Full duplex, no gating. Absolutely no problem with multiple people speaking at the same time. At very busy parts of the show we might intentionally have two simultaneous interactions on the same channel. It was a bit of work to unpack in your brain, but no harder than it would have been in person. - Obviously no noticeable latency (basic fitness for purpose - these things are for calling cues). - There was a little bit of analog hum + background noise from each station, so when someone opened their mic you would notice, but it wasn't disruptive. When the channel was busy, this sort of substituted for body language and you'd be invited to speak at the first opportunity. - Physical switch to open and close the mic. I know Zoom has spacebar PTT, but one button press latch on/off is also important. It's absolutely astounding to me just how much better these systems are than their nearest alternatives 30+ years later. If I ever control a tech office, particularly with an operations component, I'll seriously consider installing one.

wjdp 6y ago
Having used these systems in theatres/live events while I was at Uni I fully agree. These systems are amazing. The reason is very similar to landlines. A dedicated board in each station that shares three copper lines with every other station. In this scenario you cannot beat analogue. The ease of setup is also fantastic. All you need is some XLR cables. At some point on the line you need a power supply, which usually acts as a signal splitter so you can have lines going in different directions. Then just plug everything together.
eropple 6y ago

rcfox 6y ago

That's called sidetone. You really don't want your computer's sound system to generate that for you because the latency is even more distracting than not having it. It's much better to have it done in hardware, either by having the sound hardware direct mic input directly to the headset or with a headset that has it built in.

bluGill 6y ago
A good recoding system can do it in software and be acceptable. You can even do some filters on the output (recommend because the right over feedback to singers improves them) and get good results. You are allowed just over 5ms to do all of the above, which is possible but not easy.
- rcfox 6y ago
  Possible, sure. But I'd expect most systems running Zoom would have at least 10-20ms of buffering between audio capture to audio output.

deleted 6y ago

[deleted]