5 ms·

As usual, a lot of people here discuss and suggest some microphone models to improve their sound quality, but I think this is not the biggest factor. Specific m

As usual, a lot of people here discuss and suggest some microphone models to improve their sound quality, but I think this is not the biggest factor. Specific models are mostly irrelevant as long as the recording conditions and personal preferences are not known. Some people just hate keeping the mic just in front of their faces, but it's often the only reasonable way to achieve tolerable signal-to-noise ratio (in noisy or/and reverberant environments). You need to decide where are you going to use the mic, how are you going to place yourself and the mic in the room, how free in your movements do you need to be while recording, and then choose the type of the mic accordingly. After that, the budget is often the deciding factor so you can seriously narrow down the options. Anyway, I also highly advice using separate vocal/podcasting microphone (the kind you buy at music stores) and the headphones of you choice over headsets or, god forbid, internal laptop mics. Don't know how many times you can link you own article, but it's relevant to the topic and I think it covers most of the information one needs to understand the basic processes and techniques: https://indiscipline.github.io/post/voice-sound-reference/ https://indiscipline.github.io/post/voice-sound-reference/

rectang 6y ago
And then there's always some jackass on the call who refuses to use headphones, causing an echo due to the feedback loop between their speakers and their microphone, which makes everybody else sound terrible.
- ghaff 6y ago
  It really depends on the setup. I've tested by asking people with both computer speakers and wearing headphones and been told they didn't hear any difference.
  - rectang 6y ago
    It doesn't affect your own voice! So asking, "do I sound different now" doesn't tell you anything! Refusing to wear headphones only spoils it for everybody else.
    - ghaff 6y ago
      I am saying that I have tried this out by calling people and trying different things and they have told me that they can't tell the difference. This has included professional audio technicians recording a Zoom interview. I don't know why this sometimes seems to be a big deal and sometimes isn't, but that does seem to be the case.
      - rectang 6y ago
        Whenever you have a speaker and a microphone in the same room, there is always bleed from the speaker into the microphone. However, when those speakers are tiny little things pointed directly into your ear canals, the amount of bleed that makes it into the microphone is so small as to be completely negligible. For regular in-room speakers, the amount of bleed depends on the relative placement of the speaker and microphone, the directionality of both, the volume of sound from the speaker and the sensitivity of the microphone. For most people on videoconferencing calls, the amount of bleed is going to be quite substantial. The reason it's sometimes a big deal and sometimes not is because of echo cancellation software. But echo cancellation is a hard problem when you don't know the precise physical characteristics of the setup: the relative placement of the speakers and mic, the frequency response curves, and the amount of round trip latency. You have to attempt to detect what you think is an echo rather than a direct sound source, and then try to cancel it. That often fails. But because it sometimes works, people who hate headphones take that as license to never wear headphones. And since it doesn't affect them, they often don't realize how much they are wrecking the experience for everyone else.
        adrianmonk 6y ago
        > For regular in-room speakers, the amount of bleed depends on the relative placement of the speaker and microphone, the directionality of both, the volume of sound from the speaker and the sensitivity of the microphone. And on how much reverberation there is in the room. If there's a tile floor, a brick wall, and no furniture with upholstery, sound is going to find some path from the speakers to the microphone no matter the placement and directionality. If you have carpet or a rug, maybe a couch or bed, etc., then some of the sound will get absorbed before it can get from speakers to microphone.
- tokamak-teapot 6y ago
  Lots of us at work don’t wear headphones on calls. I used to think this might be a problem and occasionally asked how the sound is from my end. The response has always been that it’s great. Others sound great too. No echo. We have a mix of the enterprise type Dell laptops and MacBooks. Both seem fine. Software is usually Teams.
  - rectang 6y ago
    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 participant listening in without headphones and an unmuted mic, if the echo cancellation doesn't work then whoever else is speaking will sound bad.
    - tokamak-teapot 6y ago
      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?
      - ghaff 6y ago
        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.
geoduck14 6y ago
You are my kind of nerd
kevincox 6y ago
There are a couple main issues that people will have that demand different levels of solution: - Multiple-speakers (like a call): The key here is to wear headphones. Otherwise you are subject to whatever noise-cancellation the platform offers, and any noise that other participants make will destroy your audio quality temporarily as it plays though your speaker and into your mic. - Background noise or echo: In this case you want a directional mic. You want something that gets close to your face and cuts out the each or background noise. If you don't have any of these problems (For example you are giving monologues in a quiet non-echoey room) than any decent mic will do the job. Many higher-end laptops even have sufficient mics on them (for example Macs will pick up everything in your house, but they will pick it up at fairly good quality)
u678u 6y ago
Count me in as someone that wanted not to use headset but couldn't face talking into a mic. I looked at shotgun mics but it got too expensive quickly and seemed a risk as it wasn't common. Anyone tried?
- ZoomZoomZoom 6y ago
  You probably don't want a shotgun mic, as a regular condenser set at a distance of 30-70cm will work just fine in most situations. When talking about condenser microphones for voice recording most people think about large-diaphragm condenser type, but actually it's absolutely possible to get great results with a small-diaphragm condenser with a tighter polar pattern ("pencil"). You can always play with the angles to get the mic closer to you. Usually, it means miking from slightly below and shooting from a higher point. It all depends on your particular situation so if you have further questions contact me or drop by #mixing:matrix.org
  - u678u 6y ago
    Thanks. Most of the small condensers seemed to be designed for instruments which is why I thought shotgun would be better. I really could live without a 12 inch long mic so I'll take a look.

rectang 6y ago

And then there's always some jackass on the call who refuses to use headphones, causing an echo due to the feedback loop between their speakers and their microphone, which makes everybody else sound terrible.

ghaff 6y ago
It really depends on the setup. I've tested by asking people with both computer speakers and wearing headphones and been told they didn't hear any difference.
- rectang 6y ago
  It doesn't affect your own voice! So asking, "do I sound different now" doesn't tell you anything! Refusing to wear headphones only spoils it for everybody else.
  - ghaff 6y ago
    I am saying that I have tried this out by calling people and trying different things and they have told me that they can't tell the difference. This has included professional audio technicians recording a Zoom interview. I don't know why this sometimes seems to be a big deal and sometimes isn't, but that does seem to be the case.
    - rectang 6y ago
      Whenever you have a speaker and a microphone in the same room, there is always bleed from the speaker into the microphone. However, when those speakers are tiny little things pointed directly into your ear canals, the amount of bleed that makes it into the microphone is so small as to be completely negligible. For regular in-room speakers, the amount of bleed depends on the relative placement of the speaker and microphone, the directionality of both, the volume of sound from the speaker and the sensitivity of the microphone. For most people on videoconferencing calls, the amount of bleed is going to be quite substantial. The reason it's sometimes a big deal and sometimes not is because of echo cancellation software. But echo cancellation is a hard problem when you don't know the precise physical characteristics of the setup: the relative placement of the speakers and mic, the frequency response curves, and the amount of round trip latency. You have to attempt to detect what you think is an echo rather than a direct sound source, and then try to cancel it. That often fails. But because it sometimes works, people who hate headphones take that as license to never wear headphones. And since it doesn't affect them, they often don't realize how much they are wrecking the experience for everyone else.
      - adrianmonk 6y ago
        > For regular in-room speakers, the amount of bleed depends on the relative placement of the speaker and microphone, the directionality of both, the volume of sound from the speaker and the sensitivity of the microphone. And on how much reverberation there is in the room. If there's a tile floor, a brick wall, and no furniture with upholstery, sound is going to find some path from the speakers to the microphone no matter the placement and directionality. If you have carpet or a rug, maybe a couch or bed, etc., then some of the sound will get absorbed before it can get from speakers to microphone.
tokamak-teapot 6y ago
Lots of us at work don’t wear headphones on calls. I used to think this might be a problem and occasionally asked how the sound is from my end. The response has always been that it’s great. Others sound great too. No echo. We have a mix of the enterprise type Dell laptops and MacBooks. Both seem fine. Software is usually Teams.
- rectang 6y ago
  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 participant listening in without headphones and an unmuted mic, if the echo cancellation doesn't work then whoever else is speaking will sound bad.
  - tokamak-teapot 6y ago
    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?
    - ghaff 6y ago
      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.

geoduck14 6y ago

You are my kind of nerd

kevincox 6y ago

There are a couple main issues that people will have that demand different levels of solution: - Multiple-speakers (like a call): The key here is to wear headphones. Otherwise you are subject to whatever noise-cancellation the platform offers, and any noise that other participants make will destroy your audio quality temporarily as it plays though your speaker and into your mic. - Background noise or echo: In this case you want a directional mic. You want something that gets close to your face and cuts out the each or background noise. If you don't have any of these problems (For example you are giving monologues in a quiet non-echoey room) than any decent mic will do the job. Many higher-end laptops even have sufficient mics on them (for example Macs will pick up everything in your house, but they will pick it up at fairly good quality)

u678u 6y ago

Count me in as someone that wanted not to use headset but couldn't face talking into a mic. I looked at shotgun mics but it got too expensive quickly and seemed a risk as it wasn't common. Anyone tried?

ZoomZoomZoom 6y ago
You probably don't want a shotgun mic, as a regular condenser set at a distance of 30-70cm will work just fine in most situations. When talking about condenser microphones for voice recording most people think about large-diaphragm condenser type, but actually it's absolutely possible to get great results with a small-diaphragm condenser with a tighter polar pattern ("pencil"). You can always play with the angles to get the mic closer to you. Usually, it means miking from slightly below and shooting from a higher point. It all depends on your particular situation so if you have further questions contact me or drop by #mixing:matrix.org
- u678u 6y ago
  Thanks. Most of the small condensers seemed to be designed for instruments which is why I thought shotgun would be better. I really could live without a 12 inch long mic so I'll take a look.