Perfecting the Audio for a Seamless Video Call Experience (Episode 139)

Having professional audio quality during video calls ensures you're clearly communicating without interruptions for a more productive and enjoyable experience. It reduces the misunderstandings and the need for repetition, helping you maintain a professional image that's crucial for the success and effectiveness of video calls.

[00:00:21] I'm your host, Chris Schwager. Thank you so much for joining me on this beautiful, rainy, rainy day here in Sydney. Uh, look, people complicate audio and including myself, from time to time. I've been running my video calls with a microphone that sits over the top of my head, which is nice and simple. But to generate this, uh, podcast in the last couple of weeks I've been engineering a new system, which is far superior to the old, and, uh, is really great at just getting this connected, synced to your video so that it can not only record a fantastic podcast, but also have crystal clear audio synced to your video so that you can create those great YouTube videos that you are wanting to create, or social media content.

[00:01:02] So every time, you've gotta keep this as an automatic easy process and making sure that the levels of my voice are automatically adjusted so we don't have to play with any dials or become an audio expert.

[00:01:17] This is a process, right? And if you simplify the endless variables, we don't want batteries, we don't want scratchy noises from lapel microphones, we don't want anything that's gonna slow us down because I'm not gonna bump the microphone. I'm not going to worry about Bluetooth. So, We're all good. No worries.

[00:01:36] My first introduction to getting perfect audio was from a professional sound operator like 30 years ago or whatever. That makes me sound very old. Let's say 20 years ago, who told me the key to getting good quality audios just to get the microphone as close to the source, to your mouth as possible. As close to the source as possible. Man, that has been the rule. That has been the most basic thing that I learned and still so effective. And so many people still get it wrong. I think most people probably understand the concept but can't quite achieve, um, that streamline approach to getting good audio.

[00:02:19] Look what kind of audio is best for video meetings? Let's explore that. Well, good quality audio refers to the overall clarity and fidelity. Ooh, that's a big word, isn't it? Fidelity. It sounds like something outta the 1980s, high fidelity, um, of sound being transmitted or recorded. Now in the context of video calls, good audio quality refers to clear, consistent sound that is easily, uh, understood and free of background noise or echo. Pretty basic, but this produces the effective communication that helps maintain your professional image because you no longer have audio getting in the way and distracting the meeting.

[00:02:58] And what audio tools deliver the best results you might be asking. Note , you gotta hardwire this bad boy. I mean, the amount of calls that I've heard and the stories I've heard of people over the years resorting to Bluetooth earpieces and whatnot, just to have trucks going by and interfere with their signal.

[00:03:20] I mean, I didn't think it was a thing, but I can understand that it could absolutely be, uh, a thing and that level of interference from mobile devices and phone towers and all that sort of stuff, I mean, it is just an extra element you do not want to interfere with. Right? So hardwire it. Use a cable and that's everything that the DIY Video Studio is all about, right? Keep everything all connected and ready to go when you need it.

[00:03:46] Okay, so let's look at what these tools are for the best results. Okay? First, get a headset. A headset hardwired with a cable with, noise canceling microphone. Look, it's a good idea. It's not imperative because, um, the software usually for, say, uh, zoom recordings and whatnot, has canceling, uh, and noise reduction already included in there.

[00:04:09] But a microphone is a good choice for video calls because it allows you to speak clearly into the microphone, blocks out the background noise. Again, that can be done in the headset or in the software. To external microphones, if you prefer to use a separate micro. Consider a unidirectional or omnidirectional microphone. Now look, if I'm not gonna explain what those are, go ahead and look 'em up, but they don't really mean a hell of a lot to me. Uh, look, both of these are slightly different as the way that they are, um, used and how they are recorded. So just in simplifying this. It's designed to pick up the sound from a specific direction or all directions respectfully, so they sort of do slightly different things.

[00:04:55] Now, a speakerphone, this came up to me in scripting and I was like, what a speakerphone. But look, a speakerphone is actually a device that allows multiple people to participate in a, in a call, without the need for individual headsets, right? So it actually has some relevance. Again, hardwire, I think is the way to go. Look for a speakerphone with echo cancellation technology to minimize any feedback or echo and pull it out, um, close to you, close to all the participants, again, close to the source as possible. Avoid any Bluetooth to connect this thing, um, and make it super easy for the recipient to hear that, uh, recording clearly. Okay, so getting close to that speakerphone as possible.

[00:05:36] Number three, high quality webcam with a built-in microphone is, can be a great solution as long as, again, your mouth is as close to that as possible. Some high-end webcams come with a built-in microphone that can provide good sound quality. However, the quality of the built-in microphone will not be as good as a dedicated microphone, right, for obvious reasons. Also, you can only get so close to that microphone because it's also a camera, and the camera might be sitting on their laptop or on your desktop computer or somewhere where, uh, you might not be, proximity-wise, as close as I am right now to this microphone, which is literally centimeters away.

[00:06:15] Ultimately, the best audio equipment for you will depend on the features you need, the price, obviously, and the specific requirements of your video call that you are trying to improve. Here's a couple of tips to get this right.

[00:06:28] Test the sound before you start. Always test the sound, make sure the test to the sound. Tested. It's, it's, you're ensuring that it is working properly. That way if you do go on, say a video call for instance, you're making sure that that's seamless, um, and works straight away. Speaking to the microphone. Listen out for any feedback or distortion. Make any necessary adjustments to the audio settings. Look, we have, uh, this idea in the world of the DIY video studio, which is tap, tap, tap, right? And the reason why we do the tap, tap, tap test on the microphone , it's because we wanna see the meters rise, uh, and low. Uh, raise, sorry, raise and lower. And we don't want to be confused with that as well. So what I'm getting at is if there's a lot of ambient noise in the room and you just do a simple 1, 2, 3 test. You may find that it's actually the what's being recorded. It might be from your laptop microphone, and you just don't know it because you're not monitoring it as you should.

[00:07:27] But if you do a tap, tap, tap test while remaining dead quiet while you do it, there is no mistaking, which microphone you are using, because you'll hear that in the recording, right? So really great tip. It's something that we do recommend and it just solves the confusion, um, of things not being recorded with the correct microphone.

[00:07:50] Speak clearly during the call. It's a good habit to speak clearly and consistently maintain a moderate distance from the microphone. Avoid making loud noises or talking over others to maintain good audio quality unless you have both have headsets, which we do recommend, then you can get away with talking over each other.

[00:08:10] I'll just qualify that and say when you have headsets, you've isolated any possible echo and feedback. Therefore, you are able to talk over each other, which becomes nice and fluid, right? You don't have the cancellation, the audio cancellation on both ends smashing out what's being said. Okay? And you probably would've heard that with various podcasts or um, video calls or whatever, where you kind of have to repeat yourself because you've both talked over each other and it just canceled out. It's canceled each other out. So headset is the way to go isolate that audio and you'll be, uh, having a much easier to, to experience, uh, meeting.

[00:08:50] Reduce ambient distractions such as background noise or echo. This can make it difficult for participants to hear and understand each other, leading to misunderstandings and reduced productivity, right? This is what we're all doing this about. Choose a location with minimal background noise or mute when not speaking. The premise of this entire show is not about the audio quality. It's about how people are responding to you. Are they choosing you favorably? Are you communicating and moving through the meeting in a positive manner? You know, and if you are constantly coming up against distractions and barriers, then that is just a unprofessional approach. Uh, and you want to try and minimize any possible, uh, distractions for your future meetings.

[00:09:38] But if this rabbit hole is beyond you and you'd rather have a professional set up your audio for you, then go ahead, check out the DIY Video Program, comes with high quality microphones like the one I'm on now, for video calls, recordings, and podcasts. Right. You can hear the quality right now, it is second to none.

[00:09:58] Don't forget to like, share and subscribe to this channel where you'll get weekly video ideas to present like a pro.

[00:10:05] Hey, give us some feedback, man. Is this the show that you listen to regularly? What can I do to improve it? That's all for this episode. I'd love your feedback. Thanks for listening and see you next week.