PHOTO AND AUDIO MIXER INSTALL
PHOTO AND AUDIO MIXER FULL
PHOTO AND AUDIO MIXER SOFTWARE

The Rode Podcaster has very good audio quality, but itвЂ™s not the cheapest solution. The boom arm makes it easier to move the mic closer to your mouth. The shock mount helps eliminate the incidental noise that might arise from tapping on a desk or accidentally kicking the leg of a table. We use the Rode Podcaster with a shock mount and boom arm in a number of our conference rooms at PhotoShelter.

PHOTO AND AUDIO MIXER INSTALL

They are essentially plug-n-play solutions (you might need to install a driver), but can instantly improve the audio quality because they tend to have a bigger diaphragm and better circuitry. USB mics plus directly into your computer вЂ“ typically with the older, rectangular USB-A plug.

PHOTO AND AUDIO MIXER FULL

A full discussion of microphones is beyond the scope of this article, but for our purposes, mics can be categorized as either 1) USB mics or 2) XLR mics. Zoom, Skype, GoToMeeting, Slack, Google Hangouts) allows you to use external microphones. If you are planning on hosting a webinar or teaching regularly online, you need to get serious about your audio quality. But moving the mic to within about 12вЂќ of your mouth will significantly improve audio quality.

PHOTO AND AUDIO MIXER SOFTWARE

You are completely relying on the software to figure out the best level, which doesnвЂ™t always yield the best results. Using your laptop or phone mic is akin to photographing in вЂњPвЂќ (program) mode. This is why headsets usually yield better audio quality than your laptop mic. If your microphone is 2 feet away, the sound intensity is 1/4th the amount as if you were 1 foot away. You might remember the Inverse Square Law from high school physics, which states that intensity drops off exponentially as you get farther from the source. IвЂ™ve used everything from $20 earbuds to $400 open back headphones any headphone will provide the necessary isolation to improve audio quality. You can easily remedy this by wearing headphones of any type. Remember, the mic on your device is close to its speaker, so the mic will pick up sounds emanating from your computer causing sudden drops or delays in audio.

If youвЂ™re just using your laptop or the speaker feature of your phone, youвЂ™re relying on software to cancel out feedback. When possible, find a room with carpet and furniture like a bed or sofa, which can significantly attenuate reverb.Д¬losets are usually a good option if you donвЂ™t need to be on video simultaneously because they are typically filled with clothes and have irregular surfaces that help attenuate unwanted sound.

Similarly, hard surfaces like wooden floors combined with glass windows and a flat ceiling can cause an audible echo that can make your broadcast sound unnecessarily noisy like a restaurant with poor acoustics. Ambient noise вЂ“ from pets to lawn mowers to traffic вЂ“ can cause a lot of audio problems. IвЂ™ve listened to a number of podcasts in the past week where the hosts are working from home rather than a professional studio, which yields a noticeable drop on audio quality. Sarah uses a Rode Podcaster and Audacity software, and I use a Shure SM7B with Adobe Audition. And I have been recording our podcast from our respective homes.

Photo and audio mixer