How to Improve Audio Quality During Zoom Meetings?

[hardinjenne]

Hello Zoom Community,

I’ve been using Zoom for team meetings, webinars, and one-on-one client calls for a while now, but I’ve noticed a recurring issue with audio quality. It’s especially problematic during sessions where multiple participants speak, or when there’s background noise. Despite using a decent microphone and ensuring a stable internet connection, the audio sometimes comes across as unclear or choppy.

Here’s a quick rundown of the setup I’m currently using:

• Microphone: Blue Yeti USB mic
• Internet Speed: 100 Mbps
• Environment: Quiet room with minimal background noise
• Device: Windows 11 laptop

Some of the steps I’ve already taken include:

1. Activating noise suppression in the Zoom audio settings.
2. Adjusting microphone input levels to avoid distortion.
3. Testing different Wi-Fi networks to ensure connectivity isn’t the issue.

However, I still face occasional hiccups, especially during longer sessions. I’m reaching out to the community to see if anyone has advice on how to further improve audio quality.

• Should I consider upgrading my equipment? If so, which microphone or headphones work best for Zoom?
• Are there third-party apps or tools that integrate with Zoom to enhance audio clarity?
• Could this issue be related to Zoom’s settings, and are there any advanced tweaks I might be overlooking?

I’d also love to hear if anyone has experimented with external audio processors or specific Zoom features, like the High Fidelity Music Mode. Have these made a noticeable difference?

Lastly, if anyone has dealt with similar issues, how did you resolve them? Your insights and recommendations would be immensely helpful.

Looking forward to learning from your experiences!

[storyhub]

There are a lot of settings you have not shared that effect audio quality. Is the mic in cardiod mode? Are you using "original sound" mode on Zoom? Are you using the headphone output on the mic? Are you using speakers? Choppy audio is usually the result of echo cancellation being used with a reverberant sound source (too far away from the mic, speakers feeding back to the mic, etc). With a sensitivity of only 4.5mV/PA the mic needs to be very close to the sound source (your mouth) to get a good signal to noise ratio and avoid echo. Headphones instead of speakers should be used. Audio is very complicated and I could go on for hours explaining the basics (I do production sound mixing for the motion picture industry, live events, radio, and TV). Your mic signal when speaking should generally be above 67% of the scale. Also, in general it is best to use an ethernet connection instead of WiFi wherever possible.