We run hybrid meetings. We have tried two set ups.A set of 10 conference room microphones for each in person participant. There is a receiver and speaker that plugs into the hosts laptop. The speaker picks up the feed from each of the 10 microphones and allows the in person participants can hear the Zoom people. For the in person audience we have a sound system in the room with microphones. The problem is the in house system causes an echo for the Zoom participants. We tried it once without the in room sound system. That was great for the Zoom participants, but the in person audience could not hear.We have a directional microphone that we would put in front of one of the loudspeakers in the auditorium. That worked fair for the Zoom people, but it picked up a lot of the other room noise and there was an echo.I we are able to put a Bluetooth transmitter on the output on our sound system can Zoom accept a Bluetooth signal as a microphone or audio source?

M

MrFlark

Explorer

Question

Hybrid Meeting Audio

Forum|Forum|1 year ago
August 26, 2024
3 replies
72 views

We run hybrid meetings. We have tried two set ups.

A set of 10 conference room microphones for each in person participant. There is a receiver and speaker that plugs into the hosts laptop. The speaker picks up the feed from each of the 10 microphones and allows the in person participants can hear the Zoom people. For the in person audience we have a sound system in the room with microphones. The problem is the in house system causes an echo for the Zoom participants. We tried it once without the in room sound system. That was great for the Zoom participants, but the in person audience could not hear.
We have a directional microphone that we would put in front of one of the loudspeakers in the auditorium. That worked fair for the Zoom people, but it picked up a lot of the other room noise and there was an echo.

I we are able to put a Bluetooth transmitter on the output on our sound system can Zoom accept a Bluetooth signal as a microphone or audio source?

Audio

D

DanielEndy

Newcomer

For a modest room without too many people I recommend a Bluetooth speaker with microphone. It will cancel out its own output so you won’t get feedback on the microphone.

when the microphone picks up the speaker output you get feedback

L

lauried99

Newcomer

Do all of the zoom participants select the bluetooth device as their audio and speaker or do you only need on person on the zoom call (maybe the facilitator) to select the bluetooth speaker?

M

MeetingMosaic

New Member

I would not put a microphone in front of a loudspeaker, and I would not build the whole setup around Bluetooth if you can avoid it. Zoom can use whatever the computer sees as a microphone, but Bluetooth adds latency and makes echo cancellation harder.

The cleaner setup is: feed Zoom a direct audio signal from the same sound system/mixer that is feeding the room, ideally through a USB audio interface. That way Zoom gets the microphone mix directly instead of hearing the room through a speaker.

The important part is avoiding a loop:

1. One computer joins Zoom with audio enabled.
2. That computer receives a direct mic/mixer feed.
3. Zoom far-end audio plays through the room system.
4. The room microphones should not re-capture the Zoom speaker output if the mixer/DSP is set up correctly.

If this is a bigger room or auditorium, you may need a mixer/DSP with echo cancellation or a proper mix-minus feed. A basic Bluetooth speaker/mic can work for a small room, but for 10 in-person mics plus an in-room sound system, it is usually the wrong tool.

I would also test the room before buying more gear: record a Zoom test with someone speaking from each seating area, then listen for two things separately: coverage gaps and room echo. If some people disappear, it is a mic coverage problem. If everyone sounds washy or distant, the room acoustics are also part of it.

I built RoomScore because I kept running into exactly this kind of hybrid-room troubleshooting problem and wanted a repeatable way to separate mic coverage issues from room acoustics issues: https://roomscore.tech/conference-room-audio-testing-tool/

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