New: extension to enable “original sound” on Chromebook / others using Web client

Thanks - I did post this there already last week 🙂

Good questions!

Unfortunately, I didn't see a reliable way to make the settings apply by default.  So you have to do it for each meeting where you want this.  Also, keep in mind the change doesn't take effect until you select a new input device - e.g., from "same as system" to "internal mic" even if that's not actually a change.  But then it remains in effect for the duration of the browser session even if you make further input device changes - probably even if you change meetings although I haven't tested that.

As for being able to tell if it worked or not, I don't have a better answer than to do a test.  Echo cancellation is very simple to check - just try playing some audio on your computer through the speaker (eg, watch a YouTube video) and ask others in the meeting if they can hear it.  If yes, you successfully turned off echo cancellation.  Or log in for yourself on another device (keep that device muted and use headphones!) and do a sound check before starting the meeting if that's convenient.  The voice optimization is tougher to characterize, but for me, if I play a sustained chord on the piano, with the voice optimization *on*, the sound cuts out ways too fast, - I guess it's misinterpreted as background noise.  But also, just playing music normally will sound garbled - a little like being underwater - if voice optimization is on.

A couple more things to mention while I'm at it.  First, if you turn off echo cancellation, you need to be listening to the meeting itself via headphones, or else there will be echo.  I usually set my system sound to my speaker but select the headphones within Zoom.  Second, a recent change in the Zoom app makes the Original Sound dialog not appear when you run the extension from within the meet - it is showing up on the main Zoom window, not the meeting window.  So you need to switch back to the main window to work with the dialog.   In theory it should work to just run the extension from the main window before you even enter the meeting, but it doesn't.

So it does take a bit of practice to get the routine down, but it's worth it!

Hello!  I just tested and it is still working for me on the current version of ChromeOS for my system - 109.  Are you on Chromebook, or another system?  Did you remember to change input devices after making the setting?  I forgot to do that at first when I tested just now and got worried for a second, then I remembered to change devices and all was well.

The extension only affects the quality of your own sound - how you sound to others.  It cannot have any effect on how others sound to you - unless they also install and use the extension.

The way to change input devices in Zoom, click the audio icon at lower left:

I spent over $100 on JustAsk and I did everything the tech told me, and today when I was teaching, the original sound was not there, according to my zoom students. I would really appreciate step by step instructions for the 51 year old widow whose husband did all this stuff for her! 😂