very bad voice sound when using two mirror laptop set up

[baugustyn1000]

I am trying to set up Zoom in a slightly unconventional way for my business. I have two laptops facing each other, connected via a 3.5mm sound input/output cable to minimize echo and improve sound quality. I’m joining a Zoom meeting from my phone (which has a strong Wi-Fi connection) on the first laptop (Zoom meeting 1). This laptop displays my face and transmits my voice.

The issue seems to be with the second laptop, where people hear my voice with poor quality—lots of distortion and a robotic sound. I can provide a sample if that helps.

I’m not sure what I’m missing to achieve better voice quality on the receiving end. Interestingly, when I play recorded sounds, like music or YouTube, from the first laptop (Zoom meeting 1), the audio quality seems fine. However, as soon as my voice is transmitted from Zoom meeting 1 (through my phone), the sound quality deteriorates significantly.

Both laptops are connected to a high-speed internet connection (1 GB), and my phone’s Wi-Fi is also very strong. I’ve tried using a high-quality wireless microphone with noise cancellation connected to my phone, but it hasn’t improved the audio quality. It seems like one of the Zoom applications (either 1 or 2) might be degrading the voice quality.

What can I do to improve this?

Thank you in advance.
Bryce