How Do I Make My Mic Pick Up Less Background Noise?

Whether you want to improve the quality of your Zoom calls or tape your voice for a YouTube video, a podcast or something else, you'll want to ensure you're getting the best audio from your microphone. There are various ways to exercise this, from uncomplicated tweaks to your environs all the way up to investing in high-quality equipment. We show you a few piece of cake ways to brand your vocals sparkle.

Popular on some headphones

Past far the easiest way to improve your audio quality on video calls is to plug in some headphones to your PC. The main reason for this is that it eliminates the sound of the other people on the call coming out of your speakers and going direct into your microphone and back to everyone listening. This is one reason why y'all sometimes get echos or 'feedback' on Zoom calls.

It's nearly incommunicable to get really good audio when you can hear the garbled voices of other people demanding that 'Jackie Weaver, you have no authority hither' in the background.

Another reward of using headphones is that many come up with built-in microphones, which could exist better quality than the i built into your laptop.

Reduce the noise in your room

Along the same lines, you lot'll also want to cut out any other extraneous noises that might exist spoiling your audio. And then, make sure that you lot turn off the Television set or radio, shut whatsoever open windows, ask other family members not to play music loudly or have shouting matches during the call.

Also plow off whatever fans or air-conditioning in the room, bribe the dog with a juicy os and oil your squeaky office chair.

If you don't accept command over whatever'south making dissonance, consider using an app (for Windows and macOS) such every bit Krisp. It's gratuitous for 'professionals who occasionally work remotely', which means you lot get 240 minutes of use per week.

Employ a defended microphone

Let'south face it, nearly microphones and webcams that come up as standard in laptops are pretty basic. Adding a dedicated stand-lonely microphone tin instantly give your sound a huge leap in quality. You don't have to spend hundreds of pounds on professional person level microphones to improve your existing setup, as a inexpensive USB microphone tin can at least let you to speak directly into it, which cuts downwardly the natural reverb of the room that you get when talking to your laptop or PC at a distance.

How to improve audio quality on a PC with a microphone

We've already put together a guide to some of the best microphones for streaming and podcasting, simply if yous feel they are too expensive, so something similar the Ture Plug and Play USB microphone could be a good option, costing £23 on Amazon United kingdom of great britain and northern ireland at the time of writing. Usa customers can opt for the slightly flashier looking EIVOTOR plug & play desktop USB microphone that volition set them back $15.99 from Amazon Us.

One thing to note well-nigh more expensive microphones is that they more often than not come in two types: dynamic and condenser. As a rule of thumb, condensers volition requite you a richer sounding voice but pick up more groundwork noise, while dynamic mics focus on capturing sounds directly in front of them, and then you stop upwards with less white noise just miss some of the ambient in a room. You lot can get excellent results from both, but you'll need to consider how loud your environment is when selecting a new microphone.

Adjust the microphone settings in Windows

Windows has a few different settings that you can use in windows to adjust the quality of your audio. They are like shooting fish in a barrel to utilize in one case, of form, you know where they are.

Open the Showtime carte and search for Command Console. Select the meridian result then navigate to Hardware & Sounds > Sound and select the Recording tab.

In here you'll see settings for microphones that are either attached or built-in to your PC. Highlight the ane with a tick next to its name, and so click the Properties push button.

How to reduce background noise on a PC when using a microphone: Mic Settings

Select the Levels tab and check to see how high the input is currently ready. An of import element is the Microphone Boost which increases the signal force via software. Only, if yous have too much volume coming in, it can cause digital distortion that will reduce the quality of your sound.

How to reduce background noise on a PC when using a microphone: Microphone Properties

Try adjusting both the Microphone and Microphone Boost settings to run into if information technology improves your results. Ideally you'll want to raise the level of 'natural' betoken coming in (via the Microphone option), while reducing the software boosted audio.

If you also meet a tab entitled Enhancements, then you can explore the setting in here also, paying particular attention to the Noise Suppression selection, which can be quite helpful in cleaning up a point.

Hopefully, with all of these tweaks at your disposal, you'll sound loud and articulate the side by side time you fire up your video calling or audio recording software on your PC.