How to reduce the background noise of the microphone to a PC?

Whether you want to improve the quality of your zoom calls or record your voice for a YouTube, a podcast or other video, you must make sure that your microphone offers you the best possible sound.There are several ways to achieve it, from the simple adjustments of your environment to the investment in high quality equipment.We present you some simple ways to make your voice shine.

Use headphones

The easiest way to improve sound quality during video calls is to connect headphones to your PC.The main reason is that this eliminates the sound of the other participants in the call coming out of the speakers and goes directly to your microphone to be transmitted to all listeners.This is one of the reasons why you sometimes get echoes during video calls.

It is almost impossible to get quality sound when you hear the scrambled voices of other people in the background.

Another advantage of headphones is that they are often equipped with microphones, which can be of better quality than those of your laptop.

Reduce the noise in your room

In the same vein, it is necessary to delete all other parasitic noises that could spoil your sound.So be sure to turn off television or radio, close open windows, ask other family members not to be too noisy, etc..During calls.

Also turn off the fans or the air conditioning of the room, occupy your children, your pets and oil your creaky office chair.

If you do not have control over this background noise, consider using an application (for Windows and MacOS) such as Krisp.It is free, you benefit from 240 minutes of use per week.

Use a dedicated microphone

Let's be honest, most microphones and webcams integrated into laptops are rather basic quality.The addition of a dedicated external microphone can instantly give your audio a huge boost.You don't need to spend hundreds of euros for professional level microphones to improve your audio.Indeed, a cheap USB microphone can at least allow you to speak more clearly and reduce the natural reverberation of the room.

We have also established a guide for the best microphones for streaming and podcasting, but if you think they are too expensive, then know that there are models like the Tkgou USB and Play microphone which aremore affordable prices.

Note that there are two types of microphones: dynamic and capacitor.As a rule, the capacitors will give you a richer voice but will capture more background noise, while the dynamic microphones focus on the capture of sounds directly in their direction, which reduces white noise but deprives you of a partof the atmosphere of a room.You can get excellent results with both types of microphones, but you need to take into account the noise level of your environment when you choose a microphone.

Adjust the microphone settings in Windows

Windows has a few different settings that you can use to adjust the quality of your audio.They are easy to use once, of course, you know where they are.

Open the Start menu, then configuration panel, navigate to hardware and audio → sound and select the Recording tab.

In this tab, you will see the microphones settings that are either connected or integrated into your PC.Highlight the one whose name is checked, then click Properties.

Select the level tab and check at which level the input is currently set.An element that is important, in our view, is microphone amp which increases the force of the signal via the software.But, if the input volume is too high, it can cause a digital distortion that will reduce the quality of your audio.

Try to adjust the microphone settings and the amplification of the microphone to see if it improves your results.The ideal would be to increase the level of the incoming "natural" signal (via the microphone option), while reducing the audio signal amplified by the software.

If you also see the Improvements tab, you can explore the settings here too, paying particular attention to the noise deletion option, which can help you get a lighter signal.

Hopefully with all these settings at your disposal, you will have a strong and clear sound for your next call or audio/video recording from your PC.

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