Zoom bias: The social costs of having a 'tinny' sound during video conferences

Re:Zoom bias: The social costs of having a 'tinny' sound dur... by alabastervlog on Thursday March 27, 2025 @01:46PM (#43496010)

Basically any mic that's widely recommended for entry-level YouTubers (outside search engine spam, those don't count as real recommendations) will be a giant step up from laptop or headphone mics, enough that most people who just want to sound good on video conferencing probably don't need to spend more. The Blue Yeti is exactly that kind of mic, to the point that it's kind of a cliché.

Shotgun mics popular among low-budget filmmakers (think: people who shoot local commercials, little indie films and shorts, and, when desperate for cash, weddings) would also be a good and fairly cheap way to go, though they may require other hardware to function.

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Re:Zoom bias: The social costs of having a 'tinny' sound dur... by nottorp on Thursday March 27, 2025 @04:31PM (#43497825)

Do those do noise canceling?

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Re:Zoom bias: The social costs of having a 'tinny' sound dur... by alabastervlog on Thursday March 27, 2025 @05:16PM (#43498285)

Shotgun mics? They're very good at cancelling off-axis noise (that is, anything that's not in a fairly narrow cone the direction they're aimed) but AFAIK it's really challenging to have hardware cancelling of distant noises in the direction of capture, while also capturing a narrow cone like that. So, do they do noise cancelling? Yes, very much so, it's kinda their whole point, but also no, depending on what you mean.

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Re:Zoom bias: The social costs of having a 'tinny' sound dur... by nottorp on Friday March 28, 2025 @06:39AM (#43503728)

Oh i meant more the noise canceling you need in a call... cat meow, ambulance siren coming from the open window, the sound of you pouring yourself more coffee etc.

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