Comment by BatteryMountain | Hacker News Reader

Comment by BatteryMountain | Hacker News Reader

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BatteryMountain

I've been using the kit with the arm for about a year now. I bought it just for meetings as I don't stream games or do podcasts. The kit itself is freaking amazing. Almost all parts are made from smooth-non-gloss metal and the audio quality is amazing. People from the office commented on it when I switched over since the mic on the macbook makes my voice sound like I'm talking from a tin can and the voice was very nasal-like (+ the obvious echo issues). Now I sound like myself and I would dare say, more manly. Deeper sound etc. I recommend the kit to everyone I can. It is the best "cheap" kit you will find and won't need to spend thousands. The mic itself has a small volume knob that that I set to about 10% to 15%. I can have my washing machine run in the background and nobody can hear it. It uses 1x usb port and work on Windows/Mac/Linux - I'm currently using on a MacBook Air that runs Fedora 33 (mic volume knob at ~15% and PulseAudio mic volume 85%). Gaming headsets are all basically garbage, don't bother with them. Other than that, I use a Samson SR850. It's a cheap studio headset that is decent quality - I bought it because the Roland model I wanted was out of stock.

I have no affiliation with the company(s).

https://fifinemicrophone.com/collections/microphones/product...

That is awesome, I def. also will get the arm (and esp. the shock mount). Do you have the mic close to your mouth "podcaster style" for optimal results or rather away and out of frame? I still struggle with that. I don't want to look like I'm trying too hard and it seems a bit restrictive having it hang between keyboard and screen. Having it next to my keyboard is already a huge quality improvement so I keep it there.

I am also not afiliated in any way with Fifine but I was really impressed by the build quality of the mic.

I am also on Fedora and on the journey of improving audio I also have been playing around with Pulseeffects. Playing around with gate, compressor and limiter, etc. can certainly improve even more (and cut off some noise, etc.) but I am still figuring things out:

https://fedoramagazine.org/tune-up-your-sound-with-pulseeffe...

So you can keep it further away from your face, but then you have to up the volume knob on the mic itself. But that makes it a bit more sensitive to other noises (like breathing, typing on keyboard etc).

The kit also comes with a little tri-pod to mount the mic. So instead of having the mic hang in front of you face/camera, you can put it between your hands in front of you, the same way you can put a cup of coffee between your hands/arms while typing. Then just speak downwards toward the mic instead of stretching your neck towards the mic on the arm and looking like a podcaster/streamer.

You also don't really need the extra pop filter in the kit - the mic sock works fine enough on its own.

Then I'd recommend using a recording app (pulsecaster on fedora) and record yourself! Listen to what the mic does to your voice at different volumes (always leave the pulseaudio volume at 85%, use the knob on the mic).

If you want to loop you own voice back through your headphones (and typing noises), run the following command:

pacmd load-module module-loopback latency_msec=5

and to unload it: pacmd unload-module module-loopback

Sometimes I would just sit alone (not in a meeting), without any music and just listen to my typing while I code (looping the mic back into the headphones). Feels like you are sitting underneath the keys! It's soothing in a way.

I mean I have the Fifine with the non-tripod stand (linked above) and mic sock and use it already besides my notebook slightly angled towards my mouth out of the frame. I keep gain knob down and when I am lazy, I just set Zoom's auto audio gain adjust which makes for an even output signal even when you move slightly.

On conference calls my headphones are usually plugged into the audio-out of the back of the mic so I can monitor my audio (and Linux can also output the system sound to that channel).

Pulsecaster is a very good tip, thanks!

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