Need help finding a good microphone for political commentators who do interviews/discussions over Zoom.

[NeedMicrophoneHelp]

1: My understanding is that the second one listed here ("Blue Microphones Yeti USB") is the best microphone (unless you want a fancy/expensive one):

Best podcasting microphones 2025: our expert picks for every budget and level, with audio demos

Record your next podcast or stream your heart out with the very best podcast mics, including our recommendations under $100/£100

www.musicradar.com

Superb value for money

Versatile

Tough as old boots

USB only

2: I'm trying to get Noam Chomsky a better microphone. Can you guys listen to this clip and tell me what's wrong with his audio (it doesn't sound very good to me, at least)?

3: Note that Noam Chomsky has an *extremely* hard-to-record voice. It's probably the most hard-to-record voice on Planet Earth.

4: Why does Chomsky sound so fantastically good here And is the comment below accurate?

This is an aside, but I’m so happy your sound engineer knows how to record Chomsky in his age. As a musician it can be so frustrating on other platforms to hear someone throw up a mic with standard settings on this wonderful but soft-spoken man. The noise floor and plosives shoot through the roof!

Yes! SM7b with the highs rolled off!

Ok I’m stopping my sound rant there.

5: Chomsky's current microphone says "audio-technica" on it. I *think* that his current microphone is the one that's visible here: Can you guys identify the model of his current microphone?

 

[NeedMicrophoneHelp]

I mean, if you look at the third video that I posted and go to the 35:20 mark you can hear some mechanical pulsating sound. What is that sound?

 

[gecko zzed]

In the first video, there is a noise reduction filter that's producing that swirly kind of sound

The second video is recorded under much more controlled studio conditions.

In the third video, there is a noise gate in action. It opnes when he is talking, shuts when he is quiet. There is ambient noise in the roo,m (probably the computer, maybe air conditioning or whatever) which the mic is picking up along with the voice.

The mike he is using is fine. Two factors affecting the sound quality are (a) his aging and deteriorating voice and (b) the recording environment.

THe comments about the noise floor are accurate. The quieter he talks, the more gain is needed, and the more the ambient noise around him will be picked up.

As for plosives . . . they are caused by being too close to, and talking directly into, the microphone, without a pop filter. Also some people have more poppy 'p's and 'b's than others.

 

[NeedMicrophoneHelp]

Thanks so much for your amazing help with this. I hugely appreciate it.

1: Is it possible to identify his current mike? It says "audio-technica" on it and it's visible in the third vid. I'm curious to look up the model and see the reviews of it.

2: Is the 2nd mike listed here (https://www.musicradar.com/news/best-podcasting-microphones) the best non-fancy mike? It seems to have rave reviews and it says that it is "superb value for the money".

3: How much would a new mike (like the 2nd one in the list I just linked) improve Chomsky's audio-quality?

4: If the first/third vids have terrible audio due to ambient sound then why is the audio so much worse than the norm? Other people have ambient sound too.

5: Nothing can be done about his voice, of course, so my hope is that other factors are significantly responsible for the terrible audio.

6: Whatever was done in the second video regarding noise-floor and plosives (pop filter), can that be done during any interview that he does or can only a legit studio do that?

7: What are best practices for him to follow in terms of not being too close to (or talking directly into) the mike? And other best practices too?

8: Insofar as the 1st and 3rd videos are at all experiencing poor audio due to things that were actually in fact within the control of the respective people conducting those respective interviews, what did they do wrong and what lessons can I tell future interviewers to be wary of, having learned from the poor audio in these two videos?

9: What exactly went wrong with the audio in the video below? I actually arranged that interview myself, and I was so thrilled when it happened. I was hugely disappointed when the audio was so poor. Just read the YT comments in the comment-section and you'll see how frustrated people were with the audio, and rightly so.

 

[rob aylestone]

If that's an AT are you sure he's not speaking into the end of it rather than the side?

In all fairness - ALL mics need careful placement and moving any mic a few inches or adjusting the angle make far more difference than a mic swap.

I am firmly of the impression that there are now VERY few mics that are terrible - not even the cheap Chinese ones. The snag really is down to the fact that we reply on the talent to control their own audio and they cannot do it. If you have the headphones so they could move things, they'd not have the audio acuity to make decisions. Practically all the condensers now sound quite similar, so changing one brand for another make very small differences - but Zoom and the others mangle the sound far more than a mic swap fixes it! I did laugh at the two presenters with SM7B mics - they look ridiculous and there is no reason whatsoever to use those in a visual production. if they were wearing scruffy clothes and were on radio and wanted a warm sound (i.e. a bit close and dirty) then fine - but wearing a suit and having a huge mic visible looks ridiculous.

That man (being a Brit, no idea who is he) has a terrible voice, so the last thing you'd want is a bass heavy mic. Most mics are perfectly good if they are in the right place. The nasty low warbling needs sorting - but that could be done with a ten minute patient adjustment session I'm sure.

 

[NeedMicrophoneHelp]

Thanks for responding. I greatly appreciate it. It means a lot to me, as does ggecko zed's response above.

1: I have no idea what AT model it is. Can you tell from the 3rd video in my original post what model it is? It says AT on it. He may well be speaking into it the wrong way, so that's a possibility! How are you supposed to speak into an AT?

2: What are best practices in terms of careful placement, moving a mike a few inches, and adjusting the angle? And anything else you can offer?

3: Did you see the mike that I mentioned above that's "superb value for the money"? Is that not a better mike than what Chomsky has right now?

4: Why exactly did Kyle/Krystal look ridiculous and even if they did look ridiculous isn't it worth it for better audio-quality? "I did laugh at the two presenters with SM7B mics - they look ridiculous"

5: You are 100% correct that Chomsky has a terrible voice. It's absolutely unreal how quiet his voice is and with age it's just gotten worse I'm sure!

6: What "patient adjustment session" do you mean? How does that work?

 

[spantini]

AT mics such as what appears to be in the third video should be side-address mics, and it has been pointed out he appears to be addressing the end. A side-addressed mic such as these usually have a front and back, with the front side being the side to be addressed vocally (as the mic is held vertically in an upright position).

 

[Folkcafe]

Thanks for responding. I greatly appreciate it. It means a lot to me, as does ggecko zed's response above.

1: I have no idea what AT model it is. Can you tell from the 3rd video in my original post what model it is? It says AT on it. He may well be speaking into it the wrong way, so that's a possibility! How are you supposed to speak into an AT?

2: What are best practices in terms of careful placement, moving a mike a few inches, and adjusting the angle? And anything else you can offer?

3: Did you see the mike that I mentioned above that's "superb value for the money"? Is that not a better mike than what Chomsky has right now?

4: Why exactly did Kyle/Krystal look ridiculous and even if they did look ridiculous isn't it worth it for better audio-quality? "I did laugh at the two presenters with SM7B mics - they look ridiculous"

5: You are 100% correct that Chomsky has a terrible voice. It's absolutely unreal how quiet his voice is and with age it's just gotten worse I'm sure!

6: What "patient adjustment session" do you mean? How does that work?

There is only one front address large microphone on the Audio Technica web site, which is the BP40. This mic has a distinctive look, different than the side address condensers the mic in these videos look like.

Here is the BP40. This doesn't look at all like what he is using. This microphone, you speak into the end like he is doing on the video.

This is the model 2020 which is side address. Like the term implies, you speak into it from the side and speaking into it from the end like this is off axis to its optimal cardiod pattern. You speak into this mic with the Audio Technica name facing you. This series, like most of the AT condenser mics, is side address and looks a lot more like what he is using. It is also available with USB so if he is just plugging the mic directly into the computer without separate gear like an interface, this is likely what he is using.

 

[NeedMicrophoneHelp]

Thanks! I greatly appreciate the help!

How much do you think that that error (talking into the end vs. the side) affects the audio quality?

 

[Folkcafe]

Thanks! I greatly appreciate the help!

How much do you think that that error (talking into the end vs. the side) affects the audio quality?

Not as bad as talking into it from behind (opposite the brand label) but a lot. The full range of the polar pattern in terms of frequency response is in front. That far off axis and you loose a lot and as these videos seem to show, sounds like crap.

 

[NeedMicrophoneHelp]

OK, good news. I found out that he is fully aware of this fact (maybe he wasn't aware of it before, but he is now). So that problem shouldn't be an issue going forward, since he knows to speak into the front. It's now "angled so that he speaks right into it".

 

[NeedMicrophoneHelp]

Thanks everyone for your amazing help. I appreciate it greatly and it means a LOT to me.

I have a few loose ends (maybe too many questions...sorry about that!) upthread that are not tied up yet. They might have gotten lost in the shuffle!

 

[TalismanRich]

The AT should work just fine. The MV7 Shure would be an end address USB option, more like the SM7B in the second video, but is more midrange focused. I don't think the Yeti will give you anything better than you have right now.

While talking into the end of the AT mic might have some minor effect, the majority of the issue, especially in the last video is the constant phasing of the signal. NO microphone in the world will fix that. It's somewhere in the audio processing, either noise reduction or bandwidth issues in the video software. I've seen it on dozens of TV interviews where the person is in their home or office instead of a studio.

If you want to avoid the sound problems in the last video, you really need to go through and fix the software audio issues. It's not a hardware problem.

 

[NeedMicrophoneHelp]

Thanks so much for your amazing help. I appreciate everyone's excellent comments.

I have a bunch of loose ends upthread, so if anyone knows the answers to those Qs then I would be hugely grateful for any help you can offer.

 

[TalismanRich]

Which questions do you feel weren't addressed? We've commented on the proper way to use the mic, and if going to a different mic would improve things.

What software are you using? Zoom, Skype, Teams, GoToMeeting, Webex?

 

[NeedMicrophoneHelp]

I'll just re-post the loose ends in a moment.

I'm not sure what software is being used to interview political commentators like Chomsky. Isn't it probable that it varies depending on who's doing the interview?

 

[Folkcafe]

I'll just re-post the loose ends in a moment.

I'm not sure what software is being used to interview political commentators like Chomsky. Isn't it probable that it varies depending on who's doing the interview?

Likely to only vary between Zoom and Teams if he is doing this via his computer at home or office. Both are pretty stable and most times, issues are often bandwidth related or user error such as the audio in these videos. For instance if he is on wifi vs a wired ethernet connection or listening via the PC speakers instead of earbuds. The issues I heard were not platform related. The noise gate was probably used because he was listening via speakers and it was the only way to control echo. I run an AV company that installs and supports high end video teleconferencing. I've got a bit of experience with this.

I too am not sure what loose ends are left. Tell Nom to move to a quiet spot and work with him on positioning his mic and improving his technique. Also have him put in a pair of discrete earbuds.

 

[NeedMicrophoneHelp]

Just so you guys all know, I'm a bit OCD/autistic (I've been clinically diagnosed with each), so sometimes I'm over-thorough in my questioning. I apologize for that, if so.

Thanks for all your amazing help so far, guys.

I'm just trying to figure out the exact recipe for optimized/ideal audio.

1: Is the 2nd mike listed here (https://www.musicradar.com/news/best-podcasting-microphones) the best non-fancy mike? It seems to have rave reviews and it says that it is "superb value for the money".

2: Exactly how much would a new mike (like the 2nd one in the list I just linked) improve Chomsky's audio-quality? (I think that this was maybe already answered, but I'm still unclear somehow, maybe unjustifiably.)

3: If any videos that I linked in this thread have terrible audio due to ambient sound then why is the audio so much worse than what's the norm for people being interviewed from their homes? Other people have ambient sound in their homes too.

4: Whatever was done in the second video (in the original post) regarding noise-floor and plosives (pop filter), can that be done during any interview that he does or can only a legit studio do that?

5: What are best practices for Noam to follow in terms of not being too close to (or talking directly into) the mike? And other best practices too?

6: Insofar as any videos that I linked are at all experiencing poor audio due to things that were actually in fact within the control of the respective people conducting those respective interviews, what did they do wrong and what lessons can I tell future interviewers to be wary of, having learned from the poor audio in these videos?

7: What exactly went wrong with the audio in the "Has America Failed?" video that I linked? I actually arranged that interview myself, and I was so thrilled when it happened. I was hugely disappointed when the audio was so poor. Just read the YT comments in the comment-section and you'll see how frustrated people were with the audio, and rightly so.

8: What are best practices in terms of careful placement, moving a mike a few inches, and adjusting the angle? And anything else you can offer?

9: What "patient adjustment session" do you mean? How does that work?

10: Noam needs to be on a wired ethernet connection, not wifi, right?

11: Noam needs to be listening on earbuds, not speakers, right?

12: Why is it so important for Noam to record in a quiet spot?

13: How exactly can I work with Noam on positioning his mic and improving his technique?

14: Any other tips/advice/ideas for optimization of audio, both on Noam's end and in terms of advice for the people doing the interviews?

 

[gecko zzed]

Just so you guys all know, I'm a bit OCD/autistic (I've been clinically diagnosed with each), so sometimes I'm over-thorough in my questioning. I apologize for that, if so.

Thanks for all your amazing help so far, guys.

I'm just trying to figure out the exact recipe for optimized/ideal audio.

1: Is the 2nd mike listed here (https://www.musicradar.com/news/best-podcasting-microphones) the best non-fancy mike? It seems to have rave reviews and it says that it is "superb value for the money".

2: Exactly how much would a new mike (like the 2nd one in the list I just linked) improve Chomsky's audio-quality? (I think that this was maybe already answered, but I'm still unclear somehow, maybe unjustifiably.)

3: If any videos that I linked in this thread have terrible audio due to ambient sound then why is the audio so much worse than what's the norm for people being interviewed from their homes? Other people have ambient sound in their homes too.

4: Whatever was done in the second video (in the original post) regarding noise-floor and plosives (pop filter), can that be done during any interview that he does or can only a legit studio do that?

5: What are best practices for Noam to follow in terms of not being too close to (or talking directly into) the mike? And other best practices too?

6: Insofar as any videos that I linked are at all experiencing poor audio due to things that were actually in fact within the control of the respective people conducting those respective interviews, what did they do wrong and what lessons can I tell future interviewers to be wary of, having learned from the poor audio in these videos?

7: What exactly went wrong with the audio in the "Has America Failed?" video that I linked? I actually arranged that interview myself, and I was so thrilled when it happened. I was hugely disappointed when the audio was so poor. Just read the YT comments in the comment-section and you'll see how frustrated people were with the audio, and rightly so.

8: What are best practices in terms of careful placement, moving a mike a few inches, and adjusting the angle? And anything else you can offer?

9: What "patient adjustment session" do you mean? How does that work?

10: Noam needs to be on a wired ethernet connection, not wifi, right?

11: Noam needs to be listening on earbuds, not speakers, right?

12: Why is it so important for Noam to record in a quiet spot?

13: How exactly can I work with Noam on positioning his mic and improving his technique?

14: Any other tips/advice/ideas for optimization of audio, both on Noam's end and in terms of advice for the people doing the interviews?

Here are my answers, but others will likely chime in with different views.

1 Don't know. I have no experience with that particular microphone. However, all the mics listed are capable of doing the job satisfactorily, including the one in use.

2 Not a lot. There are other factors more likely to be affecting quality.

3 One answer is the one others have noted, i.e. that he was speaking into the end rather than the side. This results in a reduced level to an already quiet voice, and picks up more of the ambient noise. Another answer is that his room may be intrinsically noisier than other homes.

4 Plosives can be reduced by techniques and hardware, as well as through software. Techniques include not speaking directly into the mike, but slightly to the side, and by regulating your breath. Hardware includes pop filters that can be interposed between mouth and mic.

5 See point 4 above. If he can speak louder and get a bit further away, that would also reduce the intrusion of ambient noise and reduce the influence of the proximity effect.

6 Microphone techniques will help. Picking your room will help. Small rooms with reflective surfaces will sound boxy and horrible. Big rooms with big chunky bits of furniture, couches, bookshelfs and so on will be easier to get decent sound from. Noisy computer fans are unhelpful, as is any other noise making stuff in and outside the room.

7 The audio in "Has America Failed" might be ok at the source. It sounds as if noise reduction has been applied, which results in that swirly sound. That may be something to do with the streaming software.

8 See point 4 and point 5.

9 No idea what this means

10 Wired internet usually allows for bigger bandwidth and faster internet speeds, and that allows transmission of high quality audio and vision.

11 If he is listening on speakers, you can get feedback. To avoin feedback a variety of techniques can be sued, such as using a noise gate to shut off input when nothing is happening. Using headphones or earbuds removes these problems.

12 He needs to record in a quiet spot because he is a quiet speaker, and external noise will interfere with his voice.

13. Explain what you are going to do and why you are doing it. He is an intelligent person and should understand that it is for his benefit.

14. There are probably other things that can be done, but dealing with the current issues would achieve a lot.i

 

[Folkcafe]

I'll address the area I know more about. One of the biggest issues in teleconferencing is echo. This is when you can hear yourself coming back delayed on a call. Few get how this happens, never mind how to eliminate it. On a call with an open mic and speakers, when you are speaking, that sound is being being picked up by your mic and sent to the other end of a call, which takes time even if it seems immediate. If at the other end there is an open mic and a loudspeaker, your voice comes out of the speaker and is picked up by the mic at that end and is transmitted back to you, also taking a little bit of time. So if nothing is done to deal with it at the far end, you'll hear yourself coming back through your speakers, just a little bit delayed. People who record digital audio have enough of a hard time performing in front of a microphone with the small amount of delay we experience with this latency but this is worse.

In professional conferencing we deal with this issue using a audio processing device (DSP) that has acoustic echo cancellation. The thing with the way all of this works is that you are responsible for the audio quality and echo at the other end. It is your open mic and speaker causing the other ends echo. I call this the audio etiquette of teleconferencing. This allows a large conferencing room to have open mics on the table or in the ceiling and loudspeakers operating in the room at substantial volumes. This also requires both ends to be similarly equipped or lets say for the guy working from home calling in, just wear headphones. If you've ever been on a large conference call where many people are dialing in, you've no doubt heard the moderator tell people to mute their end when not speaking. This is why. Your phone set to speakerphone is causing the person on the other end to hear themselves delayed via there speakers.

In studio the audio is a closed system that can be isolated in the control room. The on air talent are wearing an IFB (interruptible foldback) device in there ears to hear. They also have engineering staff that usually know what they are doing. But if sound coming in is crap, well no magic is going to fix it.

With the whole work from home situation, we've been setting up a lot of executives with good cameras and audio in their homes. I was an engineer for a company called Revolabs specializing in DSP. They were bought out by Yamaha to build out their Unified Communications (U.C.) division. One of the products I've used a lot recently is the YVC-330. It is a USB speaker/microphone with a lot of DSP power. Needs no real set up except plug it in and select it as both speaker and microphone in the conferencing software preferences. It has echo cancellation, auto gain, auto tracking and noise reduction. The noise reduction works really well on constant noise sources like a computer fan or AC. There are cheaper USB devices out there but this is about at the bottom of what I'd suggest in a comparatively cheap $350 range. It goes up from there.

You are getting to the point where the number of outstanding questions are only exceeded by your new questions. I suggest you triage them to the ones that will make the biggest difference and limit your posts to one or two at a time. You'll likely get clearer answers. I find when you post multiple question, often you'll only get one, maybe two good detailed answers. That said, Gekco did a good job trying to go through your list.