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Seeking advice for choosing an inexpensive, plug and play headset with microphone for recording presentations and participating in video chat
Basically the title. I've been told my voice is too soft on zoom in spite of having tried many options. Before I buy new hardware, I'm asking advice. I have to record a presentation soon, so this is important.
What advice can you give?
Thank you
How married are you to the idea of a headset? If your only issue is being heard and not hearing others, you may be better off just getting a microphone. There are a bunch of surprisingly high quality options under $50, owing to how many people work from home or do live streaming/content creation.
e.g.: https://www.logitechg.com/en-us/products/streaming-gear/snowball-ice-usb-microphone.988-000067.html
Honestly, I do voice recording sometimes and keep a Snowball and a sound blanket in my go bag. Is it gonna be perfect audiophile quality? No but it's leagues better than 90% of options and it's got great pickup for a medium sized room.
Otherwise, if you're recording the presentation, see if you can boost the gain in the recording in post. If it's just a quiet mic, you should have minimal background noise that crops up when you boost it.
Also, recording technique, eat the mic. Get that thing within an inch or so of your lips. As long as you're not distorting in the recording, it'll help you be clearer.
Anything Jabra is worth your while.
Good audio quality with a focus on speech, both in and output. They're the main choice for a couple of businesses I've worked at and none have disappointed. They're all good to great, even their cheaper options.
I use Antlion Modmic microphones with my normal headphones. I’ve owned both their wired and wireless microphones and they all sound way better than Zoom or whatever will transmit. They sell wired mics that use USB or 3.5mm. You’d have to buy a headset if you didn’t already have one to attach the mic to, though.
What are you using currently?
Over the ear headphones with an attached microphone. I bought it two years ago. The sound quality I hear is good, but people have complained when I speak.
You could try adjusting the levels in your settings. Also check that the settings are selecting that mic. Otherwise a standalone mic like others are suggesting will almost always be better.
I second the suggestion to check your settings. I had the same problem until I realised that for some reason every time I plug in my current headset Windows resets the mic volume/boost to 40%.
Can you share the specific brand and model?
The "Sennheiser EPOS PC 5 Chat Lightweight Headset" is the one I have been using for the past few years. The packaging has changed a bit but the price remains the same around USD 25.
The microphone is great for recording speech. And the headphone is light and comfortable to wear for extended periods of time. The ear pads do not last for ever, but they do last between one and two years of daily use. I'm on my third pair.
Many years ago I was pointed toward and bought a cheap Logitech usb mic that was intended for that Rockband video game- the guitar hero follow-up. I got it and a desktop stand for it, and spent I think more on the stand than the mic. Works like a charm and at least using a Mac the mic doesn’t pick up the audio of the conference at all. Plus, I think it looks like I know what I’m doing using that mic.
No headset, but you’d need a private room for the presentation probably.
Edit: my suggestion is just an older, jankier version of what /u/zoroa suggested. Do what he said over my suggestion.
I personally use a vmoda boom mic with a pair of Phillips Audio Technica headphones. The boom mic is $15 right now, and if you have a pair of wired headphones with a removable cord, this can be an easy solution.
A small standalone microphone might be worth considering, like a "Samson Meteor", it plugs in with a USB cable and it has a monitoring function, meaning you can connect your headphones to it and hear how loud you sound to everyone else. The sound quality will probably be a lot better than any headset+mic combo you could find for the same price.
I'm gonna join the crowd of others that suggested you just get a separate microphone. You can avoid so many audio issues that way, plus you're 99% of the time guaranteed to sound better than with a headset mic.
The Fifine A6V is 30 bucks and is more than enough for zoom calls (can turn off the rgb if you don't like the look). They also have a cheaper one that's ~25 bucks. Fifine also sell a complete mic kit with a boom arm and shock mount for like 50 that's more than acceptable.
Then just plug some cheap earbuds (or even the headset you use now) to listen to others and you're done.
I can assure you you'll sound a lot better that way and and probably even save money too as headsets with decent-ish mics are typically in the 50+ dollar range.