Wednesday, September 25, 2019

Comparing a Desktop Microphone and a Headset Microphone for use in On-line Classes

Recently, while playing back some of my recorded classes, I found the sounds coming from my keyboard very annoying - my guess is that it is annoying for my students too. The microphone that I use for my on-line classes is the excellent Samson Go Mic. For voice it is perfect. I position it in front of me on my desk and just in front of my screen. Unfortunately, my keyboard is just in front of the microphone - hence the annoying background keyboard noise.

One option to overcome this was to get a silent/quiet keyboard. However, I have been advised to use a headset instead as it has a directional microphone that is designed to optimize my voice, and not to pick up too much background noise. I have an excellent Creative Labs headset - so I decided to run a test to compare the desktop microphone with the headset to see which (if either) were better for reducing keyboard noise.

First - the Samson Go Mic...


Next, the Creative Labs head set...



Wow - a head set really makes a difference!

However - I find the sound quality for voice way better using the Go Mic, and I certainly don't want to be wearing a headset when I don't need the head phones during a 2 to 3 hour class. More experimentation necessary!

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