Optimizing Musical Sound on Zoom
Found in: Equipment, Online Learning, Teaching Online Lessons, Technology
Ian B., California
IMPORTANT UPDATE to Zoom. In addition to all of the security enhancements that have been made to the Zoom mettings desktop client and apps, they have also added ORIGINAL SOUND for mobile devices!šš„³š
This is available for all iOS and Android devices. On iOS devices, you will need to update the app to version 4.6.10
If you donāt know why this setting is important, Iāll just preface by saying this is an INTERMEDIATE to ADVANCED setup…but, it is a VERY USEFUL setting in order to actually hear your studentsā piano and have them hear you clearly as well.
Zoom is set, by default, to favor the human voice…NOT PIANO or music. So you may have noticed that the sound of the piano fluctuates both in quality and volume during a Zoom meeting. The internet connection is only a small part of the reason for this. The main reason is that the software (Zoom) is not really ālisteningā actively to the piano. Itās listening for a human voice. And it tries to turn down and cut out anything in the background that doesnāt sound like a human voice š
So, if you want Zoom to NOT process these ābackground noisesā (i.e. the studentās piano), there is a setting that turns off Zoomās filters and just lets you (or the student) hear whatever the microphone picks up, without turning it down or anything. The video below explains this setting better and shows you how to access it in the PC/Laptop version of the software. Now, Zoom has added this setting to mobile devices as well, which is great.
Mark M., New York
In addition to “Original Sound,” many out there are recommending these additional settings to optimize Zoom for music: disable “Suppress Persistent Background Noise,” disable “Suppress Intermittent Background Noise,” and ensure that “Echo Cancellation” is left on “Auto.” These are all found on the same “Advanced” audio options screen as the checkbox to show the in-meeting option to enable Original Sound. I believe they are only available on the laptop/desktop version of Zoom, not the mobile versions for smartphones/tablets. Tutorial/screenshots at https://macintoshhowto.com/audio/how-to-get-good-sound-from-video-or-music-over-zoom.html
Original discussion started April 9, 2020