9 ms·

Webcam, Lights, and Audio for Remote Work, Podcasting, Videos, and Streaming

309 points by ryanmaynard 7y ago

jamestomasino 7y ago
I was a bit surprised to see the recommendation of another inline preamp in the chain with the Focusrite. He recommends a TRITON AUDIO FetHead Filter in-Line Microphone Preamp. Does anyone have further experience with this setup? I've been using my MXL Mics 770 Cardioid Condenser Microphone with a Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 with nothing in-between. I know I've got the gain dialed up pretty high but it never occurred to me to put something else in between them. I'd love to hear your experiences and recommendations. Is an in-line preamp worth it?
- meheleventyone 7y ago
  I don't see that recommendation in the article. Rather it's specific to the SM7B which is famously pretty quiet. I use a Cloudlifter with my SM-58 just because the gain it provides is a lot cleaner than my interface (Audiobox iOne) seems to provide at the top end.
  - geerlingguy 7y ago
    It also gives you a little more headroom for doing things like talking at a greater distance from the mic (e.g. talk at 6-10" from the mic and still get great signal). Of course, if the room acoustics are horrible, that's not going to sound nearly as good as talking close to the mic, but if you have a decent sounding room it is freeing to not have to be close (and a good mic won't necessarily sound worse at slightly longer distances).
- echelon 7y ago
  I use Scarlett 4i4, Cloudlifter, and a Shure SM7B mic. Before getting the Cloudlifter, my audio was whisper quiet even with the gain cranked all the way up. I highly recommend it for a SM7B. I couldn't be happier with my current setup. It sounds fantastic now.
  - rimliu 7y ago
    Maybe worth noting that SM7B is a dynamic microphone and notoriously quiet one.
    - jamestomasino 7y ago
      It turns out the key for me was that my mic requires phantom power and that the Fethead blocks it from reaching the mic. There are apparently some versions of the Fethead that allow pass-through of phantom power, but not the one I tried. I guess I'm stuck with the gain from the mic & the 2i2 as-is.
- lostapathy 7y ago
  I run a Shure SM57 - which is not exactly the same mic, but it's a very similar dynamic microphone that's also VERY quiet. I run it into a Scarlett 2i4 - and it was terrible before I bought the FetHead. The preamp in the Scarlett just can't bring that microphone up to reasonable levels without picking up a LOT of hiss and noise - it sounded like garbage. Adding the FetHead totally fixed that. You're running a condenser mic that's going to be a lot "louder" on it's own. Running the gain pretty high is fine if it doesn't seem noisey to you. It was 100% obvious I needed to do something else when I first attached my mic directly to the Scarlett.
- schrijver 7y ago
  The preamps in your Focusrite are decent, and you have a condensor microphone which is probably louder than the dynamic microphone used for the video. You’re fine I’d say! If you’d want more control over the sound before it goes into the computer, than a kind of channel strip unit with a preamp compressor and eq could make sense, although you can do all that in OBS as well.
m00dy 7y ago
A little off topic: has anyone managed to have chroma key effect on Mac ? I'm also thinking to have almost same concept youtube channel. But, I also want to have chroma-key background. any ideas ?
- DAlperin 7y ago
  I think OBS will do live keying.
  - m00dy 7y ago
    I'm also looking for its virtual-camera plugin which is only window :(
    - wdroz 7y ago
      I'm was looking (still looking actually) for a virtual camera for GNU/Linux, but all the solutions I found involve lot of hacks. That would be awesome to be able to switch scenes from OBS inside a "corporate" video conference setup.
      - jnwatson 7y ago
        I've done it without too much trouble. I did have to compile and load a small kernel module, but it wasn't too hard. I have notes on how I did it if you're interested. Most of my time was spent in OBS tweaking the look.
- osteele 7y ago
  iMovie, Adobe Premier, Final Cut Pro, and Screenflow (screen casting software) all have chromakey. The Zoom app, and the Logitech C922, each have live background replacement ("virtual green screen"). For post-production without a physical green screen, you can use a green rectangle as your virtual background in Zoom or with the Logitech, import into iMovie etc., and chromakey there.
- lostapathy 7y ago
SuddsMcDuff 7y ago
I think the section on mics could be enhanced by explaining a little about the different pickup patterns available. A cardioid pickup is a lot more appropriate for these uses than an omni pickup would be. The author mentions the Yeti mic picking up a lot of background noise - I'd bet that that mic has an omni pick up pattern. Some mics even have a small switch which allows you to cycle between different pickup patterns. EDIT: While I've always known them as pickup patterns, I've just noticed that Wikipedia refers to them as polar patterns. I assume this is a more universal term.
- dalore 7y ago
  There is a switch on the Yet that gives you 4 different pickup patterns. https://www.bluedesigns.com/products/yeti/ https://www.bluedesigns.com/products/yeti/ - cardioid - stereo - omni - bi
  - ravenstine 7y ago
    I use my Blue Yeti on cardioid mode without headphones and the noise picked up is relatively minimal. My apartment is pretty quiet to begin with, but cardioid limits some of the noise and also seems to prevent feedback. (which is taken care of to some degree by the software, but I never have issues when cardioid is on)
    - SuddsMcDuff 7y ago
      Do you remember what the factory default was? I expect most people who aren't au fait with pickup patterns will either leave it on the factory default or put it in stereo (which looks very similar to omni).
      - ravenstine 7y ago
        Unfortunately, I don't.
- klodolph 7y ago
  Most inexpensive mics ($100-$400) are cardioid only, but I’d say the most important information is how to do placement. Beginners think in terms of pointing the microphone at a sound source you want to pick up, but you should also think about what directions the microphone rejects and point the mic away from noise sources you don’t want to hear. That, and stop putting the mic so damn close to your mouth.
whitehouse3 7y ago
It’s disappointing to see the Shure SM7B recommended so widely for use in residential environments. While Shure’s classic offering is popular among 2020 media creators (Joe Rogan, Bret Weinstein, and streamers like Tfue or SypherPK) it is still cruel and unforgiving of poor microphone technique, audio reflection, and background noise. Considering its high noise floor when driven by all but the nicest preamps, other options are just more attractive overall. It’s not that the SM7B is bad. Like any high end tool it requires to skill (and other high end tools) to be effective. Even in amateur hands it can sound great. But for $350 the average podcaster, streamer, or remote worker can do much better. Otherwise this article is great.
- kwerk 7y ago
  What would you recommend?
  - whitehouse3 7y ago
    Shure's SM58 and SM57 have the same capsule as the SM7B for 1/3 the price and fuss. Like the Rolex Submariner, the SM58 has been cloned at lower and lower prices since its introduction. The design is solid regardless of the price point. Imitations from Pyle and Audio Technica sound great and cost less, but aren't as rugged. If you _want_ to spend money for more pleasing tone the Beta 87A from Shure is outstanding. As are similar cardioid microphones from Electro Voice and Neumann
    - 52-6F-62 7y ago
      I will 100% back up the SM57 (to a slightly lesser extend the SM58, but it's still an easy make). I've also had no problems with Samson C02s[0] (though they can be bright if you don't EQ them well, but have great isolation) and the MXL 2003A[1] (much warmer—great for vox all around). All are relatively affordable. [0] http://www.samsontech.com/samson/products/microphones/condenser-microphones/c02/ http://www.samsontech.com/samson/products/microphones/conden... [1] http://www.mxlmics.com/microphones/studio/2003/ http://www.mxlmics.com/microphones/studio/2003/
    - 7y ago
nickjj 7y ago
You can spend $700+ on his high end audio recommendations but 90% of home office style recording environments (even with acoustic panels) are going to have a noticeable amount of background hiss (computer fans, etc.) get picked up and his set up doesn't account for that. If you goto the OP's Youtube channel and listen to his recordings, for example https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lh0sTxLs9VA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lh0sTxLs9VA, there is a HUGE amount of hiss / static in his audio, to the point where I would be uncomfortable listening to his voice for a long period of time at a medium volume. He's using the $400 Shure mic in that video too. The $100 for the dedicated 2nd pre-amp with the Triton seems pretty wasteful. As an alternative, for $299 you can pick up the DBX 286s pre-amp[0] which also acts as a noise gate (helps filter hiss / static), de-esser, compressor and basic EQ together. It's an awesome piece of hardware and offers way more bang for your buck. Also the AT2005[1] mic is a solid upgrade from the AT2100 that he recommends, and both are about the same price. IMO the AT2005 is worth using as an end-game microphone. The AT2005 is one of those crazy mics where it almost feels like it's mis-priced at $80 and the DBX 286 has enough knobs and buttons to make it sound good with a number of different types of voices. Ultimately your real natural voice is going to play one of the biggest roles in how you sound in the end. [0]: https://amzn.to/2VPbmMc https://amzn.to/2VPbmMc [1]: https://amzn.to/39hyQwI https://amzn.to/39hyQwI (Yes these are affiliate links, I've been using both pieces of hardware for years)
- ghaff 7y ago
  I'm somewhat guilty of it as well, but a lot of people geek out on the gear side and spend money to optimize a fairly small part of the overall audio experience. Most of what I record for podcasts these days is on location anyway and I know I don't personally have a "radio voice." So I do what I can to get reasonable audio quality but don't sweat the details too much.
  - nickjj 7y ago
    > I'm somewhat guilty of it as well, but a lot of people geek out on the gear side and spend money to optimize a fairly small part of the overall audio experience. There's nothing wrong with buying gear. It's just, he lists that set up as a "professional" podcast set up but forgot to mention the most important piece of hardware (or software) to get rid of continuous background noise. If you're going to listen to someone talk for an hour, having a bunch of white noise hiss in the background is very tiring on your ears. If you read that article without years of prior audio experience you might just blindly click those links and buy the top end set up, and then get upset that you just dropped $700 on a set up that sounds worse than what you could have gotten for $80 (+ free software) or half that in pure hardware but spending your budget on different hardware.
iambateman 7y ago
I just did a bunch of this over Christmas, and it was a ton of fun to set up. The way I see it...people work in these offices that cost hundreds of thousands, so I will benefit from looking somewhat professional on my calls from home. One frustrating note: we use RingCentral/Zoom at work, and they only work with the Elgato CamLink once. After one call with proper video, I have to reset my PRAM.
kh_hk 7y ago
To be honest, investing in a whole studio setup for remote work seems to go against one of the biggest perks of remote work itself: freedom. Stock is usually good enough. That money is better invested on a pair of comfortable headphones, and also some good on-the-go light headphones with micro to hold remote calls outside of a quiet environment.
- ghaff 7y ago
  It mostly seems unnecessary even if I'm doing calls from my office, as opposed to when I'm traveling or otherwise not at home. I have a dedicated office with decent lighting (and not backlit) and a good Logitech webcam. That's more than a lot of people I work with have. Anything more would really be overkill and probably not even noticeable on a typical video call.
  - pc86 7y ago
    Hell, I've been trying to get coworkers to just get webcams and it is an uphill battle. There is so much non-verbal communication that you lose working remote, it's harder still when you can't even see the person.
    - ghaff 7y ago
      A number of teams I work with have fairly strict "Cameras on unless there's some reason you can't (e.g. you're driving)" rules. In general, I think it's a good idea. I know not everyone likes video but it's one of those things you should really do IMO if everyone isn't co-located.
- ericbarnes 7y ago
  It seems like you are forgetting freedom means different things to different people. Look at the world outside your lens. For me, freedom is not driving in rush hour and being home when my kids get home from school. Having a dedicated setup makes complete sense.
- Proziam 7y ago
  Freedom to arrange my workspace in whatever form makes me the most effective, productive, and comfortable sounds like freedom to me. But most importantly, I'm 100% sure my expensive ($1500-ish?) audio setup has been a competitive advantage for me. I've had numerous people comment that they are relieved when they find out they can comfortably converse with me, and how outside the norm that is. From my own experience, I can attest that most people are oblivious to the discomfort they can cause by not putting reasonable effort into the quality of their team or client's experience. Two things annoy me greatly enough to want to avoid having to work with someone. 1. Being late / unprepared / distracted in meetings 2. Having to tolerate a literal headache due to background noise, awful sound quality, or constant technical issues during a call.
Sholmesy 7y ago
Somewhat off topic, but I've thought this would be quite a useful thing to do just for helping my focus while working, kind of like having a permanant rubber duck. Has anyone ever had experience of "live coding" at a company, and if so, how do you manage things like, not broadcasting a database secret, etc. Are there any examples of companies letting people record their work? I remember a lot of videos floating around about "a day in the life at X" style things.
- Cthulhu_ 7y ago
  Re: secrets, I'd say never work on production while streaming. Don't keep production credentials on your local machine either. Keep a local .env.development file with local credentials ONLY. If you work in the cloud, usually database secrets and the like will be obscured as well in password fields. Same as in password managers, e.g. 1password has a 'copy' button, and displaying it is an explicit button you have to press.
- mrdonbrown 7y ago
  Actually, I just started doing this yesterday. I had streamed a handful of times on Twitch (channel the same name as my username here) for side projects before, but I just joined a startup as a co-founder and decided to try streaming during work hours. A couple tips: - Use multiple monitors - this is almost a hard requirement - Separate secrets into their own files. - Exclude secret files from your IDE/editor search - Make the second monitor the main monitor so notifications and what not go there - On that second (or third monitor), put everything that isn't your editor Be prepared for few to no viewers. Remember the point is to help keep you focused, not get attention.
zebrafish 7y ago
One item that the author didn't touch on was internet connection. I would imagine that streaming with a 4k camera, even with codecs and compression and stuff that i know little about, would both take a decent sized upload pipe as well as no capping on uploaded data. Does anyone have more info about this piece of the set up?
- geerlingguy 7y ago
  15-20 Mbps uplink will be enough for most situations, at 4K. It's not like you'll be streaming ProRes or some other minimal/no-compression data. You should be encoding a compressed stream and sending that to the streaming service. For 1080p, you can probably get by with 10-15 Mbps up, though it is better to have more bandwidth since you might have other things pushing data up at the same time.
- dawnerd 7y ago
  What remote meeting app even supports 4K? Of all the ones I’ve seen they barely can even do 720 and even then it’s almost always pixelated at some point.
geocrasher 7y ago
I hope that nobody reading this thinks you HAVE to have these things to work from home. I've been WFH for the better part of a decade. Audio: A $25 Logitech H390. Video: A MS 720p webcam. Cost: Maybe $60 USD tops? I'm not in meetings all day, but really it's not that big of a deal when I am.
ravenstine 7y ago
The value of a good mic for remote work cannot be understated. One of the worst aspects of my job as a remote developer has been working with people with crappy microphones. I worked with one client whose conference mic was so low-fi that a lot of what they were saying in meetings was incomprehensible. (I told them about this, but they didn't seem to care, which is why I'm glad I'm not working with them anymore) Going against what the author suggests, I purchased a Blue Yeti mic. The reason I went for it is that I want my coworkers to not have to strain to hear me. Ideally, it should sound as if I'm in the same room with them. With cardioid mode turned on, I can use the mic with my MacBook Pro speakers as the output channel and never have feedback issues. My home is quiet, so I never have issues with bad noises coming through. If I'm at a cafe, that's when I'll use my AirPods. However, I use my Yeti mic when possible. A few of my other coworkers have since bought a Blue Yeti or a Razer Seiren, and it makes a world of difference.
- slantyyz 7y ago
  I used to use a Snowball, which worked great, but it obstructed my view of my 4 monitor setup. I currently use a Blue Snowflake, and it's been working very well. It's small and inobtrusive, and I haven't heard any complaints about the audio for calls. For a podcast, however, I would probably go back to the Snowball or higher end mic.
- kraftman 7y ago
  I've had a very different experience. I work remotely and sometimes others at my company do, the people who are remote are always so much easier to hear than the people in big echoey conference rooms, no matter what mics they are using.
falcolas 7y ago
Another audio option I don't see mentioned often is a headset with a boom microphone. Some of my best sounding coworkers have these. They also typically have ambient sound rejection, meaning you can be in a relatively noisy environment (AC) and still sound good. A nice pair of headphones can have a boom mike added with little hassle, using something like an Antlion Modmic.
uncensoredjrk 7y ago
Spending money on decent lights and cameras to then block the view with a GIANT microphone doesn't make sense to me. I've been involved with professional audio for 23 years--if I were doing this, I would use a decent single ear, earset style mic. That would keep the mic out of view, provide excellent sound quality, and keep the audio consistent if you turn your head (away from a fixed mic). It actually drives me nuts when podcasters use the SM7B mic and have their low-end cranked or don't apply a strong enough HPF to compensate for the mic's proximity effect. That's incredibly tiring to my ears--I usually end up reducing the low end via my playback device's EQ. 99% of the pre-amp options don't matter as long as you get a strong, clean signal into a decent ADC stage. Spend your efforts on learning how to properly process the signal chain instead (apply High-pass filter, proper gain, apply dynamic compression, possibly EQ/de-ess, etc.). Sorry for the rant. :)
- klodolph 7y ago
  > 99% of the pre-amp options don't matter as long as you get a strong, clean signal into a decent ADC stage. It turns out this is actually hard, when you use inexpensive preamps, typical microphones, and you’re recording voice at home. Getting a strong signal means more gain than onboard preamps in inexpensive interfaces typically provide, which is why you might want to get an outboard preamp or use an inline device like the fethead. Getting a clean signal means learning how to do mic placement, doing some room treatment, etc. From what I understand, there’s a limit to how much clean gain you can get from a single amplifier stage, and it’s often just not enough. I was very skeptical about getting an outboard preamp but it ended up making a much larger difference than I thought it would.
- emilburzo 7y ago
  > I would use a decent single ear, earset style mic. Any specific ones you'd recommend?
Pigo 7y ago
I recently got a green screen to use during my video conferencing. I thought it would be fun just to mess with my co-workers, make it look like I'm on the Mars or something. I've yet to figure out how to get it to work with gotomeeting/skype/hangouts video though. I've found apps that can do it for recorded video, but I suppose it's on the camera to have the chroma effect available. Which the one I have doesn't do. I don't want to spend too much just for a joke.
- tga 7y ago
  Check out http://camtwiststudio.com http://camtwiststudio.com or http://manycam.com http://manycam.com.
- emilburzo 7y ago
  Zoom has this feature built-in, it's called virtual background. https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/210707503-Virtual-Background?mobile_site=true https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/210707503-Virtual-...
- jnwatson 7y ago
  I've done it for shits and giggles. Every once in a while I set it up when the team needs a laugh. If you use Linux, it isn't too hard to set up a virtual camera source that OBS Studio writes to.
  - Pigo 7y ago
    Thanks, I think this is what I need. I've done it with some streaming software out there. But it needs to come from a camera source to spoof it into a regular Hangouts meet I believe.
    - jnwatson 7y ago
      That's what I use it for.
    - jnwatson 7y ago
      Here are my rough notes. mkdir -p ~/src cd ~/src sudo add-apt-repository ppa:obsproject/obs-studio sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install obs-studio sudo apt install qtbase5-dev git clone --recursive https://github.com/obsproject/obs-studio.git git clone https://github.com/CatxFish/obs-v4l2sink.git cd obs-v4l2sink mkdir build && cd build cmake -DLIBOBS_INCLUDE_DIR="../../obs-studio/libobs" -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=/usr .. make -j4 sudo make install cd ../.. git clone https://github.com/umlaeute/v4l2loopback.git cd v4l2loopback/ sudo apt install libelf-dev make sudo make install sudo depmod -a ls /dev/video* sudo modprobe v4l2loopback exclusive_caps=1 video_nr=9 ls /dev/video* You should see a video9 Open OBS Tools menu -> V4L2 Video Output (It will look really squished, but you only have to do this once) Path to V4L2 Device: enter /dev/video9 Hit Start button, close window In Sources pane near lower left, hit the "+" button, then Video Capture Device (V4L2) In new dialog, select your actual webcam (not the new device) In resolution, select 1920 x 1080 Now you can test: hit the "Start Recording" button in lower right.
exabrial 7y ago
One thing he didn't differentiate on was the microphone and its appearance in video casting. While there are many good choices, the Shure SM7B is the quintessential desk or studio microphone for recording vocals. However, it is a bulky monster and will take up a _lot_ of real estate in a video frame. If you're audio-only, that's not an issue, your vocals will sound awesome. For video, I really think an off-camera mic on a boom stand in sound treated room is the best option for seated, stationary casting. Many hypercardioid vocal microphones most people have actually work fairly well in this setup. Treating panels doesn't even need to be expensive; this youtuber made really nice looking ones from towels: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVEXp87TTrs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVEXp87TTrs I don't like the sound or intrusive look of a lapel mic or the noise it picks up, for moving sequences, it's probably the best option unless you can hire a grip.
- eropple 7y ago
  I love me a good boom mic (as mentioned in my own post I have a Synco D2, which is a shockingly good Sennheiser MKH416 knockoff, sitting above my head right now) but they do have disadvantages. If you have a mechanical keyboard, it's really hard to position one 1) out of frame, and 2) so the pickup area isn't gonna be going rattle-rattle-rattle. There's no great middle ground. I'd rather have it than a SM7B, though, that's for sure.
- dundercoder 7y ago
  Surprisingly the monoprice 600700 pencil condenser with a hypercardiod capsule works really well for this, and it’s way cheaper than mid range shotguns.
eropple 7y ago
A few things: - Sony makes great cameras but the lenses are expensive. You can get an old Panasonic GH3 and a camlink and the lenses will be cheaper, while the image quality won't (for this sort of use) be affected much at all. - You don't need a freakin' SM7B for this stuff. I do audio engineering as one of my too-many side gigs and the most expensive microphone I own is the Synco D2, an interesting little MKH416 knockoff shotgun microphone. It was $225. It's above my head right now, I was on a call an hour ago. It's out of frame and it sounds great. While the PR40 (which personally I prefer to a SM7B) or the SM7B are great mics for what they are, the delta between them and much cheaper competitors is not that significant. - You don't really need hardware to tune your audio stack, aside possibly from a preamp if you bought the wrong microphone (in this case, defined as "the SM7B"). Use your computer. It's fast enough, it can save multiple presets, and it will get out of your way. - Software matters. I use vMix for everything: live streaming and recording. This is where I recommend spending money. vMix has a reasonably featured (for the purpose--videography and audio to go with it) audio system, able to use ASIO with Windows and to use VSTs. It can support half a dozen cameras (my road kit uses 4, my home setup uses 6) and as many voices as your interface can, while supporting multi-record for archival footage/alternate takes and a nice tablet-control interface that's topped only by Logic Remote in this space (and if you're only doing audio, Logic Pro on a Mac is a no-brainer).
joelrunyon 7y ago
I've been doing remote work and videos for a while. I sort of took my built-in camera for granted even though I've had better tools available. Recently, started using the base logitech webcam and have gotten several mentions about how much better the video is from people on the other side of the calls. That sort of drove it home for me. Don't know why it took me so long for it to "hit" - gonna probably pick up a couple things in this post - thanks.
PaulDavisThe1st 7y ago
One small point I'd like to make regarding USB mics (and USB headsets): the #1 rule of digital audio is to only have a single sample clock for the entire system (the sample clock is the thing that defines when a voltage value gets converted to/generated from a digital sample). Although I understand the plug-n-play appeal of these devices, they uniformly violate this rule because they cannot share whatever sample clock is being used for the other "direction" (i.e. the USB mic has its own clock, which is independent from the one used for playback). Using these sorts of devices implicitly requires the audio software stack to do resampling to keep both input and output in sync with each other. For podcasting the change in quality that this causes is probably not an issue, but users should at least be aware this is happening under the hood. You're much better off getting a cheap USB audio interface, an XLR mic and doing both recording and playback via the same device (with a single sample clock).
- zigzaggy 7y ago
  What would that look like? Can you provide a couple of specific pieces of hardware examples?
  - PaulDavisThe1st 7y ago
    Any USB audio interface such as those made by Focusrite, MOTU and many others. That plugs into your computer. Any XLR mic, such as the Shure models mentioned in the article. That plugs into the audio interface. Any (analog+wired) headphones (you'll have my MDR-7506s over my dead body). These plug into the audio interface. Done.
- sysashi 7y ago
  I've recently made a present for myself on birthday - behringer umc22 + sm 58 mic. previous to that present were m40x headphones. After using those headphones for couple years, I now see the difference between audio output of a laptop and simple interface like umc22 (which has own DAC + amp as I understand). I have not found much use for mic yet (guess no one has called me since), besides recording birds outside, and generally having fun with it :D but I definitely love how headphones sound after getting audio interface (or DAC+amp part of it)
sbr464 7y ago
Surprised the Blackmagic Design Web Presenter wasn't mentioned. It has several nice features including switching between 2 feeds without latency. https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/products/blackmagicwebpresenter https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/products/blackmagicwebprese...
- schrijver 7y ago
  I have the Elgato Camlink, which is way cheaper, but I’ve been wondering whether the Web Presenter would be a more foolproof solution. For OBS the Camlink is fine, because I’m able to get a signal by manually configuring the source frame rate. But non of the cameras I’ve tried will show up in Skype—or if they do, they drop out at some point. How is your experience with the Web Presenter, does it show up as a webcam reliably across software?
  - sbr464 7y ago
    From my experience it shows up reliably, using any web related platform, and also dev work with webcam related react/JS libraries, the BMD device works well. (No different than the built in Mac/etc camera.
mirimir 7y ago
I'd hate having a webcam for remote work. I mean, I'd need to get dressed :(
ctingom 7y ago
I've recently been thinking about really improving my home office lighting setup. For example, most of my meetings are with Zoom and on video, and proper studio lighting can go a long way to making a good impression. We all want to look good, right?
- Insanity 7y ago
  I've been thinking the same, well that I need to get better lighting in general - I have remote calls daily and during the summer that's fine because there's sunlight all the time whilst I'm working. But now in the winter, it gets dark quite early and my normal room lighting is not bright enough. Doesn't make me look exactly as if I'm sitting in the dark but it's close to it :P
outworlder 7y ago
> Mine is the C930e, but Wirecutter now recommends the c920s, which is cheaper and adds a privacy shield. Ah, Wirecutter. The same guys who will one year absolutely recommend dual-hose portable ACs (and cite many sources, including the Department of Energy) and utterly demolish the efficiency of single hose models. Then, next year, say that this is not actually important at all. Because they are less practical or something. Which is an argument they themselves discarded just one year prior. What changed? That's left as an exercise for the reader. They may be fine if you use them to check products that you might otherwise have missed. But as far as recommendations go, I'm not sure they have no agenda.
Mikho 7y ago
Doesn't look like the author really did research on the equipment. Almost everything except maybe lighting is a wrong choice or combination.
TheBlerch 7y ago
Any suggestions for maintaining sound and video quality when you are interviewing/featuring someone remote, who does not have any special sound or video equipment beyond what they have on their laptop? Would you keep a modest kit with decent webcam and mic that you can mail them with a return label? I've heard of at least one podcaster doing this. The comments here were as helpful as the original post - thanks all.
federalemployee 7y ago
I hate doing video on calls. But I might be more willing with a stylish red beanie. My appearance is my biggest concern and a stylish hat is a good idea.

309 points by ryanmaynard 7y ago

I was a bit surprised to see the recommendation of another inline preamp in the chain with the Focusrite. He recommends a TRITON AUDIO FetHead Filter in-Line Microphone Preamp. Does anyone have further experience with this setup? I've been using my MXL Mics 770 Cardioid Condenser Microphone with a Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 with nothing in-between. I know I've got the gain dialed up pretty high but it never occurred to me to put something else in between them. I'd love to hear your experiences and recommendations. Is an in-line preamp worth it?

meheleventyone 7y ago
I don't see that recommendation in the article. Rather it's specific to the SM7B which is famously pretty quiet. I use a Cloudlifter with my SM-58 just because the gain it provides is a lot cleaner than my interface (Audiobox iOne) seems to provide at the top end.
- geerlingguy 7y ago
  It also gives you a little more headroom for doing things like talking at a greater distance from the mic (e.g. talk at 6-10" from the mic and still get great signal). Of course, if the room acoustics are horrible, that's not going to sound nearly as good as talking close to the mic, but if you have a decent sounding room it is freeing to not have to be close (and a good mic won't necessarily sound worse at slightly longer distances).
echelon 7y ago
I use Scarlett 4i4, Cloudlifter, and a Shure SM7B mic. Before getting the Cloudlifter, my audio was whisper quiet even with the gain cranked all the way up. I highly recommend it for a SM7B. I couldn't be happier with my current setup. It sounds fantastic now.
- rimliu 7y ago
  Maybe worth noting that SM7B is a dynamic microphone and notoriously quiet one.
  - jamestomasino 7y ago
    It turns out the key for me was that my mic requires phantom power and that the Fethead blocks it from reaching the mic. There are apparently some versions of the Fethead that allow pass-through of phantom power, but not the one I tried. I guess I'm stuck with the gain from the mic & the 2i2 as-is.
lostapathy 7y ago
I run a Shure SM57 - which is not exactly the same mic, but it's a very similar dynamic microphone that's also VERY quiet. I run it into a Scarlett 2i4 - and it was terrible before I bought the FetHead. The preamp in the Scarlett just can't bring that microphone up to reasonable levels without picking up a LOT of hiss and noise - it sounded like garbage. Adding the FetHead totally fixed that. You're running a condenser mic that's going to be a lot "louder" on it's own. Running the gain pretty high is fine if it doesn't seem noisey to you. It was 100% obvious I needed to do something else when I first attached my mic directly to the Scarlett.
schrijver 7y ago
The preamps in your Focusrite are decent, and you have a condensor microphone which is probably louder than the dynamic microphone used for the video. You’re fine I’d say! If you’d want more control over the sound before it goes into the computer, than a kind of channel strip unit with a preamp compressor and eq could make sense, although you can do all that in OBS as well.

m00dy 7y ago

A little off topic: has anyone managed to have chroma key effect on Mac ? I'm also thinking to have almost same concept youtube channel. But, I also want to have chroma-key background. any ideas ?

DAlperin 7y ago
I think OBS will do live keying.
- m00dy 7y ago
  I'm also looking for its virtual-camera plugin which is only window :(
  - wdroz 7y ago
    I'm was looking (still looking actually) for a virtual camera for GNU/Linux, but all the solutions I found involve lot of hacks. That would be awesome to be able to switch scenes from OBS inside a "corporate" video conference setup.
    - jnwatson 7y ago
      I've done it without too much trouble. I did have to compile and load a small kernel module, but it wasn't too hard. I have notes on how I did it if you're interested. Most of my time was spent in OBS tweaking the look.
osteele 7y ago
iMovie, Adobe Premier, Final Cut Pro, and Screenflow (screen casting software) all have chromakey. The Zoom app, and the Logitech C922, each have live background replacement ("virtual green screen"). For post-production without a physical green screen, you can use a green rectangle as your virtual background in Zoom or with the Logitech, import into iMovie etc., and chromakey there.
lostapathy 7y ago

SuddsMcDuff 7y ago

I think the section on mics could be enhanced by explaining a little about the different pickup patterns available. A cardioid pickup is a lot more appropriate for these uses than an omni pickup would be. The author mentions the Yeti mic picking up a lot of background noise - I'd bet that that mic has an omni pick up pattern. Some mics even have a small switch which allows you to cycle between different pickup patterns. EDIT: While I've always known them as pickup patterns, I've just noticed that Wikipedia refers to them as polar patterns. I assume this is a more universal term.

dalore 7y ago
There is a switch on the Yet that gives you 4 different pickup patterns. https://www.bluedesigns.com/products/yeti/ https://www.bluedesigns.com/products/yeti/ - cardioid - stereo - omni - bi
- ravenstine 7y ago
  I use my Blue Yeti on cardioid mode without headphones and the noise picked up is relatively minimal. My apartment is pretty quiet to begin with, but cardioid limits some of the noise and also seems to prevent feedback. (which is taken care of to some degree by the software, but I never have issues when cardioid is on)
  - SuddsMcDuff 7y ago
    Do you remember what the factory default was? I expect most people who aren't au fait with pickup patterns will either leave it on the factory default or put it in stereo (which looks very similar to omni).
    - ravenstine 7y ago
      Unfortunately, I don't.
klodolph 7y ago
Most inexpensive mics ($100-$400) are cardioid only, but I’d say the most important information is how to do placement. Beginners think in terms of pointing the microphone at a sound source you want to pick up, but you should also think about what directions the microphone rejects and point the mic away from noise sources you don’t want to hear. That, and stop putting the mic so damn close to your mouth.

whitehouse3 7y ago

It’s disappointing to see the Shure SM7B recommended so widely for use in residential environments. While Shure’s classic offering is popular among 2020 media creators (Joe Rogan, Bret Weinstein, and streamers like Tfue or SypherPK) it is still cruel and unforgiving of poor microphone technique, audio reflection, and background noise. Considering its high noise floor when driven by all but the nicest preamps, other options are just more attractive overall. It’s not that the SM7B is bad. Like any high end tool it requires to skill (and other high end tools) to be effective. Even in amateur hands it can sound great. But for $350 the average podcaster, streamer, or remote worker can do much better. Otherwise this article is great.

kwerk 7y ago
What would you recommend?
- whitehouse3 7y ago
  Shure's SM58 and SM57 have the same capsule as the SM7B for 1/3 the price and fuss. Like the Rolex Submariner, the SM58 has been cloned at lower and lower prices since its introduction. The design is solid regardless of the price point. Imitations from Pyle and Audio Technica sound great and cost less, but aren't as rugged. If you _want_ to spend money for more pleasing tone the Beta 87A from Shure is outstanding. As are similar cardioid microphones from Electro Voice and Neumann
  - 52-6F-62 7y ago
    I will 100% back up the SM57 (to a slightly lesser extend the SM58, but it's still an easy make). I've also had no problems with Samson C02s[0] (though they can be bright if you don't EQ them well, but have great isolation) and the MXL 2003A[1] (much warmer—great for vox all around). All are relatively affordable. [0] http://www.samsontech.com/samson/products/microphones/condenser-microphones/c02/ http://www.samsontech.com/samson/products/microphones/conden... [1] http://www.mxlmics.com/microphones/studio/2003/ http://www.mxlmics.com/microphones/studio/2003/
  - 7y ago

nickjj 7y ago

You can spend $700+ on his high end audio recommendations but 90% of home office style recording environments (even with acoustic panels) are going to have a noticeable amount of background hiss (computer fans, etc.) get picked up and his set up doesn't account for that. If you goto the OP's Youtube channel and listen to his recordings, for example https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lh0sTxLs9VA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lh0sTxLs9VA, there is a HUGE amount of hiss / static in his audio, to the point where I would be uncomfortable listening to his voice for a long period of time at a medium volume. He's using the $400 Shure mic in that video too. The $100 for the dedicated 2nd pre-amp with the Triton seems pretty wasteful. As an alternative, for $299 you can pick up the DBX 286s pre-amp[0] which also acts as a noise gate (helps filter hiss / static), de-esser, compressor and basic EQ together. It's an awesome piece of hardware and offers way more bang for your buck. Also the AT2005[1] mic is a solid upgrade from the AT2100 that he recommends, and both are about the same price. IMO the AT2005 is worth using as an end-game microphone. The AT2005 is one of those crazy mics where it almost feels like it's mis-priced at $80 and the DBX 286 has enough knobs and buttons to make it sound good with a number of different types of voices. Ultimately your real natural voice is going to play one of the biggest roles in how you sound in the end. [0]: https://amzn.to/2VPbmMc https://amzn.to/2VPbmMc [1]: https://amzn.to/39hyQwI https://amzn.to/39hyQwI (Yes these are affiliate links, I've been using both pieces of hardware for years)

ghaff 7y ago
I'm somewhat guilty of it as well, but a lot of people geek out on the gear side and spend money to optimize a fairly small part of the overall audio experience. Most of what I record for podcasts these days is on location anyway and I know I don't personally have a "radio voice." So I do what I can to get reasonable audio quality but don't sweat the details too much.
- nickjj 7y ago
  > I'm somewhat guilty of it as well, but a lot of people geek out on the gear side and spend money to optimize a fairly small part of the overall audio experience. There's nothing wrong with buying gear. It's just, he lists that set up as a "professional" podcast set up but forgot to mention the most important piece of hardware (or software) to get rid of continuous background noise. If you're going to listen to someone talk for an hour, having a bunch of white noise hiss in the background is very tiring on your ears. If you read that article without years of prior audio experience you might just blindly click those links and buy the top end set up, and then get upset that you just dropped $700 on a set up that sounds worse than what you could have gotten for $80 (+ free software) or half that in pure hardware but spending your budget on different hardware.

iambateman 7y ago

I just did a bunch of this over Christmas, and it was a ton of fun to set up. The way I see it...people work in these offices that cost hundreds of thousands, so I will benefit from looking somewhat professional on my calls from home. One frustrating note: we use RingCentral/Zoom at work, and they only work with the Elgato CamLink once. After one call with proper video, I have to reset my PRAM.

kh_hk 7y ago

To be honest, investing in a whole studio setup for remote work seems to go against one of the biggest perks of remote work itself: freedom. Stock is usually good enough. That money is better invested on a pair of comfortable headphones, and also some good on-the-go light headphones with micro to hold remote calls outside of a quiet environment.

ghaff 7y ago
It mostly seems unnecessary even if I'm doing calls from my office, as opposed to when I'm traveling or otherwise not at home. I have a dedicated office with decent lighting (and not backlit) and a good Logitech webcam. That's more than a lot of people I work with have. Anything more would really be overkill and probably not even noticeable on a typical video call.
- pc86 7y ago
  Hell, I've been trying to get coworkers to just get webcams and it is an uphill battle. There is so much non-verbal communication that you lose working remote, it's harder still when you can't even see the person.
  - ghaff 7y ago
    A number of teams I work with have fairly strict "Cameras on unless there's some reason you can't (e.g. you're driving)" rules. In general, I think it's a good idea. I know not everyone likes video but it's one of those things you should really do IMO if everyone isn't co-located.
ericbarnes 7y ago
It seems like you are forgetting freedom means different things to different people. Look at the world outside your lens. For me, freedom is not driving in rush hour and being home when my kids get home from school. Having a dedicated setup makes complete sense.
Proziam 7y ago
Freedom to arrange my workspace in whatever form makes me the most effective, productive, and comfortable sounds like freedom to me. But most importantly, I'm 100% sure my expensive ($1500-ish?) audio setup has been a competitive advantage for me. I've had numerous people comment that they are relieved when they find out they can comfortably converse with me, and how outside the norm that is. From my own experience, I can attest that most people are oblivious to the discomfort they can cause by not putting reasonable effort into the quality of their team or client's experience. Two things annoy me greatly enough to want to avoid having to work with someone. 1. Being late / unprepared / distracted in meetings 2. Having to tolerate a literal headache due to background noise, awful sound quality, or constant technical issues during a call.

Sholmesy 7y ago

Somewhat off topic, but I've thought this would be quite a useful thing to do just for helping my focus while working, kind of like having a permanant rubber duck. Has anyone ever had experience of "live coding" at a company, and if so, how do you manage things like, not broadcasting a database secret, etc. Are there any examples of companies letting people record their work? I remember a lot of videos floating around about "a day in the life at X" style things.

Cthulhu_ 7y ago
Re: secrets, I'd say never work on production while streaming. Don't keep production credentials on your local machine either. Keep a local .env.development file with local credentials ONLY. If you work in the cloud, usually database secrets and the like will be obscured as well in password fields. Same as in password managers, e.g. 1password has a 'copy' button, and displaying it is an explicit button you have to press.
mrdonbrown 7y ago
Actually, I just started doing this yesterday. I had streamed a handful of times on Twitch (channel the same name as my username here) for side projects before, but I just joined a startup as a co-founder and decided to try streaming during work hours. A couple tips: - Use multiple monitors - this is almost a hard requirement - Separate secrets into their own files. - Exclude secret files from your IDE/editor search - Make the second monitor the main monitor so notifications and what not go there - On that second (or third monitor), put everything that isn't your editor Be prepared for few to no viewers. Remember the point is to help keep you focused, not get attention.

zebrafish 7y ago

One item that the author didn't touch on was internet connection. I would imagine that streaming with a 4k camera, even with codecs and compression and stuff that i know little about, would both take a decent sized upload pipe as well as no capping on uploaded data. Does anyone have more info about this piece of the set up?

geerlingguy 7y ago
15-20 Mbps uplink will be enough for most situations, at 4K. It's not like you'll be streaming ProRes or some other minimal/no-compression data. You should be encoding a compressed stream and sending that to the streaming service. For 1080p, you can probably get by with 10-15 Mbps up, though it is better to have more bandwidth since you might have other things pushing data up at the same time.
dawnerd 7y ago
What remote meeting app even supports 4K? Of all the ones I’ve seen they barely can even do 720 and even then it’s almost always pixelated at some point.

geocrasher 7y ago

I hope that nobody reading this thinks you HAVE to have these things to work from home. I've been WFH for the better part of a decade. Audio: A $25 Logitech H390. Video: A MS 720p webcam. Cost: Maybe $60 USD tops? I'm not in meetings all day, but really it's not that big of a deal when I am.

ravenstine 7y ago

The value of a good mic for remote work cannot be understated. One of the worst aspects of my job as a remote developer has been working with people with crappy microphones. I worked with one client whose conference mic was so low-fi that a lot of what they were saying in meetings was incomprehensible. (I told them about this, but they didn't seem to care, which is why I'm glad I'm not working with them anymore) Going against what the author suggests, I purchased a Blue Yeti mic. The reason I went for it is that I want my coworkers to not have to strain to hear me. Ideally, it should sound as if I'm in the same room with them. With cardioid mode turned on, I can use the mic with my MacBook Pro speakers as the output channel and never have feedback issues. My home is quiet, so I never have issues with bad noises coming through. If I'm at a cafe, that's when I'll use my AirPods. However, I use my Yeti mic when possible. A few of my other coworkers have since bought a Blue Yeti or a Razer Seiren, and it makes a world of difference.

slantyyz 7y ago
I used to use a Snowball, which worked great, but it obstructed my view of my 4 monitor setup. I currently use a Blue Snowflake, and it's been working very well. It's small and inobtrusive, and I haven't heard any complaints about the audio for calls. For a podcast, however, I would probably go back to the Snowball or higher end mic.
kraftman 7y ago
I've had a very different experience. I work remotely and sometimes others at my company do, the people who are remote are always so much easier to hear than the people in big echoey conference rooms, no matter what mics they are using.

falcolas 7y ago

Another audio option I don't see mentioned often is a headset with a boom microphone. Some of my best sounding coworkers have these. They also typically have ambient sound rejection, meaning you can be in a relatively noisy environment (AC) and still sound good. A nice pair of headphones can have a boom mike added with little hassle, using something like an Antlion Modmic.

uncensoredjrk 7y ago

Spending money on decent lights and cameras to then block the view with a GIANT microphone doesn't make sense to me. I've been involved with professional audio for 23 years--if I were doing this, I would use a decent single ear, earset style mic. That would keep the mic out of view, provide excellent sound quality, and keep the audio consistent if you turn your head (away from a fixed mic). It actually drives me nuts when podcasters use the SM7B mic and have their low-end cranked or don't apply a strong enough HPF to compensate for the mic's proximity effect. That's incredibly tiring to my ears--I usually end up reducing the low end via my playback device's EQ. 99% of the pre-amp options don't matter as long as you get a strong, clean signal into a decent ADC stage. Spend your efforts on learning how to properly process the signal chain instead (apply High-pass filter, proper gain, apply dynamic compression, possibly EQ/de-ess, etc.). Sorry for the rant. :)

klodolph 7y ago
> 99% of the pre-amp options don't matter as long as you get a strong, clean signal into a decent ADC stage. It turns out this is actually hard, when you use inexpensive preamps, typical microphones, and you’re recording voice at home. Getting a strong signal means more gain than onboard preamps in inexpensive interfaces typically provide, which is why you might want to get an outboard preamp or use an inline device like the fethead. Getting a clean signal means learning how to do mic placement, doing some room treatment, etc. From what I understand, there’s a limit to how much clean gain you can get from a single amplifier stage, and it’s often just not enough. I was very skeptical about getting an outboard preamp but it ended up making a much larger difference than I thought it would.
emilburzo 7y ago
> I would use a decent single ear, earset style mic. Any specific ones you'd recommend?

Pigo 7y ago

I recently got a green screen to use during my video conferencing. I thought it would be fun just to mess with my co-workers, make it look like I'm on the Mars or something. I've yet to figure out how to get it to work with gotomeeting/skype/hangouts video though. I've found apps that can do it for recorded video, but I suppose it's on the camera to have the chroma effect available. Which the one I have doesn't do. I don't want to spend too much just for a joke.

tga 7y ago
Check out http://camtwiststudio.com http://camtwiststudio.com or http://manycam.com http://manycam.com.
emilburzo 7y ago
Zoom has this feature built-in, it's called virtual background. https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/210707503-Virtual-Background?mobile_site=true https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/210707503-Virtual-...
jnwatson 7y ago
I've done it for shits and giggles. Every once in a while I set it up when the team needs a laugh. If you use Linux, it isn't too hard to set up a virtual camera source that OBS Studio writes to.
- Pigo 7y ago
  Thanks, I think this is what I need. I've done it with some streaming software out there. But it needs to come from a camera source to spoof it into a regular Hangouts meet I believe.
  - jnwatson 7y ago
    That's what I use it for.
  - jnwatson 7y ago
    Here are my rough notes. mkdir -p ~/src cd ~/src sudo add-apt-repository ppa:obsproject/obs-studio sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install obs-studio sudo apt install qtbase5-dev git clone --recursive https://github.com/obsproject/obs-studio.git git clone https://github.com/CatxFish/obs-v4l2sink.git cd obs-v4l2sink mkdir build && cd build cmake -DLIBOBS_INCLUDE_DIR="../../obs-studio/libobs" -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=/usr .. make -j4 sudo make install cd ../.. git clone https://github.com/umlaeute/v4l2loopback.git cd v4l2loopback/ sudo apt install libelf-dev make sudo make install sudo depmod -a ls /dev/video* sudo modprobe v4l2loopback exclusive_caps=1 video_nr=9 ls /dev/video* You should see a video9 Open OBS Tools menu -> V4L2 Video Output (It will look really squished, but you only have to do this once) Path to V4L2 Device: enter /dev/video9 Hit Start button, close window In Sources pane near lower left, hit the "+" button, then Video Capture Device (V4L2) In new dialog, select your actual webcam (not the new device) In resolution, select 1920 x 1080 Now you can test: hit the "Start Recording" button in lower right.

exabrial 7y ago

One thing he didn't differentiate on was the microphone and its appearance in video casting. While there are many good choices, the Shure SM7B is the quintessential desk or studio microphone for recording vocals. However, it is a bulky monster and will take up a _lot_ of real estate in a video frame. If you're audio-only, that's not an issue, your vocals will sound awesome. For video, I really think an off-camera mic on a boom stand in sound treated room is the best option for seated, stationary casting. Many hypercardioid vocal microphones most people have actually work fairly well in this setup. Treating panels doesn't even need to be expensive; this youtuber made really nice looking ones from towels: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVEXp87TTrs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVEXp87TTrs I don't like the sound or intrusive look of a lapel mic or the noise it picks up, for moving sequences, it's probably the best option unless you can hire a grip.

eropple 7y ago
I love me a good boom mic (as mentioned in my own post I have a Synco D2, which is a shockingly good Sennheiser MKH416 knockoff, sitting above my head right now) but they do have disadvantages. If you have a mechanical keyboard, it's really hard to position one 1) out of frame, and 2) so the pickup area isn't gonna be going rattle-rattle-rattle. There's no great middle ground. I'd rather have it than a SM7B, though, that's for sure.
dundercoder 7y ago
Surprisingly the monoprice 600700 pencil condenser with a hypercardiod capsule works really well for this, and it’s way cheaper than mid range shotguns.

eropple 7y ago

A few things: - Sony makes great cameras but the lenses are expensive. You can get an old Panasonic GH3 and a camlink and the lenses will be cheaper, while the image quality won't (for this sort of use) be affected much at all. - You don't need a freakin' SM7B for this stuff. I do audio engineering as one of my too-many side gigs and the most expensive microphone I own is the Synco D2, an interesting little MKH416 knockoff shotgun microphone. It was $225. It's above my head right now, I was on a call an hour ago. It's out of frame and it sounds great. While the PR40 (which personally I prefer to a SM7B) or the SM7B are great mics for what they are, the delta between them and much cheaper competitors is not that significant. - You don't really need hardware to tune your audio stack, aside possibly from a preamp if you bought the wrong microphone (in this case, defined as "the SM7B"). Use your computer. It's fast enough, it can save multiple presets, and it will get out of your way. - Software matters. I use vMix for everything: live streaming and recording. This is where I recommend spending money. vMix has a reasonably featured (for the purpose--videography and audio to go with it) audio system, able to use ASIO with Windows and to use VSTs. It can support half a dozen cameras (my road kit uses 4, my home setup uses 6) and as many voices as your interface can, while supporting multi-record for archival footage/alternate takes and a nice tablet-control interface that's topped only by Logic Remote in this space (and if you're only doing audio, Logic Pro on a Mac is a no-brainer).

joelrunyon 7y ago

I've been doing remote work and videos for a while. I sort of took my built-in camera for granted even though I've had better tools available. Recently, started using the base logitech webcam and have gotten several mentions about how much better the video is from people on the other side of the calls. That sort of drove it home for me. Don't know why it took me so long for it to "hit" - gonna probably pick up a couple things in this post - thanks.

PaulDavisThe1st 7y ago

One small point I'd like to make regarding USB mics (and USB headsets): the #1 rule of digital audio is to only have a single sample clock for the entire system (the sample clock is the thing that defines when a voltage value gets converted to/generated from a digital sample). Although I understand the plug-n-play appeal of these devices, they uniformly violate this rule because they cannot share whatever sample clock is being used for the other "direction" (i.e. the USB mic has its own clock, which is independent from the one used for playback). Using these sorts of devices implicitly requires the audio software stack to do resampling to keep both input and output in sync with each other. For podcasting the change in quality that this causes is probably not an issue, but users should at least be aware this is happening under the hood. You're much better off getting a cheap USB audio interface, an XLR mic and doing both recording and playback via the same device (with a single sample clock).

zigzaggy 7y ago
What would that look like? Can you provide a couple of specific pieces of hardware examples?
- PaulDavisThe1st 7y ago
  Any USB audio interface such as those made by Focusrite, MOTU and many others. That plugs into your computer. Any XLR mic, such as the Shure models mentioned in the article. That plugs into the audio interface. Any (analog+wired) headphones (you'll have my MDR-7506s over my dead body). These plug into the audio interface. Done.
sysashi 7y ago
I've recently made a present for myself on birthday - behringer umc22 + sm 58 mic. previous to that present were m40x headphones. After using those headphones for couple years, I now see the difference between audio output of a laptop and simple interface like umc22 (which has own DAC + amp as I understand). I have not found much use for mic yet (guess no one has called me since), besides recording birds outside, and generally having fun with it :D but I definitely love how headphones sound after getting audio interface (or DAC+amp part of it)

sbr464 7y ago

Surprised the Blackmagic Design Web Presenter wasn't mentioned. It has several nice features including switching between 2 feeds without latency. https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/products/blackmagicwebpresenter https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/products/blackmagicwebprese...

schrijver 7y ago
I have the Elgato Camlink, which is way cheaper, but I’ve been wondering whether the Web Presenter would be a more foolproof solution. For OBS the Camlink is fine, because I’m able to get a signal by manually configuring the source frame rate. But non of the cameras I’ve tried will show up in Skype—or if they do, they drop out at some point. How is your experience with the Web Presenter, does it show up as a webcam reliably across software?
- sbr464 7y ago
  From my experience it shows up reliably, using any web related platform, and also dev work with webcam related react/JS libraries, the BMD device works well. (No different than the built in Mac/etc camera.

mirimir 7y ago

I'd hate having a webcam for remote work. I mean, I'd need to get dressed :(

ctingom 7y ago

I've recently been thinking about really improving my home office lighting setup. For example, most of my meetings are with Zoom and on video, and proper studio lighting can go a long way to making a good impression. We all want to look good, right?

Insanity 7y ago
I've been thinking the same, well that I need to get better lighting in general - I have remote calls daily and during the summer that's fine because there's sunlight all the time whilst I'm working. But now in the winter, it gets dark quite early and my normal room lighting is not bright enough. Doesn't make me look exactly as if I'm sitting in the dark but it's close to it :P

outworlder 7y ago

> Mine is the C930e, but Wirecutter now recommends the c920s, which is cheaper and adds a privacy shield. Ah, Wirecutter. The same guys who will one year absolutely recommend dual-hose portable ACs (and cite many sources, including the Department of Energy) and utterly demolish the efficiency of single hose models. Then, next year, say that this is not actually important at all. Because they are less practical or something. Which is an argument they themselves discarded just one year prior. What changed? That's left as an exercise for the reader. They may be fine if you use them to check products that you might otherwise have missed. But as far as recommendations go, I'm not sure they have no agenda.

Mikho 7y ago

Doesn't look like the author really did research on the equipment. Almost everything except maybe lighting is a wrong choice or combination.

TheBlerch 7y ago

Any suggestions for maintaining sound and video quality when you are interviewing/featuring someone remote, who does not have any special sound or video equipment beyond what they have on their laptop? Would you keep a modest kit with decent webcam and mic that you can mail them with a return label? I've heard of at least one podcaster doing this. The comments here were as helpful as the original post - thanks all.

federalemployee 7y ago

I hate doing video on calls. But I might be more willing with a stylish red beanie. My appearance is my biggest concern and a stylish hat is a good idea.