How to Improve Audio Quality in Microsoft Teams

Great testing, thx

I wish my calendar was that empty

Hi Kevin - Do you need intern to assist you?

Great review. To me it is clear that external microphones are not worth it for Teams. The microphones were great by themselfes, but when put through Teams they lose 80 procent of the sound. On top of that you have to use headphones when you use an external mic with Teams. Definetely not worth the hassel.

MS Teams is a horrible crap. Useless

Honestly, all of them sound awful when they go through teams.
Teams should increase the bitrate for audio calls. It sound way to robotic...
Of course there are microphones that can pick up lower frequencies.
It does sound nicer. Yes... But to really enjoy a conversation I would prefer the audio quality that can be achieved on Discord or Team Speak.

It's funny that you think your laptop mic in this video is the worst audio you've ever heard. That sounds better than every professional headset I have ever used at work. I've tried several that are between $150-400 and they all sound worse in Teams than your built-in mic demo. I've ordered yet-another $200 headset to try to improve it.

This is the best review I’ve found for WFH setups. There are a lot of mic comparisons, but few that run the audio through teams. Would love to hear the Rode NTG Go II, a newer $100 option run through this test.

todos suenan horrible dentro de teams, streamyard y zoom hacen mucho mejor trabajo

I wonder if we can get Teams to not compress so much or get it to sound better. Even the pricey mic it muddies the sound.

You must be from the 7th sky

It would be nice to have a comparison to a typical headset with an integrated microphone. Bose is not really representative for that and most of us consider a standalone mic coming from a typical headset like the ones from Jabra or Poly, because that’s what most companies hand out to their employees for home office.

Guys the compression of teams absolutely kills any quality improvements. Don’t waste your money on a amazing mic. This guy doesn’t even talk about teams compression.

Hey dude, I have a user who is reporting choppy audio. Internet connectivity is good. I reinstalled Teams but its the same issue. Any ideas?

I just purchaed a Jounivo "Voice Microphone" JV808 to enhance sound to my Zoom audience. Having problems with settings. Do you offer a tutoial on this?

Hey Kevin, really great video! Thank you for all the quick switching between each microphone's sound with and without Teams!

Question for you... How much difference would a mid-tier microphone make if I am playing Teams' output through speakers* in my room? Sometimes it seems like Teams tries to prioritize one person's audio over an other's, such that if I am speaking, and someone else is as well, I might not be able to hear them either because... I don't know... I have wondered if perhaps Teams plays them quietly so as to not create a feedback loop and I just don't notice it (I'm a loud talker :P)? Or if it there are bandwidth issues, I thought maybe it switches to half duplex... or maybe Teams just has some sort of audio processor that decides to do it... but I definitely want to avoid that if possible, as we don't typically have cameras on, so I can't tell if someone is trying to talk.

I don't like wearing headphones, and other people sound great through my speakers, but I don't know if that plays a much smaller part in this problem when you have a better microphone.

Thanks!

Don't want a big table mic or a chunky gamer headset+mic. As a matter of fact I just want better mic audio in conference calls - without having to look like mickey mouse or the hassle of setting up a separate mic. I have no space for that anyhow. I think a lavalier mic is for me. Guess the search continuous. Perhaps you could do a similar test for lav mics? Your production is stellar. Thanks.

audio really sucks compared to zoom.

They all sounded awful 😞

I use a Shure SM7B through a Fethead into a Scarlett 2i2 for my livestreams. Sounds mint when streaming or Zoom calls; zerro sound though Teams. I just don't get it.

Wow teams really damages that audio quality

Good review. What about Hyperx Quadcast? It's a pity that Microsoft Teams degrade the sound. Is there any possibility to do not degradate it?

Kevin, What mic you use ?

👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍

Would have been interesting trying a dynamic XLR mic…i guess there is so much compression that it could barely differs but would never find out so stick with what you have is the conclusion.

Wow! Thanks for the video. I use the Rode NTSB since one year with MS Teams. From the beginning I had the feeling that it's not as good when I record the sound with another tool. I thought I had a wrong setting. But it's just Teams -.-

Just what I needed... Thank you

Rode mini😍

Teams absolutely destroys AV. It's really too bad. I have been thinking about upgrading my Logitech C922 to using my Sony a5100 and a shotgun mic over a capture card, but after the compression happening, I just don't know that the gains are worth the effort...

Great video!! Can you please review the Shure mv7 please? I’m looking to purchase it or the Rode NT-USB. Thank you

I appreciate your work, but zoom seems to beat them all hands down, just turning on original sound on zoom, gives same audio quality to your listeners. I use that and my listeners tell me I sound like I am in a studio with all mixing on my audio. So Microsoft should work on that.

The bulk of the problems with audio in Teams are to do with the stream rate, not the device quality, Teams as far as I can tell does not give me anyway to adjust the bitrate of the stream allowing it to recover from being downgraded since it is that action which introduces all the noise. Almost every other player allows you to adjust the bitrate, why not Teams?

Does audio quality turns out better if we turn off the noise cancellation setting in Teams ?

Thank you Kevin for your video and your help ... please someone/Kevin can you give me any advice on how to have two mic in Teams sessions, I mean one mic for the presenter and another one for the audience in the same room?

howly shit this is a good review thx

Thanks for the test. Now that Microsoft is about to roll out hi fidelity music mode (based on Satin) in the Teams app during September, it would be great to have a similar test to see if it actually makes more of a difference. Satin should already be used in 2-way communication in Teams but I assume you need the full Teams app and not the browser version.

There's also a comment to be made about background nose. A pair of apple wired earpods are actually amongst one of the best input sources, and that's against professional studio mics at $5000. I'm not saying the two compare in other environments, but in teams, there's little justification to spend more. Close micing will remove background echo and AC noise etc so it's worth looking at as an option.

Teams Low passes everything beyond 10Khz. There's a law of diminishing returns with microphones as a result. I own a Neumann U87 and there is absolutely no difference in discernible audio quality between it and something 1/10th the cost in comparison.

Where all these test done with plug and play in mind or was there any presets or audio adjust?

anyone knows what camera is he using?

I’m binge watching all your videos. Already seeing a 10x improvement 🙏

could you guide how to sync audio and video in teams when you use DLSR as webcam

Love your videos! I have a question for you. I use an Epos Adapt 560 headset with a Teams dongle. I am having issues with Teams ringing after a Teams call ends.Any tips to fixing the issue?

I have friends that work with different companies and headsets and they also have this problem.

This is by far hands down THE BEST review on scenarios using External Mics for conference. When looking for reviews, all the reviews sampled the original audio, which of course sounds good, but none of these reviews included how would they sound when MS teams compress it and plays it back.

One minor ask if I might, in your opinion which one of the bunch would cancel background noise the best?

2021 and MS Teams are forcing people to use a specific mic, certified for Teams? That's laughable. Typical Microsoft.

Thank you for this comparison!