“Can You Hear Me Now?” – 5 Tips for Crystal-Clear Video Conferencing Audio

You have a stunning 4K display and a camera that makes everyone look great. But ten minutes into your important video call, the client interrupts and says, “Sorry, we can’t understand you. There’s a terrible echo.”

In the world of video conferencing, video is important, but audio is everything.

If the video fails, you can still have a productive conversation. If the audio fails, the meeting is over. Poor audio quality—from echo and background noise to voices sounding distant and muffled—is the number one cause of meeting fatigue and frustration.

The good news is that achieving crystal-clear audio isn’t magic. It’s the result of understanding a few key principles and using the right equipment for the space. Here are five essential tips to fix your video conferencing audio for good.

1. Stop Using Your Laptop’s Microphone (And Your TV’s Speakers)

This is the most common mistake and the biggest source of audio problems. The built-in microphone on a laptop is designed to pick up the voice of one person sitting directly in front of it. The speakers on a TV are designed for watching movies, not for voice clarity.

• The Problem: When you use a laptop mic in a conference room, it tries to pick up voices from 10 feet away, resulting in a distant, “talking in a cave” sound. When you use TV speakers, the sound is often tinny and bounces around the room, making it hard for your team to hear remote participants.
• The Solution: You must use dedicated, external audio peripherals. At a minimum, this means a high-quality USB speakerphone. For larger rooms, it means a professionally installed system with dedicated microphones and speakers.

2. Choose the Right Microphone for Your Room Size

There is no one-size-fits-all microphone. The right choice depends entirely on the size and shape of your room.

• For Small Huddle Rooms (2-4 people): An all-in-one video bar is often the perfect solution. These devices have built-in “beamforming” microphone arrays that can automatically focus on the person speaking. A high-quality USB speakerphone placed in the center of the table is also a great option.
• For Medium Conference Rooms (5-10 people): You need to bring the microphones closer to the participants. This can be achieved with one or two tabletop microphone pods that connect to your main system. These pods expand the audio pickup range across a larger table.
• For Large Boardrooms (10+ people): To ensure every voice is captured with equal clarity, you need a more advanced solution. This often involves multiple discreet ceiling-mounted microphones or a professionally installed gooseneck microphone system at each seat. This eliminates the “far end” of the table sounding distant and quiet.

3. Kill the Echo with Acoustic Echo Cancellation (AEC)

Echo is the most annoying problem in audio conferencing. It happens when the microphone picks up the sound coming from the room’s speakers and sends it back to the remote participants, who then hear their own voice on a delay.

• The Problem: The remote person speaks, their voice comes out of your speakers, goes into your microphone, and is sent back to them. It makes conversation impossible.
• The Solution: Use a device with built-in Acoustic Echo Cancellation (AEC). This is a sophisticated technology that intelligently identifies the audio coming from the speakers and subtracts it from the microphone signal before it’s sent back. Nearly all commercial-grade speakerphones, video bars, and audio processors have AEC built-in. This feature alone is worth the investment in professional gear.

4. Treat the Room, Not Just the Tech

Sometimes, the problem isn’t the technology—it’s the room itself. Hard, reflective surfaces like glass walls, large windows, and bare tables cause sound waves to bounce around, creating reverb and a hollow, echoey sound.

• The Problem: Your microphone picks up both your voice and the dozens of reflections of your voice, making it sound messy and unclear.
• The Solution: Introduce soft surfaces to absorb sound. This doesn’t mean you need to cover your walls in foam. Simple additions can make a huge difference:
  • Add a rug to a hardwood or tile floor.
  • Install thick curtains over large windows.
  • Place acoustic wall panels (which can look like artwork) on large, bare walls.
  • Even a few soft chairs or a fabric-covered couch can help absorb sound.

5. Let a Professional Handle the Gain Staging

Have you ever been on a call where one person is “clipping” (sounding distorted and too loud) while another is barely audible? This is often a problem with “gain structure.”

• The Problem: Gain is the level of amplification applied to a microphone signal before it gets to the main volume control. If the gain is set too high, the signal distorts. If it’s too low, you have to turn the volume way up, which also amplifies background noise.
• The Solution: In a system with multiple microphones, a professional A/V integrator will “gain stage” the entire system. They use specialized tools to precisely balance the levels of every single microphone, ensuring that every person in the room is captured at a consistent, clear volume without distortion. This is a critical step in any large or custom installation.

By moving beyond laptop audio, choosing the right gear for your space, and paying attention to the room itself, you can eliminate frustrating audio problems and ensure that every participant, both near and far, can be heard with crystal clarity.