Microphones for calls, from free to worth it
· 5 min read
People forgive bad video and stop listening to bad audio. It is the part of a call worth spending attention on, and the spending is mostly not money.
The built-in microphone is genuinely good
Recent Macs use a multi-microphone array with noise reduction, and it outperforms most cheap external microphones and nearly every webcam microphone.
Before buying anything, try two free changes.
Get closer. Microphone quality falls off with distance faster than anything else. A laptop pushed to the back of a desk sounds distant because it is. Moving it forward is free.
Turn on Voice Isolation. During a call, click the Control Centre icon in the menu bar, then Mic Mode, then Voice Isolation. It suppresses background noise aggressively and is noticeably better than most application-level noise reduction.
Those two changes resolve most complaints.
Fix the room before the microphone
A hard, echoey room makes any microphone sound bad, and a good one picks up the echo more faithfully.
Soft furnishing helps: a rug, curtains, a bookshelf, anything that is not a bare wall. Talking across a room rather than into a corner helps.
You do not need acoustic treatment. You need the room to be less like a bathroom.
What to buy, in order of value
Wired earbuds with an inline microphone. Cheap, and close to your mouth, which is most of the battle. Better than the built-in microphone in a noisy room, worse in a quiet one.
A USB microphone on a stand or arm. The first real upgrade. A cardioid dynamic microphone rejects room noise well and is forgiving of an imperfect room. A condenser sounds more detailed and picks up more of the room, so it needs a better space.
For calls specifically, a dynamic microphone is usually the better choice, because rejecting the room matters more than capturing detail.
An XLR microphone with an interface. Better again, more equipment, and beyond what a call requires. Worth it if you also record.
What not to buy
A webcam for its microphone. They are almost universally poor and positioned badly.
A very cheap USB condenser. Sensitive, picks up every keyboard press and every passing car, and often sounds worse than the Mac’s own array.
Anything requiring vendor software without checking macOS support.
Bluetooth headsets, and the quality trap
Worth understanding because it surprises people.
Bluetooth audio has two modes. A high-quality one-way mode for listening, and a lower-quality two-way mode when the microphone is active. Switching to a call drops the audio quality noticeably, which is why music sounds fine through AirPods until someone speaks.
If you care about how you sound, wired is more consistent. If you care about convenience, Bluetooth is fine and you accept the trade. Headphones and a Mac covers the mechanism.
Check what is actually being used
macOS does not always pick the input you expect, particularly with several devices connected.
System Settings, Sound, Input. Speak and watch the level meter. If it barely moves, the input level is too low or the wrong device is selected.
Applications often have their own input setting that overrides the system one. Check inside the call application too, since this is the most common cause of “nobody can hear me”.
Test before it matters
Record yourself for thirty seconds and listen back. Voice Memos or QuickTime will do it.
It takes a minute and it is the only way to know what people are hearing. Most people have never done it, and are surprised.
Video calls on a Mac covers the rest of the setup.
Questions
Does Voice Isolation reduce quality? It processes the audio noticeably, which makes voice clearer and music worse. Turn it off if you are playing an instrument or sharing audio.
Why do I sound quiet to others? Distance, input level, or the wrong device selected. Check the level meter in Sound settings while speaking normally.
Are AirPods good enough for calls? Convenient, and the microphone quality is modest because of the Bluetooth mode switch. Acceptable for internal meetings, not ideal for anything recorded.
Do I need a pop filter? With a dynamic microphone at a sensible distance, usually not. With a condenser close to your mouth, yes.