Most of what spoils a call happens before the sound reaches any software. You can fix a lot of it with what you already own, in a few minutes, and measure each change with the noise test.
1. Get closer
Distance is the biggest free upgrade. Audio-Technica describes the inverse square law: in open space, sound drops by about 6 dB (decibels) every time the distance doubles, and rises by the same amount when you halve it. Your voice follows that rule, while a noise source across the room changes little as you lean in. So halving the distance between your mouth and the mic widens the gap between your voice and the room by up to 6 dB, with no new hardware.
RØDE suggests 5 to 10 cm from your mouth for a desk mic, which also lets you turn the gain down. On a laptop, a headset you already own, even a phone headset with a mic on the cable, puts the mic at your mouth instead of in the keyboard.
2. Aim the mic
Many desk mics are directional. Shure says the cardioid pattern, the most common directional one, picks up best from the front and rejects most from directly behind, and in many cases cuts ambient noise to about a third of what an omnidirectional mic picks up. Point it at your mouth, and put the noise behind it: the keyboard, the computer, the window.
Angle helps with pops too. RØDE suggests setting the mic at a slight angle to your mouth to reduce plosives, the bursts of air from P and B sounds.
3. Soften the room
Hard rooms ring. Sound bounces off walls, desks and windows and reaches the mic again and again; Microsoft describes the result as a voice that sounds shallow, as if you were speaking in a cavern. The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association’s tips for noisy classrooms work at home: rugs or carpet, curtains or blinds, and soft materials such as felt or corkboard on the walls.
Software can help a little. Teams uses a machine-learning model to make captured audio sound as if you were speaking into a close-range mic, and NVIDIA Broadcast has Room Echo Removal for small rooms without soundproofing.
4. Move the noise, or yourself
- Fans. Turn room fans off for the call, or move the mic away from them; Webex’s echo guide gives the same advice for fans.
- Laptops. Apple says laptop fans run faster when the processor is working hard and when the room is warm, and run more when the laptop sits on a soft surface such as a bed or your lap. Put it on a hard table with its vents clear, and close heavy apps before the call.
- Doors and windows. Close them for the call.
- The TV. Google says Meet’s noise cancellation won’t remove voices from a TV, so turn it off rather than counting on a filter.
5. Wear headphones
If your speakers play the call, your mic hears them, and the people you talk to hear themselves come back. RØDE calls headphones the most effective way to stop feedback and echo when a mic and speakers share a room.
6. Build mute habits
- Mute when you aren’t talking. Google lists it among the ways to avoid echo in Meet, and it keeps your room out of everyone else’s call.
- Hold to talk. Zoom’s Press and hold Space key to temporarily unmute, Webex’s Unmute temporarily by holding Spacebar and Discord’s Push to Talk let you stay muted and talk only while you hold a key.
- One device per room. If two people in the same room join the same call, Zoom says to disconnect audio on all but one device. Muting isn’t enough, because the speaker keeps playing.
What each change is worth
| Change | Helps with | What to watch in the test |
|---|---|---|
| Move the mic closer | Almost everything | Speech level and SNR rise |
| Aim a cardioid mic | Keyboard, computer, room | Noise floor drops |
| Rugs, curtains, soft walls | A hollow, ringing voice | Listen to the recorded clip |
| Fans off, laptop on a hard surface | A steady whoosh | Noise floor drops |
| Headphones | Echo for the other side | The meter stays still while sound plays |
| Mute and push to talk | Your room in their call | Nothing to measure; it’s a habit |
Measure, change one thing, measure again
Run the test as you normally sit. Change one thing. Run it again. The noise floor and the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR, how far your voice stands above the noise) tell you what each change is worth in your room, which is the only room that matters for your calls. Once the room is right, the app’s suppression has less to do, and you can use a lighter setting: Discord notes that Krisp can lower voice quality in a quiet room with a good mic.