Distorted Audio in Zoom

[jeremyjoe]

Hi all,

Our building audio was recently updated and an HDMI port was installed on the stand in the chapel. We were given a Razer Ripsaw X capture card to convert the HDMI feed to USB. I am having a problem where the Audio on the Zoom broadcast is distorted and choppy. I have been told that other wards in the same building using different laptops do not seem to have this problem. One interesting thing I have found is that if turn the video off in the zoom and then turn it back on, the audio clears up for a few seconds but the starts with the distortion again. Laptops have all current updates from the manufacturer. I have tried the following

2 different laptops
2 different cables
Toggling the Advanced Audio settings in Zoom (Echo cancellation, Windows audio API etc..) Some of these settings cleared the audio up for a few seconds.
Turning off Power Management of the USB ports
Installing Razer THX Audio
Installing Razer Synapse
Adjusting Mic Levels on the laptop and the stand
Adjusting the noise cancellation settings in zoom

I spent two hours troubleshooting last night so there are possibly other things that I am forgetting here.

I'm at my wits end here. I'm going to get a zoom link from the other ward just to confirm they aren't hearing it. Any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[chriswampler]

Zoom has an excellent background noise filter that will remove chatter from the congregation and other hums, buzzes, etc. The problem is that this completely falls apart with congregational singing or other musical numbers.

While a broadcast is live, look for options in your Zoom settings to use "raw audio" or "Original Sound for musicians". You may need to go into your settings to make this option visible during your broadcast. There are variations in settings that are available for the Desktop Application, phone app, browser interface, etc. When I've used this option it's been from the Desktop Application.

Hopefully these directions work for you or can better inspire your future searches on the topic:

To use raw, unprocessed audio in Zoom for higher quality (Original Sound), open the Desktop App > Settings > Audio. Under "Music and professional audio" or "Microphone modes" check Show in-meeting option to enable "Original Sound for Musicians". Toggle this on in meetings to disable echo cancellation and noise reduction.