Tech Forum

We have been using Zoom successfully for our Sacrament meetings and Sunday School meetings. People on the phone sometimes complain about static or low volume, mostly when connecting with mobile devices. They can hear other Zoom participants really well just not the podium microphone that is coming from the "Record Out" port on the podium. The PC I'm using to broadcast is running Windows 10 Pro with the latest Zoom client, there used to be a "Boost" setting for microphones but no longer see that feature. Sometimes it helps to enable "Original Sound" in Zoom to bypass any echo cancellation.

I have also tried a USB to XLR w/ a Microphone as the Zoom microphone but still have the same issue.

Has anyone else dealt with this issue? If so what did to you do address this?
Are most people using the "Record Out" port or using external mics for podium speakers?
Does anyone know of a way to simply amplify the line out so I can increase the volume before it gets to my PC?
Or does anyone know of software that will allow me to boost the microphone volume?

Thanks,
Wayne

I ran an extremely long 3.5mm stereo cable from the Record Out jack under the Sacrament table to the old Dell Optiplex 3010 I am using for our virtual meeting. I tried using the "Line In" jack on the Optiplex, but the signal seemed to be low. So I moved the plug to the "Mic In" jack on the Optiplex, and everyone seems to like the sound quality. I hope the sound quality does not suffer when we switch from Google Meet to Zoom on January 3rd.

A number of us have had success with this device. While it says "mic in" it can handle the "line out" from the church sound system just fine. I used it with Zoom for our stake conference awhile back.

The nice thing about this adapter is that it side-steps all the "ifs ands buts" when trying to deal with different laptops. It's also cheaper than any special cable.

So far my branch has only been doing the second hour via Zoom. My branch president and I are looking to change that this Sunday, and will have a tablet on the podium next to the the mic. We will have to test it, yet if the podium microphone can pick up the speaker we are hoping that the tablet should be able to as well. Just have to be careful with the soft-spoken people, and encourage them to speak louder. I think in a communication providing guidance on televising Sunday services it had even suggested taping a cell phone to the gooseneck holding the podium mic.

Thanks for everyone's suggestions, @Russellhltn I did wind up buying the device you recommended above. I did find a USB Microphone that I use as a back up mic in case there are audio issues with the record out port on the podium, this USB mic has a switch on it that will boost by audio by 10db which is nice to have, and the software allows for added sidetone as needed. (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08P5 ... UTF8&psc=1).

@awev, good luck with your sacrament meetings.