Capturing Music for Zoom Broadcasts

[jbledsoe]

We are able to get system sound into our laptop beautifully. However, when someone is not speaking into the microphone we get virtually no sound at all. No organ music, no congregational singing is conveyed, even though the system pics up and plays it in other rooms in the building. This leads us to believe the problem is either with Zoom or with something within the laptop. We've tried changing Zoom's audio settings (including modifying background noise suppression and various settings with the "original sound for musicians"), but to no avail. Suggestions?

[rmrichesjr]

Is the behavior you're seeing consistent with a noise gate? A noise gate is hardware or software that silences an audio channel whenever the current signal level falls below a preset threshold.

IIRC, the meetinghouse PA systems have some noise gating built-in. However, there might be other noise gates in the Zoom software, whatever analog-to-USB converter you might be using, the laptop's operating system, etc.

One somewhat easy way comes to mind to verify whether or not a noise gate built in to the PA system might be the cause of the problem you're seeing: 1) Tap off the analog signal between the PA system and the laptop with something that can feed a pair of headphones with fairly good sound isolation from the external environment, preferably with a lot of gain that the headphone wearer can control easily; 2) Have someone with a good ear listen to the headphones while someone speaking goes between right on the microphone vs. off in the distance. If the headphones go silent at the same times as the Zoom broadcast goes silent, then that would be evidence that the PA system is noise-gating the analog signal before it ever gets to the laptop. If not, that would be evidence that the noise gating is downstream from where you tapped off the signal.

The newer software-defined PA systems could have noise gates and other signal shaping behaviors built in to various paths through the system. If it turns out the signal you're currently getting from the PA system is noise gated in a problematic way, one solution might be to tap off a speaker-level signal from the overflow channel and attenuate it down before feeding it to the laptop. Another solution might be to set up a "house" microphone and mix that in with the signal from the PA system, switching between the two as desired.

[russellhltn]

If it turns out that there is a noise gate on the PA output, I'd contact FM and request that it be removed. It may have to wait until the sound contractor is in the area, but it would really simplify things.

[Mikerowaved]

We are able to get system sound into our laptop beautifully.

May I ask where you are getting the audio feed from that connects to your laptop?

[jbledsoe]

The audio into the laptop is coming from the system (via aux out connection under the sacrament table). The same audio output is presumably going to the primary, relief society and library rooms without the same loss of audio, so I assume the problem is either with the laptop or with Zoom. Additionally, I've noticed that the problem occurs with our webcam microphone when this is designated as the source as well, reinforcing my belief that the problem is with Zoom or the laptop. We'll try some more troubleshooting this week with other devices to see if we can pinpoint the problem. Too bad capturing quality audio for the music isn't a bit easier.

[Wattsuk]

The simple option of "original audio" has always worked for us.

Try a different laptop?

[russellhltn]

Are you doing a Webinar or a conference? Zoom can do both. The muting behavior is something I'd expect in Conference mode.

[jbledsoe]

We are doing Webinar. I will try a couple alternative laptops this week to see if the laptop is the culprit.

[Mikerowaved]

The simple option of "original audio" has always worked for us.

I second that. Turning off all of Zoom's audio processing is the best way to go.

[jbledsoe]

Turns out I believe it was a Windows 11 thing with our new laptop (HP Envy). I was able to find on-line a simple solution that involved turning off the Noise Cancellation in the installed Bang and Olefsen app. As an aside, the music quality is definitely better with the Original Sound option in zoom activated. Here is a link for another on-line discussion that I found helpful.
https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/win ... 40b?page=3