If you are on video calls, or even audio calls (meh, video FTW!), and haven't read this article then you're doing yourself a massive disservice. Here's your chance to fix it 😉

Good notes. +1 for running a LAN cable to your machine. Now, I can close the door to the office without having to worry about wifi dropping to 50%. +2 for using the webcam mic. Along with krisp, it has made a tremendous difference. There have been times when the baby was crying in the other room and my team mates were wondering what I was looking back about. (Yes, it is that good). Referral link for a month of pro: https://ref.krisp.ai/u/ub695d43d7 +3 Using a headphone cancels out any echo. Most software has gotten better with echo cancellation, but best to have headphones on I feel. He makes a good point about open back headphones. Mine is closed + noise cancellation — but over the years, I have gotten used to this.

Open back is like breath of fresh air over noise cancelling ones (I totally look down on my QC 35 now. I do love it for music, but even there, with the emergence of lossless, I am thinking about a hi-fi wired headphone + amps)

Really? Do you have your eye on any amps / headphones? I have the FiiO dac for my PXC550s but they didn’t make a lot of difference TBH.

@victorious-energy-56764 What open backs do you use?

I don't have my amp setup ready yet — just tried it out with various Audiophile friends

Alright, an alternative to open backs I've found is just using my monitor/external speakers. Feels so much more natural when you can hear your own voice.

@broad-camera-13514 I have a Logitech C920 webcam from 2015 (at a time when they were reasonably priced) which has dual mics and is quite potent. Pair it with krisp for great sound.

what's counted as good latency? Fast dot com shows a loaded latency of 100 ms when I am on WiFi, is that bad?

Good latency depends on your application. For video games, usually between 20-40ms is optimal. Hence if you join servers which are very far, you’ll have larger latency and worse experience. For video conference, uptil 300ms is acceptable - from what I have read.

@broad-camera-13514 For that same reason I haven't bought the headphones — ears are tired now, so I just the laptop speakers. I am worried I will go deaf if I use headphones all day.

@loud-glass-33663 That's a good one, shame it's overpriced now

@broad-camera-13514 check out Golchhait. They sell logitech products at better rates https://golchhait.com/collections/webcams

one portable (and cheap) alternative for open-back headphones (no noise cancellation) is good old non-silicon based earphones.

Oh yeah! But they don't stay in my ears