SETUP GUIDE
Microphone for Streaming
How to set up a microphone for streaming so it sounds clean on the first try: position, gain, and the room problems no microphone fixes.
Setting up a microphone for streaming
- Distance. A hand’s width from your mouth. This one choice does more than any setting.
- Angle. Point it slightly off-axis so breath passes across rather than into the capsule.
- Gain. Speak at your loudest normal volume and set the level so peaks sit comfortably short of clipping.
- Isolation. Mount it on a boom arm, not on the desk you type on.
What the room does to your microphone
Hard parallel surfaces bounce sound back into the capsule and add a hollow ring no processing removes cleanly. Soft, irregular surfaces absorb it.
Curtains, a rug, a bookshelf and an upholstered chair will do more for your sound than upgrading the microphone. Record ten seconds of silence and listen — whatever you hear there is in every stream you make.
Monitoring while you stream
Wear headphones. Without them you cannot hear clipping, a cable going intermittent, or the moment your mic gets bumped out of position.
Check the level at the start of every session rather than trusting yesterday’s setting. Boom arms drift, and so do people.
Microphone for Streaming FAQ
Where should the microphone sit on camera?
Just out of frame at the bottom edge, or visibly in shot if that suits your look. Both are fine; what matters is that the distance stays constant.
Why does my microphone sound distant?
Almost always distance. Move it closer before changing any setting, then lower the gain to compensate.