Short answerCompare a few seconds of silence and normal speech, then listen to the local recording. dBFS shows digital level, not room volume in physical decibels.

Make two sections of recording

Sit at a normal distance from the microphone. Be silent for the first five seconds, then say a few phrases in a normal voice. Do not change the position of the device between these areas; otherwise you will be comparing different conditions.

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Microphone noise test

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How to understand the dBFS scale

Zero dBFS is at the upper limit of the digital range. Negative values ​​indicate a weaker level relative to this border. The number −40 dBFS cannot be read as “40 decibels in the room”: the physical layer requires calibration and appropriate equipment.

Look at the difference between background and speech, and listen to the recording. If the speech is barely distinguishable from the background, there may be too much distance, a poorly chosen microphone, or too much amplification of a weak signal. Frequent peaks near zero along with audible distortion require a gain check.

Check the selected device

The laptop can use the built-in microphone instead of a headset. Once access is granted, available devices will appear in the list. Stop the test, select the one you need and run it again. Then check the same selection in the calling program: its settings may differ from the browser one.

The "no processing" checkbox requests that noise reduction, echo cancellation, and auto gain be turned off. The browser and driver are not required to expose every internal processing. The status shows the available parameters of the actually received stream, and unknown ones are not reported as disabled.

How to find the background source

  1. Move the microphone away from the laptop fan and airflow without increasing the gain at the same time.
  2. Compare the recording before and after turning off charging if you are working on a laptop and this is convenient. A change in background is a reason to check the power and connection, and not a ready-made diagnosis.
  3. Check the cable, connector and other available connections.
  4. Make a recording in the calling app with its normal settings.

If the local recording is clear, but the interlocutor hears gaps and a robotic voice, check network. If noise only appears in one application, start by selecting a device and processing it.

Why you shouldn’t immediately set maximum noise reduction

Strong processing can remove not only the background, but also the quiet endings of words. Compare real phrases, not just silence. First improve the microphone position and signal level, then enable processing one parameter at a time.

Sources and methodology

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