Best microphone settings for streaming
Good sound is half of a good stream. Three checks fix most problems: level, noise and distance.
1. Set the level
Talk at your normal volume and watch the meter. Peaks should sit around −18 to −6 dB: never touching the top (clipping) and not so low that you have to boost later. Use the microphone test.
2. Check the background noise
Stay quiet for three seconds. If the noise floor is above −50 dB you will hear fans, hum or a busy room. Move the microphone closer to your mouth, switch off the fan, or use noise suppression.
3. Distance
A hand’s width from your mouth, off to the side so you do not pop your p’s. Closer beats louder: it lifts your voice above the room.
Filters
Streamdzy has a voice cleaner (Off, Natural, Clean, Studio) in Settings. Tunedzy goes much further if you want a polished voice. Do not stack several noise filters: they make a voice sound thin.
Game sound
Keep game and music below your voice and use headphones so the microphone does not hear them twice.
Questions
Should I use automatic gain?
Avoid it for streaming: it pumps the level up in quiet moments and raises the noise.
Keep going
Want all of this in one app?
Streamdzy is a free streaming and recording app for Windows: several cameras, your phone as a camera, going live to many places at once, and recording first so a bad connection never costs you the show.