New Improved Audio Quality on Zoom

Have you heard of the new and enhanced features from Zoom? As an online music teacher, I am excited about their new High Fidelity Audio mode. This feature was publicly rolled out on 1st Sep 2020 with the 5.2.2 update.

According to the Zoom website, "High Fidelity Audio mode enhances "Original Audio" mode allowing for disabling echo cancellation & post-processing, while raising audio codec quality to 48Khz, 96Kbps mono/192kbps stereo for professional audio transmission in music education and performance applications."

For best results, an ethernet connection is recommended instead of WIFI.

Let me walk you through the setting if you are unsure. First, start your zoom meeting, go to the bottom left and click on the arrow next to Mute to go into Audio Settings.

Here just follow the steps in red.

1) Uncheck the Automatically adjust microphone volume as we do not want Zoom to automatically change the volume so we can hear the dynamics (loud and soft) of the piano/instrument.

2) Next, select Low for the Suppress background noise to optimize music and click on Advanced.

3) Check the Show in-meeting option to "Enable Original Sound" from microphone.

4) Finally Check both the Disable echo cancellation and of course the High fidelity music mode.

Once you put in place this new audio setting, it is recommended that you should also use a headset and a good microphone.

For teachers like me who do not always use a headset but prefer a good speaker, I tried this new setting without Checking the Disable echo cancellation. My students felt this way was better for them as it minimizes unwanted feedback on their end. So, it is really up to you. Try both options and see what works for you and your setup.

Overall, this new High fidelity music mode is a welcome improvement for musicians.