The best communication system I've ever used was the Clear-Com party line intercom in my high school's auditorium. The thing was older than me by at least 10 years. Hand assembled circuit boards in steel chassis. But:
- The headsets were comfortable and practical. I have not seen anything sold for office or even gaming use begin to approach the ergonomics. Plantronic, Logitech, none of it.
- Every headset had foldback, so even the big sound-isolating cans felt natural to speak into. I've spent several hours messing with virtual sound cards trying to make this work with Zoom and never managed it.
- The signal was so clear, and the mics were so good, that as long as you enunciated you could speak just a hair above a whisper and be reliably understood. I remember analog PSTN voice, and this was 10x better. Might have to do with less aggressive EQ.
- Full duplex, no gating. Absolutely no problem with multiple people speaking at the same time. At very busy parts of the show we might intentionally have two simultaneous interactions on the same channel. It was a bit of work to unpack in your brain, but no harder than it would have been in person.
- Obviously no noticeable latency (basic fitness for purpose - these things are for calling cues).
- There was a little bit of analog hum + background noise from each station, so when someone opened their mic you would notice, but it wasn't disruptive. When the channel was busy, this sort of substituted for body language and you'd be invited to speak at the first opportunity.
- Physical switch to open and close the mic. I know Zoom has spacebar PTT, but one button press latch on/off is also important.
It's absolutely astounding to me just how much better these systems are than their nearest alternatives 30+ years later. If I ever control a tech office, particularly with an operations component, I'll seriously consider installing one.
> It's absolutely astounding to me just how much better these systems are than their nearest alternatives 30+ years later.
FWIW, what you're describing is achievable with a decent audio interface, something like the AT BPHS1/BPHS2, and some cough/mute switches. My travel rig for video has full direct monitoring/sidetone for up to eight microphones/headsets, including wireless transmitters if I need to go that route; it's fantastic.
The current state of affairs for normal people is as bad as it is because normal people don't care.
Having used these systems in theatres/live events while I was at Uni I fully agree. These systems are amazing.
The reason is very similar to landlines. A dedicated board in each station that shares three copper lines with every other station. In this scenario you cannot beat analogue.
The ease of setup is also fantastic. All you need is some XLR cables. At some point on the line you need a power supply, which usually acts as a signal splitter so you can have lines going in different directions. Then just plug everything together.
> - The signal was so clear, and the mics were so good, that as long as you enunciated you could speak just a hair above a whisper and be reliably understood. I remember analog PSTN voice, and this was 10x better. Might have to do with less aggressive EQ.
OTOH everyone on a Web video chat always sounds like they're YELLING. Even if the volume's turned down, the tone registers as yelling. Having those happening nearby with regularity, even behind a (thin) wall, is about as bad as the proverbial open-office-seated-near-sales situation.
I think people talk louder on cell phones than they did on old analog land lines, too.
It might have something to do with the lack of sidetone[1] (where you can hear your own voice through the earpiece), which had the effect of you naturally lowering your voice. Landlines alway had sidetone, but most cell phones don't.
> Every headset had foldback, so even the big sound-isolating cans felt natural to speak into. I've spent several hours messing with virtual sound cards trying to make this work with Zoom and never managed it.
I have an external USB microphone from Schure that has an integrated 3.5mm headphone jack and mic volume dial. It mixes the sound of your own voice and the line-out from your computer, just like landline phones do. You might want to give it a try.
That's called sidetone. You really don't want your computer's sound system to generate that for you because the latency is even more distracting than not having it. It's much better to have it done in hardware, either by having the sound hardware direct mic input directly to the headset or with a headset that has it built in.
A good recoding system can do it in software and be acceptable. You can even do some filters on the output (recommend because the right over feedback to singers improves them) and get good results. You are allowed just over 5ms to do all of the above, which is possible but not easy.
It doesn’t due to potential echo but you can set this up yourself with most headsets or with a mic and mixer; you need to with headphones that shut out your voice or you will shout to compensate.
I tend to put my headphones on only halfway, also to catch anything going on in the background (noise cancelling headphones + my back is to the bedroom door).
It's pretty awkward to wear only one ear of my Bose headphones, but with earbuds it works great. Apple's are the least bad solution I've ever found for voice calls.
I have open back headphones that I use at home (can't use at the office because too much sound bleed), and they are great for video calls because of this since they let in the sound of my own voice.
Zoom does not (at least AFAIK), so I have no way to judge if I’m speaking at an appropriate volume.