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Live audio monitoring while we are broadcasting to social media and even while we are recording matters. It’s important because if the audio turns out badly, the content will suffer and might become unconsumable.
In this article and on this podcast episode, I discuss how we can do a better job with live audio monitoring.
Why does bad audio happen to begin with?
It can happen for a variety of reasons:
- Missing a good microphone
- The software picks up the wrong microphone
- Problem with microphone, like it’s not plugged in or not connected correctly.
- Wrong setting on the microphone, like the wrong mic gain.
The issue I run into the most is when Restream.io, which I use to live stream and record picks up the wrong microphone. It’s an easy fix in the audio input, but first I have to know that it’s picking up the wrong microphone. In this case that would be the one on my laptop, which is a ways away from me
Live audio monitoring with headphones
You can also use two types of over-the-ear headphones. Bluetooth or wired. To monitor yourself, they usually have to be plugged into the microphone.
The OneOdio Bluetooth headphones are an option here and can run for 110 hours before they need a charge.
The wired version is another option. Make sure you can actually plug these in correctly.
Live audio monitoring with a guest
Most of the episodes of my Business Storytelling Podcast actually have a guest and myself on. The guest is typically remote. The headphones plugged into my mic (as explained above) don’t actually monitor the guest’s audio, but only monitor mine. So here’s my workflow in that case:
- Before going live, I plug the headphones into my microphone and check my audio. I also ask the guest if they can hear me well.
- Then I put my headphones on their hook underneath my desk
- From there I check my guest’s audio levels and listen to their audio on my Bestisan Bluetooth speaker.
Alternatively, to listen to my guest, I can also plug my headphones into my laptop via:
- the regular 3.5 mm input
- a 3.5 mm headphone jack to a USB input on your computer adapter
- a headphone input to USB-C input
Live audio monitoring as the producer
I have produced a number of shows in the past. So that means I’m not on-air at all, but I run all the production on the back end. In that case, I don’t have to monitor my own audio at all and my microphone should be muted anyway.
As a producer, basically, you can use the same setup as monitoring with a guest as the host except you don’t have to worry about your own audio. I typically just check the audio at the beginning, make sure the levels are the same, and listen on my Bestisan Bluetooth speaker. Alternatively, I could also listen with headphones connected to my laptop.
Making sure we have good audio is important, and these are the ways I monitor my audio live while broadcasting live or recording a podcast episode that will be published later. The biggest trick is to remember to actually run through the steps. I’ve had episodes where I forgot about it and my audio doesn’t sound good when I play it back. That’s not a good experience for anyone involved.