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In our offices, we have morning huddles in an open 20x20 ft area. Some of our staff are remote, so they Skype/ooVoo into the huddle.
We have issues with finding the right microphone to pick up everyone who is speaking.
What specs or microphone designs should I look for to get the best pickup of all voices in an open area?
alphadogg
Posted 2011-07-27T11:52:57.287
Reputation: 220
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In general, you will need a good 'stage' condenser-based mic rather than a dynamic/vocal one to cover such an area - and even then you'd probably need more than one, and a mixing desk that can supply 'phantom power' to the mic/s. You could then bring the mixer out to the line or aux in on a PC running skype. If the target PC only has a mic in then you may need to do some signal matching as a line out signal from a mixer will swamp a mic in.
Beyond that, it depends on what you plan to achieve - you might need wall or ceiling mounts, for example, as I can't see you wanting floor stands that everyone trips over.
Here's a good overview of microphone types: http://homerecording.about.com/od/microphones101/a/mic_types.htm
Linker3000
Posted 2011-07-27T11:52:57.287
Reputation: 25 670
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Why was my question closed when other similar ones are left open? See http://superuser.com/questions/85844/what-is-a-good-microphone-and-overall-setup-for-family-video-chat-through-skype as example. Isn't this a little too arbitrary?
– alphadogg – 2011-07-27T15:13:15.210@alphadogg that question is about year and half old. Site definition has changed since then. – Sathyajith Bhat – 2011-07-27T15:22:51.213
Note: I'm going to reopen this question, but any answers should be sure to be in the form of guidelines for what kind of microphone to use, and should be relevant to the sort of hardware one would use with a computer for programs like Skype. Straight up recommendations for specific products will be removed (unless they are used as an example to go with broader information) – nhinkle – 2011-07-27T18:37:59.623