r/AskBattlestations • u/cyber-shorty • 15d ago
Microphones Double desk microphone help
Hello, I was wondering if anyone had any mic recommendations or suggestions for me and my husband's desks. We're set up next to each other with Blue Yeti snowballs, and have issues with audio bleed when playing games or on discord. I know that upgrading to dynamic mics will probably be the way to go, but need some guidance before buying anything.
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u/somewhat-damaged 15d ago
On top of the other recommendations, look at putting up acoustic panels to dampen echos since you're in a small space.
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u/Yomommassis 15d ago
Something to consider, the closer you can get the mic to your mouth the more you can turn the gain down, the less of the room it will hear
The further away they are, the higher the gain has to be, the more of the room it hears, the more likely it will also hear the person next to it
My setup is a mic arm and holds the mic inches away from my mouth
You'll run into the proximity effect, your voice will sound more like a radio announcer
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u/cyber-shorty 14d ago
Thanks for the tip! I'm learning a ton about mics now lol!
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u/szeis4cookie 14d ago
Assuming the two of you wear headphones, getting Antlion ModMics and turning the gain way down on them would likely work very well here
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u/Thebareassbear 14d ago
My partner and I specifically use dynamic cardoid microphones because of this.
Then inside discord we do manual voice input sensitivity and noise suppression.
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u/cyber-shorty 14d ago
That's great to hear! Thank you for the advice!
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u/Thebareassbear 14d ago
Just search for a dynamic cardoid mic, you can find some pretty cheap ones on amazon
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u/AdvancedCryspy 13d ago
The pc that's on the floor COULD Go on the desk to block some sound from each other, but this also adds a separation and makes the room feel smaller. Like another user suggested mic arms that can get the mics closer to your mouths would also help and dynamic mics with good background noise isolation will improve it even further, alternatively if your room is wide enough perhaps setting the desks up so theyre back to back rather than side to side? This could also be achieved by having two sit stand desks on wheels and minimal cables coming off the desks so you can move them around somewhat freely so you can sit side by side when you're not gaming with mics.
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u/cyber-shorty 13d ago
Good suggestions! I think that trying two dynamic mics will be the way we go.
As far as having our desks back to back, I think this would solve a lot of problems as far as audio, however the room that the PCs are in is also our TV/den/dinning room. (Our condo is literally a common room, a kitchen, and bedroom behind a wall 480 sq ft total) Having them pushed side by side is the best for us for space reasons, but also for our enjoyment. We like looking towards each other and talk, work on projects together, and use it for a large shared desk space for other hobbies like deck building, terrain/minis, ex.
Putting wheels on the desks is a creative idea that would be something I would look into, but our desk setups are heavily cabled. The floor is also uneven on my side, and my chair will just roll away sometimes. (Thus the reason for the floor towel so my chair doesn't hit the wall.)
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u/Juanybutnotjuany 13d ago
The yeti has adjustable pickup patterns, you can utilize a bipolar pattern and use the null spaces
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u/Sea-Blackberry3473 13d ago
Two low-sensitivity cardioid dynamic microphonesTwo microphone stands/boom arms
Get close & lower the gain: Position the microphones as close to your mouths as possible (about 0.5–4 inches) and lower the input gain significantly.
Back off on the compressor
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u/lo-fighter_ 13d ago
Idk about mic’s but maybe a divider between setups would help with not picking eachother up as much or I’ve heard steelseries noise suppression is pretty good.
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u/Stitch101TW 12d ago
Maybe try installing nvidia broadcast or something similar if you dont have nvidia gpus, it uses ai to recognize your voice and can actually block out any noise not your own voice. It's not flawless but it does work alright for me who lives in a pretty noisy house
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u/Complete_Ant_3396 11d ago
My wife and I have a very similar setup with the same issue. I'm taking notes, thanks for the post!
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User: cyber-shorty, Flair: Microphones, Post Media Link, Title: Double desk microphone help
Hello, I was wondering if anyone had any mic recommendations or suggestions for me and my husband's desks. We're set up next to each other with Blue Yeti snowballs, and have issues with audio bleed when playing games or on discord. I know that upgrading to dynamic mics will probably be the way to go, but need some guidance before buying anything.
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u/NefariousKing07 15d ago
My first suggestion would be to stop sitting in each other’s laps if you’re concerned about audio bleed.
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u/cyber-shorty 15d ago
Unfortunately this is the best we can do. Our condo is very small and we're just trying to make some changes to help the situation. If you have any actual advice or suggestions, I'd love to get some ideas.
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u/NefariousKing07 15d ago
I would think a partition would suffice to block enough of the direct sound to keep it from being picked up by each others microphones. This could be a heavy curtain, or perhaps some studio foam?
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u/impudentmortal 15d ago
Instead of buying a new mic, you can try to reposition your current microphones so that the back of the mics are facing your partner's setup. From what I looked up, Blue Yeti Snowballs have a cardioid polar pattern so the rear of the mic should be picking up the least amount of sound.
Other than that, I would also suggest having headphones. Find some that are comfortable so that you can wear them for long sessions. I really love my AKG K712 since I can wear them for a long time even with my glasses on.