How close should you speak into your microphone?

If you spend a significant amount of time in front of a microphone to broadcast or podcast, you probably want to find the optimal settings for your equipment. Here’s what you need to know about finding the sweet spot for your microphone.

distance matters

In almost all cases, the closer you are to the microphone, the better it will sound. His voice will sound fuller, warmer, and more like his real voice. This is why you will often see professional singers and vocalists get very close to their microphones when they are performing. Sometimes it even looks like her lips are touching the microphone!

You shouldn’t be too close either. Otherwise, your voice may sound distorted. The microphone can amplify popping, crackling, and hissing sounds, speed up your breathing, and create a painful response that will almost make your ears bleed.

Another downside to keeping a microphone close to your mouth is that it can increase the level of sibilance. This is the “hissing” sound you hear when pronouncing words with harder consonants, like “s” and “t,” for example, the word “stutters.” Setting up a pop filter in front of your microphone can help mitigate this problem.

Conversely, the further away you are from the microphone, the more likely your voice will sound thin, muffled, and echoy. Of course, it can also be too quiet to hear properly. Regardless of whether you’re recording a podcast, doing an interview, or talking to friends, you’ll want to be close enough that your voice comes through clearly and loudly enough.

How close does it have to be?

Depending on the microphone, your voice, and how you speak, most people should speak between 2 and 12 inches from the microphone. It’s a relatively wide range, but you can narrow it down based on a couple of factors.

If you speak loudly or have a naturally loud voice, you can stand a little further away, about 6 to 12 inches. If you have a soft voice or tend to speak softly, you should move two to six inches closer to the microphone. Try to control your breathing by making it calmer if you are sitting close to the microphone.

Regarding the microphone you are using, you can go back further with condenser microphones as they are more sensitive to all kinds of sound. If you have a dynamic microphone, you can get closer because they are less sensitive to sounds.

You can always experiment with moving your microphone around until you find the best distance that produces the sound quality you’re looking for, which we’ll look at next.

experiment and try

Everyone is going to have a different sweet spot, so it’s important to play around with your mic until you’re happy with the sound.

Start by opening recording software like the free Voice Recorder app on Windows. Turn off the filters to see what the raw mic sounds like. You can always add filters and do some post production later.

Also make sure to position the microphone the way it was designed for use. For some, it will be like talking on top of the device, while others will be on the side. Your microphone may have additional settings, such as gain control or omnidirectional recording. For now, leave the gain somewhere in the middle and choose the cardioid setting, which records sounds that are directly in front of the microphone.

If you have a pop filter, set it to face where you’re speaking. Then position your microphone close to you, about two inches away. Hit the record button and start talking like you normally would. You want to talk as if you were talking to someone on the phone. If you can’t think of things to say, read sentences at random and be natural with them. Warm up your voice and rehearse if necessary.

Once you’ve finished recording, listen to the playback and see how it sounds. If the audio is too distorted or too loud, or there is a lot of popping and clicking, move the mic a bit further; try this time with four inches. Repeat this process until you find the perfect distance. Keep experimenting until you get full, crisp sound quality that makes you feel like a voice actor.

If you know how to use the software to make your voice sound better, you can make further adjustments after recording. This may include adding noise reduction, equalizing the sound, or compressing it. You can also add a reverb effect to make your voice sound fuller.