With Zoom meetings having, on average, 7 participants these days, it can surely get noisy! Thus, muting and unmuting participants in a meeting is the solution to keeping unwanted noises at bay.

Knowing how to mute Zoom can play a huge role in maintaining sharp Zoom audio in case you’re recording a meeting, and ensuring all participants can hear the speaker correctly.

In Zoom, there are dozens of ways of doing this to ensure the muting options are suited to their specific needs. But when can you mute Zoom, and when should you? Let’s have a look!

When Can You Mute Zoom?

Knowing when to mute yourself on Zoom can make or break a virtual meeting. Whether you’re dealing with background noise, multitasking, or simply not needing to speak, here’s your guide to mastering the mute button on Zoom.

Background Noise

Background noise can be a major distraction in virtual meetings. That’s especially true when the latter is a skip level meeting or other important team meeting. Whether it’s construction outside or a pet’s unexpected vocal performance, muting yourself can prevent these noises from disrupting the meeting flow. If you find yourself in a noisy environment, it’s courteous to mute your microphone to ensure everyone can hear clearly.

Multitasking

Sometimes, you may need to attend a meeting while juggling other tasks. In these situations, muting yourself can help you stay focused on your work without disrupting the meeting. It’s a simple way to ensure that your background activities don’t interfere with the discussion.

Listening-Only Webinars

In webinars where you’re only expected to listen, knowing how to mute Zoom from your side can prevent accidental interruptions. This is particularly useful in large meetings where multiple participants could cause chaos if everyone unmuted themselves at once.

Organizing Large Calls

In larger meetings, muting participants can help maintain order. This is especially true in public meetings where participants may speak out of turn. By muting participants until they’re ready to speak, hosts can prevent interruptions and keep the discussion on track.

Avoiding Disruptive Participants

Finally, muting disruptive participants can prevent their behavior from derailing the meeting. This is important in maintaining a productive and respectful meeting environment at all costs.

Knowing when to mute yourself on Zoom is key to a successful virtual meeting. Whether it’s avoiding background noise, multitasking, or managing disruptive participants, mastering the mute button on Zoom can help you stay focused and engaged.

Here’s a run through how to mute Zoom meeting participants as a host and when to give them the freedom to do so at their own will: 

How to Mute Zoom Audio on a PC or Mac: Steps for Participants & Hosts

To mute yourself, both as a participant and as a host (works the same way):

Head over to the meeting’s toolbar, click the Mute button on Zoom [the microphone icon,] and then Unmute to turn your mic back on:

You can also use the Alt+A keyboard shortcut to mute and subsequently unmute your mic. And if you’re wondering how to mute Zoom on Mac, use the shortcut command + shift + A to mute and unmute Zoom. 

If you joined a call via your phone, dial *6 to set your phone on mute your phone. Dial *6 again to unmute yourself.

You can automatically start on mute when you join a specific meeting by selecting Do not connect to audio before the start of the meeting:

If you’re wondering how to make sure you are muted on Zoom at all times you start Zoom meetings,  

• head to Settings, Audio,
• select Always mute microphone when joining a meeting:

Note: If you’re already on Mute, hold the spacebar to temporarily unmute Zoom yourself when you want to give quick feedback or ask a question. This quick hack ensures you won’t leave your mic on after you’re done.

Muting Yourself While Keeping the Computer’s Audio On

To get this to work, set yourself on Mute and mark the Share sound option when starting your screen-sharing session:

Now guests will see your screen and hear the audio on your own computer even if you’re on mute.

How to Mute Participants in Zoom

Here we’ll explore the steps to how to mute Zoom participants in your meeting. It’s important to note that only the host or co-host has the ability to mute other participants.

1. Sign in to your account,
2. On the left sidebar, click Settings.
3. Scroll down until you find the “Mute all participants when they join a meeting” option and switch it on.

How to Mute Participants in Zoom During a Call

To mute Zoom for participants in an ongoing meeting or a call:

1. Click ‘Participants’ on the bottom toolbar, and a sidebar will open on the right-hand side,
2. Click the Zoom mute icon(microphone icon) next to the name of the participant(s) you want to mute.

How to Mute All Participants in Zoom

Webinars. Presentations. Conferences. Co-working sessions. Team meetings.

All of these events have a host who’s not exactly going to enjoy the occasional interruption.

Got too much noise on one channel? 

As a host, you can handpick a specific participant either because they’re disturbing the Zoom call or because they might simply prefer to stay on mute but don’t know how to mute Zoom on their side. Thus, you politely ask them to accept their suggestion to be muted. Go to the list of participants [in the toolbar,] and you should be able to mute/unmute individuals manually:

From the same screen, you can choose to Mute All participants. Make sure you don’t leave the Allow Participants to Unmute Themselves option on if you don’t want people to jump in during your presentation. 

Remember you can always change this setting at any point during the Zoom meeting. So if you’re taking questions at the end of a webinar, head over to the three settings dots on the right side of the Mute All option. Select Ask All to Unmute to send a message to every participant when it’s ok to unmute themselves. 

You can also have everyone start the meeting on mute. When scheduling a meeting, select Mute participants upon entry from the Advanced Options:

Example: If you’re hosting a webinar, you might want everyone on mute throughout the session but still let them unmute their audio later when they have a question.

Getting Consent to Mute a Zoom Meeting Participant

For obvious legal and ethical reasons, Zoom hosts can’t unmute a participant if the latter hasn’t given their consent. This is why the first option to unmute someone is to Ask All to Unmute and send the pop-up request:

An alternative is to go to your In Meeting (Advanced) settings and turn on the Request permission to unmute option. 

Now, the option will appear every time you want to schedule a meeting:

With this in place, when a host wants to unmute someone, the participant will receive a message prompting them to allow the host to unmute at any time. 

Tip: Paid plans allow you to group participants and establish this request only for specific groups. This lets you send the pop-up consent request only to people you’ve selected beforehand. 

Once a participant has allowed the host to unmute them, they won’t be asked this a second time. So, for every meeting scheduled by the same host that got the initial approval, the participant can have their microphone unmuted when needed.

What if a participant wants to revoke consent for this? 

They can go to the Audio settings and manage/remove the hosts that received approval from the ‘People who can unmute you’ section. 

How to Block Background Noises During Virtual Meetings 

It’s tedious to keep muting/unmuting yourself when background noises start disturbing the meeting.

Zoom does have a noise suppression option that lowers background sounds like keyboard typing or dogs barking. Go to your Settings, select Audio, and scroll to the Suppress background noise section to make your selection:

The problem is that these four levels of the Zoom noise cancellation feature don’t block out all types of noises simultaneously.

For instance, even if you opt for the Auto setting, it only applies moderate background noise reduction so the chance for some sounds to go unnoticed is high. Your best bet would be to go for the High level but this will take up a lot of CPU power.

The same situation applies to the levels for echo cancellation under the Advanced audio settings:

So if you’re tired of pausing your recordings because of construction work going on around your house or you simply don’t want noise to disrupt an important conversation, try Krisp instead. 

The app automatically removes all background noises and echoes so your team won’t get distracted or misunderstand what you’re saying. If you’re a podcast host or YouTuber, you can record studio-like interviews through the built-in HD voice feature.

No extra equipment is required — you only need Krisp’s AI meeting assistant that brings automatic meeting recording feature to your virtual calls. 

This will instantly solve the “everybody-go-on-mute” problem. No need for anyone to Mute themselves on Zoom when they use Krisp.

The best part is that Krisp removes the background noises on both ends of a meeting. So if you’re hosting a webinar and taking questions, you won’t have to worry about not understanding the attendee because their fan is on. Krisp will clear up the background noises on their end too. All this with minimal CPU usage if you turn on the low power mode.

Here’s how to connect Zoom to Krisp in less than one minute:

Keep in mind you can connect this noise-cancelling app to any other video conferencing or recording tool that accepts the Krisp as the audio input.

Final Words on How to Mute Zoom During Meetings

As a general rule, remember it’s best to have your participants start the meeting on mute. This prevents the meeting from starting when they’re not ready or still caught up with talking to their family. 

Keep a general list of best practices to share with participants or display as your virtual background. Make it a rule for your team members or event attendees to mute themselves whenever they’re not speaking. Also, decide how a participant can get the host’s attention. They could virtually raise their hand, leave a message in the chat box, or directly unmute themselves.

Another super common situation is for speakers to forget they’re on mute. A host’s first instinct should be to tell the speaker that the other participants can’t hear them. Only resort to asking them to unmute via a pop-up if they missed your first cue.

And don’t worry too much about background noises. Turn on Krisp and let it do its job so you can focus on your call instead and rest assured that your audio will be of top quality.

Don’t forget to read our full list of Zoom tips you can use to host and record the most importnat meetings or events! 

The post How to Mute Zoom On Any Device — A Simple Guide appeared first on Krisp.

There are many instances where knowing how to record a Zoom meeting can be incredibly useful. Examples are: keeping a record of critical discussions, training purposes, or ensuring that those who couldn’t attend can catch up, etc. 

This guide will walk you through how to record a Zoom meeting on any device, ensuring you capture every important moment.

​​Local vs. Cloud Recording

Shortly, we’ll dive into how to record a meeting on Zoom and other key details you’ll need. But before that, it’s essential to know that Zoom offers two types of recording: local and cloud recording. 

Local recordings are saved to the host’s device, whereas cloud recordings are saved to the Zoom Cloud and can be accessed, shared, or downloaded via a link.

Local Recording

As you dig deeper into how to record a Zoom meeting, you’ll find that this option saves the recording to the host’s computer or device. 

It’s a useful option when you want to keep the recording private due to your messy background during the call, or maybe you wanna edit it before sharing.

Cloud Recording

This option saves the recording to the Zoom Cloud. 

It’s great for when you want to easily share the recording with others or access it from different devices.

How to Enable Local or Cloud Storage 

Before you can start recording, you must enable either Local or Cloud Storage in your Zoom settings. Here’s how:

1. Open the Zoom desktop application and sign in.
2. Click on your profile picture in the top right corner.
3. Select “Settings” from the dropdown menu.
4. In the settings menu, click on the “Recording” tab.
5. Toggle the switch next to “Local Recording” or “Cloud Recording” to enable the feature.

How to Record a Zoom Meeting

Both hosts and participants can record Zoom meetings. However, the ability to record might depend on the subscription plan and settings enabled by the host.

If you’re wondering how to record Zoom meeting as host, follow these steps:

1. Ensure you’re signed in to the Zoom Desktop Client.
2. Start a meeting as the host.
3. Click the Record button on the bottom toolbar.Click the Record button on the bottom toolbar.
   
4. Choose Record on this Computer if prompted. A recording indicator will appear.
   

Zoom Recording Tips

There are a few general tips you can follow when you’re learning how to record a Zoom meeting to make your Zoom recording efficient and smooth. Those tips are: 

Ensure Good Audio Quality

Use an AI noise and echo-canceling app like Krisp to filter out background noise, ensuring clear audio in your recordings.

Inform Participants

Always notify and get consent from all participants before recording.

Now that you know all the essential details on recording Zoom meetings, let’s see how you can do so on different devices.  

Optimize Your Internet Connection

A stable internet connection is crucial for uninterrupted recording. Consider using a wired connection for better reliability.

How to Record Zoom Meetings On an Android

To record a Zoom meeting on your Android device, follow these steps:

1. Join a Zoom meeting as a participant on your Android device.
2. Tap the screen to bring up the meeting controls.
3. Tap the “More” button (three vertical dots) in the lower right corner.
4. Select “Record” from the menu that appears.

The meeting will be available for review now that it has been recorded.

How to Record a Zoom Meeting on Mac/iPhone

Macs are ideal for creative tasks such as video recording and editing, making screen capture effortless. Recording a Zoom meeting on a Mac is simple, requiring just a few keystrokes.

To record a Zoom meeting on a Mac, follow these steps:

1. Start a Zoom meeting on your Mac.
2. Click on the “Record” button in the toolbar at the bottom of the screen.
3. Select either “Record on this Computer” for local recording or “Record to the Cloud” for cloud recording.
4. The meeting will now be recorded.

How to Record a Zoom Call With a Permission as a Participant

To find out how to record a Zoom meeting with permission as a participant, follow these steps:

1. Ask the host for permission to record the meeting.
2. Once permission is granted, follow the steps for recording on your specific device (Android, iPhone, Windows 10, Mac, iPad).

How to Record Zoom Meeting Without Permission as a Participant

Alternative to being permitted to record a Zoom call, you can use a third-party screen recording tool on your device to record the meeting.

However, be aware of the legal implications of recording a meeting without permission. This applies particularly to what you’ll do with the recording after you get it. But more on that later in the article. 

To record a Zoom event without permission on your Android device, follow these steps:

1. Make sure you have enough storage for the recording since it can take up a lot of space. 
2. Swipe down twice from your home screen to access Quick Settings, then tap the Screen Recorder button.
3. Choose your video and audio settings, then tap Start Recording.
4. Wait for the countdown and then your screen will begin recording.
5. A recording bar will appear, allowing you to add annotations and other features.
6. Start your Zoom Meeting as usual and stop the recording by tapping the Stop button on the recording toolbar.
7. You’ll receive a notification that your recording is saved. Access it in your gallery under the Screen Recordings album.

And for an iPhone, follow these steps to find out how to record a zoom meeting without permission:

1. Go to Settings and then Control Center.
2. Add Screen Recording to Control Center.
3. Return to the Home screen and open Control Center.
4. Press and hold the Record button.
5. Enable your microphone by tapping the Microphone icon.
6. Choose the location for your recording to be saved.
7. Tap Start Recording. You’ll see a three-second countdown before recording starts, indicated by a clock icon in the upper left corner of your screen.
8. Begin your Zoom meeting. To stop recording, tap the clock icon and select Stop Recording.
9. Your Zoom recording will be saved in your gallery. 

Where Do Recorded Zoom Meetings Go?

Exploring how to record a zoom meeting has its intricacies one of which is the question as to where the Zoom recordings go afterward. Local recordings are saved to the host’s device in a ” Zoom ” folder by default. Cloud recordings are saved to the Zoom Cloud and can be accessed, shared, or downloaded via a link whenever you want. 

How to Share a Zoom Recording

The ability to share the context of the meeting is one of the key reasons why people want to record meetings. Thus, the shareability of meeting recordings matters to every participant of the meeting, especially the hosts. 

To share a Zoom recording, follow these steps:

1. Locate the recorded meeting on your device or in the Zoom Cloud.
2. If it’s a local recording, you can share the file directly. If it’s a cloud recording, you can share the link provided by Zoom.
3. Share the recording via email, messaging apps, or by posting the link on a website or social media platform.

What is an Alternative to Recording Zoom Meetings?

In conclusion, recording a Zoom meeting can be done either locally or in the cloud, with each option offering its benefits. Local recording saves the file to your device, while cloud recording stores it online for easy access and sharing. 

While recording a Zoom meeting captures the essential visuals and dialogue. The latter enhances the quality and usability of those recordings, as well as the longevity of your remote communications and business outcomes. 

As we try to learn how to record a Zoom meeting, Krisp comes into play. Krisp’s AI-powered noise cancellation removes unwanted background noise, ensuring that your Zoom recording is crystal clear. But Krisp goes beyond just noise cancellation. 

Offering top-notch audio and video recording capabilities, Krisp goes beyond the basics with advanced editing features like virtual meeting transcriptions and seamless integration with Zoom. 

Audio Recording 

Krisp offers an easy-to-use audio recording feature that ensures your meetings are captured with high-quality audio.

Transcription and Meeting Notes

Krisp can transcribe your meetings and generate meeting notes, making it easier to capture the gist of discussions without having to rewatch the entire recording.

Integrating Krisp with your Zoom meetings doesn’t just elevate the quality of your recordings; it transforms them into more accessible, actionable resources that can significantly boost productivity and collaboration.

Easy to use and reliable, Krisp ensures your meetings are captured in high quality, ready to be shared and reviewed whenever you need them. 

Say goodbye to complicated recording setups and hello to a smoother, more efficient way to capture your Zoom meetings.

Final Words

Recording a Zoom meeting can be straightforward, provided you know the steps and ensure you have the right tools at your disposal. 

By following the guidelines above and utilizing Krisp, you can capture high-quality recordings of your meetings, complete with clear audio, transcripts, and notes. 

This not only makes it easier for everyone to stay on the same page but also enhances the overall productivity of your team or organization. For more insights and tips on maximizing your virtual meetings, visit Krisp’s blog.

Frequently Asked Questions

The post How to Record a Zoom Meeting on Any Device appeared first on Krisp.

Among its other user-friendly features, this one by Zoom helps you advance your privacy, minimize distractions, and maintain professionalism, no matter your location.

All this being said, here’s a straightforward guide on how to blur background in Zoom.

What You Need to Know Before You Blur Background on Zoom

To achieve a blurred Zoom background, let’s ensure you meet these simple necessary prerequisites:

• The latest version (version 5.5.0 or higher) of Zoom desktop client for Windows or macOS,
• Zoom mobile app for Android or iOS – version 5.6.6 or higher,
• A processor with a minimum of a quad-core or higher.

Meeting these requirements ensures you can successfully blur background on Zoom without errors.

Step-by-Step Instructions on How to Blur Background in Zoom

Trying to figure out how to blur background in Zoom may occur in different situations. You may have some time before the call and decide to blur it. But you may also feel the need to do it when you’re already on the call. Thus, it’s good to be prepared for both situations. No matter what device you’re going to use, here are the instructions: 

Before a Call

1. Launch Zoom and sign in to your account.
2. Navigate to the ‘Settings’ icon in the top right corner as you click on your profile picture.
3. From the list that it opens, select the ‘Background & Filters’ tab.

Here, you’ll see an option for ‘Blur’. Selecting this will instantly blur your background.

During a Call

1. While in a Zoom call, notice the ‘^’ arrow next to the ‘Stop Video’ button on the toolbar (see the image below.)
2. From the menu, select ‘Blur My Background’.

On Android / iOS

1. Tap the screen to bring up the meeting controls.
2. Tap on ‘More’, then select ‘Virtual Background’.
3. Choose the ‘Blur’ option to apply a blurred Zoom background to your video.

Troubleshooting: What to Do if Your Blurred Zoom Background Isn’t Showing Up?

There are technical issues you may encounter as you get to learn how to blur background in Zoom. The following steps may be helpful if you encounter blurred background problems:

• Update Zoom: Ensure your Zoom application is updated to the latest version.
• Check hardware requirements: Verify if your device meets the necessary hardware specifications. With an Intel processor from the 6th generation and up you can use the blur background on Zoom feature. Thus, if you have 5th gen Intel or lower on your Windows/Mac, you won’t be able to use this feature.
• Restart Zoom: Sometimes, simply restarting the Zoom application can resolve the issue.
• Reinstall the application: This can be one of the possible solutions. To reinstall: 

1. Go to your settings.
2. Select ‘Apps’ and scroll down to Zoom
3. Click on Zoom and select ‘Uninstall,’ then, confirm the action. 
4. Then, go to the official website of Zoom and install the latest version again.
   

• Contact Support: If problems persist, try contacting Zoom’s support team to receive further assistance.

Zoom Background Blur vs. Background Image: Pros and Cons

When considering how to blur background in Zoom, you may encounter the alternative of using a background image. However, you should be mindful of the following: 

• Professionalism: A blurred background maintains focus on you, reducing distractions, whereas a background image can add personal flair but might not be suitable for all meetings.
• Privacy: Both options provide privacy, but a blurred background ensures that nothing in your surroundings is distinguishable.
• Performance: Blurring requires less processing power than running a high-resolution image as your background, potentially offering a smoother video call experience.

Here is a table summarizing the pros and cons of both options:

Get the Most out of Your Zoom Calls With Advanced Features

Enhancing your calls doesn’t stop with a blurred Zoom background. Krisp – an AI-powered meeting assistant, offers additional features to elevate your video conferencing:

• Noise Cancellation: Eliminate background noise from your environment, ensuring your voice is crystal clear.
• Background Voice Cancellation: Target and remove specific voices other than your own for uninterrupted communication.
• Automatic Transcriptions: Enjoy accurate transcriptions without having to manually take notes.
• AI Meeting Notes and Action Items: Use AI to summarize your meetings and outline action items, saving time and enhancing productivity with Krisp’s AI Meeting Assistant.
• Call Recording: Record your calls for playback, ensuring you haven’t missed any details. 

If you combine Zoom’s blur feature with Krisp’s suite of enhancements, you’re set to deliver professional, efficient, and high-quality video calls, regardless of where you are or what’s happening around you. 

Maximize your impact during virtual meetings and make them as effective and engaging as possible by embracing these tools. 

Final Words on Blurring Your Background on Zoom 

Learning how to blur background in Zoom by following the simple steps outlined in this guide can significantly enhance your video conferencing experience. As a result, you’ll rest assured that you have privacy, professionalism, and a polished appearance on your virtual calls. 

All this being said, you should update your Zoom application regularly and check your device’s hardware requirements to avoid technical issues. Finally, consider using Krisp’s AI-powered meeting assistant with Zoom’s background blur feature for even better video conferencing results!

Frequently Asked Questions

The post A Detailed Guide on How to Blur Background in Zoom appeared first on Krisp.

The best way to deal with this is to use a dedicated noise reduction software. So if you’re on the hunt to find the best one, you’ve likely come across Krisp and Nvidia Voice RTX. You may have narrowed your decision between them, but if you are still browsing, we can save you a lot of time and help you decide which noise cancelling app is the right one for you.

Let’s find out with our in-depth comparison.

Krisp vs Nvidia RTX Voice: Brief Introduction

What is Krisp?

Krisp is the first noise-canceling tool that removes background noise from communication apps. It works in real-time, using AI capabilities to separate unwanted background noise from human voices.

In addition to removing background noise from your microphone, you can also filter out background noise coming from other people during a call. In essence, it’s like adding a protective layer between your microphone or speaker and the app you use to make sure that noise doesn’t pass through. Krisp also provides the option to automatically take notes, record the calls and provide summaries and action items after calls.

Krisp was launched on ProductHunt and had a huge success by becoming the product of the year. In April 2020, Discord partnered with Krisp to bring the innovative noise suppression feature to its 250+ million user base.

What is Nvidia RTX Voice?

Nvidia RTX Voice is a new noise-canceling plugin released in April 2020.  Now it’s only a part of Nvidia Broadcas and not available as a standalone app. It works only with Nvidia’s RTX graphics card and uses its AI capabilities to eliminate background noise from your streams and calls.

Like Krisp, RTX Voice creates a virtual microphone and speakers within your system that are used in your audio and video chats to remove background noise. RTX Voice also suppresses background noise from incoming audio of players in noisy environments.

As of now, RTX Voice is only available within Nvidia Broadcast on Windows 10.

Krisp vs. Nvidia RTX Voice: Features, supported apps and technical requirements

Let’s start our comparison of Krisp vs RTX Voice by looking at the similarities and differences of the two apps in terms of their features, technical requirements and pricing. 

Noise cancellation

Both Krisp and RTX Voice support two-way noise removal and can eliminate noise from outgoing and incoming audio streams. The noise comes in one end and then emerges from the other end as a clean and crisp voice. This means that during a call you can speak and also hear others without noise.

You can join your remote meetings without having to worry about unwanted sounds, whether it’s keyboard clatter, the noise of a barking dog or a crying baby, or a hammering sound coming from the construction site near your home. Just don’t forget to turn on your noise-cancelling app beforehand

We made a full technical comparison of the noise reduction quality of Krisp vs Nvidia RTX Voice, according to which Krisp’s technology showed a 10% better result on average. (So keep reading to get to the nitty-gritty part!)

But before we get to that part, here’s a quick video review from Chris Fox from BBC. Chris experimented with different noises and compared the performance of two apps. Take a look.

 

Verdict: Both apps support two-sided noise cancellation so you can speak and listen without noise. On average, Krisp’s technology was 10% better.  

Supported apps

Another similar feature of Krisp vs. RTX Voice is that they can be used with any conferencing, streaming, and recording applications. Since Krisp and RTX Voice add a virtual microphone and speaker to your system, you can configure them both with any communication app that allows you to change audio settings and select a virtual device.

You can use Krisp and RTX Voice with the most popular applications, such as Zoom, Slack, WebEx, Skype, Google Meets, Microsoft Teams and pretty much with any app that allows you to select a microphone and speaker.

This is very helpful, as sometimes you can find yourself juggling between different apps throughout the day, depending on what you are doing or who you are talking to. You can easily do your remote meeting with Zoom, send a quick video message to colleagues through Loom, and stream with OBS in the evening — all while staying noise-free.

Verdict: No winner here. Both Krisp and RTX Voice support working with the communication apps that allow selecting a speaker and a microphone.

Hardware and OS Requirements

When it comes to hardware and OS requirements, apps begin to differ. The key difference is that RTX Voice requires an Nvidia RTX graphics card and Windows 10, while Krisp works with the built-in hardware on your device and across multiple OS platforms. 

To use RTX Voice, you must use an Nvidia GeForce RTX or Quadro RTX graphics card on Windows 10 only. 

Krisp, on the other hand, is entirely software-based. It’s available cross-platform on Mac and Windows, and doesn’t require any special hardware. Krisp has various modes, which allow it to be used on both high-end and low-end PCs and laptops.

All the audio processing is done locally on your device, you’re not sending audio to the cloud, so it’s private too.

As for additional devices, such as a microphone, speaker and headphones, Krisp and RTX Voice can be paired with any of them.

So while both apps support two-way noise cancellation and work with the majority of communication apps, RTX Voice is designed for Nvidia RTX cards, while Krisp can run on most devices and doesn’t require any special hardware.

Verdict: Krisp is clearly a winner when it comes to hardware and OS requirements. You can use Krisp with the available hardware of your device on multiple platforms.

Pricing

Krisp is free to download and start using it for free with a set number of minutes every week.

For unlimited noise cancellation, multi-device usage, and additional features, several plans are available for individuals, teams as well as for enterprises. Head over to the pricing section to learn more. 

RTX Voice is a free plugin, but it requires an Nvidia RTX graphics card, the price of which starts at $350 for their lower-end Graphic cards.

Verdict: When it comes to pricing, there’s no obvious winner as RTX Voice is free and Krisp has a free plan. However, RTX Voice requires you buying a RTX video card. So if you don’t have one already, Krisp is a better option for you.

Here’s also a quick overview of features, requirements and supported apps both for Krisp and Nvidia.

Key Features	Removed background noises from incoming and outgoing audio Removed Background Vocies (Background Speech) Cancels Room and Acoustic Echo Generates Notes and Action Items + Recordings	Removed background noises from incoming and outgoing audio
Hardware Requirements	No Special Hardware is Required	Requires Nvidia RTX Graphics Card (GeForce RTX, Quadro RTX, Titan RTX or higher)
Supported Apps	+ many other calling and communicating apps	+ many other calling and communicating apps
Supported Platforms (OS)	MacOS Windows 10 Windows 11	Windows 10 only
Pricing	Krisp Free Krisp Pro Enterprise options	Free with RTX Graphic Cards (starting at $350 for lower end)

Krisp vs. Nvidia RTX Voice: Performance Comparison

At this point, you are probably already wondering, which application removes noise better, right?

So let’s move on to the more technical part. 

In this part, we evaluate Krisp vs. RTX Voice according to the following two criteria:

• quality (noise cancellation + voice quality) – how well the app removes the most common background noises and maintains high voice quality.
• resource consumption – how resource-intensive is the app, i.e., how much are the memory usage and CPU.

Note: Krisp’s technology is available in various bandwidth modes. For the tests, we used the Krisp HD full-band model since RTX Voice’s technology is full-band. As of now, Krisp’s desktop app uses Regular mode (wideband), but the HD mode will be released soon.

Audio Quality (Noise Cancellation + Voice Quality)

For this review, we took clean voice recordings and mixed them with 12 of the most common background noises, such as keyboard typing, babble, traffic, household noises, crying baby, barking dog, sirens, and others. We then processed the resulting noisy audio files with Krisp HD and RTX voice.

To compare the noise cancellation and voice quality provided by Krisp HD and RTX voice, we did POLQA evaluations. If you are not familiar with the terminology, POLQA is (a global standard for benchmarking audio quality by comparing processed audio files with the corresponding clean voices. The results are on a scale from 1 (bad) to 5 (excellent).

This is what we got:

In the case of Krisp HD, all indicators are mostly above 3, which means that it has good performance in terms of eliminating noise and keeping voice clarity. In contrast, RTX Voice’s scores above 3 only in half of the cases.

Both apps show a very good result (above 4) in case of sirens and are close to that for the noises of beeping sound and a crying baby. In the case of babble noise and washing machine’s noise, both applications show the result just below the mark of 3.

Verdict: Looking at the results of this test, you can see that overall, Krisp HD has higher POLQA values and shows higher performance than RTX Voice. On average Krisp HD quality performance is 10% higher compared to Nvidia RTX voice. 

CPU Load and Memory Usage

Since both apps are AI-powered and use advanced audio processing algorithms, it is essential to compare their impact on system performance as well. 

When working with resource-intensive programs, you may notice that certain commands and actions may take longer to be executed. Besides, higher CPU usage can lead to overheating your system, and in the case of a laptop, also to faster battery discharge. Generally, a device operates more quickly, smoothly, and lasts longer on a battery charge if few resource-intensive processes are running at the same time.

With a noise-canceling application, the consumption of system resources is important, because in an ideal scenario, you would like it to work in the background so that you can quickly hop on calls anytime without worrying about the noise and checking if you forgot to turn on the app.

Unlike the RTX Voice plugin that requires Nvidia RTX GPUs to remove background noise, Krisp doesn’t require a specific graphics card and works on CPUs as well. 

Tip: Head over to Nvidia’s in-depth article to learn more about the difference between CPU and GPU.

To compare the CPU load and memory usage for both apps we have run them separately on the same machine – Processor Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-9700F CPU @ 3.00GHz, 32.0 GB RAM, NVIDIA 2080 Ti GPU. Each run lasted around 30 minutes to complete. 

From the comparison charts it’s clear that RTX Voice is a more resource-intensive application. Krisp HD is the heaviest model in Krisp, but it’s still lightweight compared to RTX Voice. It has about 2x less CPU Load than RTX Voice on the same machine. At the same time, Krisp HD uses about 5x less CPU memory.

Verdict: In this case, Krisp is a better option as it requires fewer system resources while providing superior performance.

Krisp vs RTX Voice Comparison Conclusion: Which One Should You Choose?

Krisp and RTX Voice work similarly by adding a virtual device to your system and working based on AI to remove noise in real time. The most crucial difference between applications lies in their requirements. While RTX Voice is specifically designed for use on RTX graphics cards, Krisp can be used with the built-in hardware of your device across multiple platforms. 

So if you use Mac there’s not much point in getting Nvidia Broadcast since you can’t have it on MacOS as for Windows if you don’t plan to buy a hefty priced graphics card, then Krisp is the best noise canceling application for you. It is very easy to set up, and can help you have clear communication during your calls anytime. Who doesn’t like having meeting notes automatically generated as well? Krisp does that too!

Even if you have an RTX video card but still care about system performance, Krisp is the most optimal solution that doesn’t consume significant resources and provides excellent performance alongside AI Meeting Assistant features.

The post Nvidia RTX Voice vs Krisp – Noise Cancellation Review | Which Works Better? appeared first on Krisp.

In the realm of digital communication, clarity is king. Whether you’re diving into a crucial virtual meeting, launching into a live stream, or recording your latest podcast episode, the presence of background noise can detract significantly from the quality of your audio. This is where noise gate software like NoiseGator shines, offering a solution to keep unwanted noise at bay. In this article, we’ll take a look at Noise Gator, a popular noise cancelling software option. We’ll discuss the pros and cons to help you decide if this software is right for you. We’ll also offer an alternative option if Noise Gator doesn’t suit your needs. 

What is NoiseGator & How Does it Work?

NoiseGator is a lightweight noise gate software that surpresses noise and does not let it pass to your microphone. It’s a Java based application, requiring Java 7 or higher for Windows and Java 6 or higher for Mac. 

Imagine having a virtual gatekeeper that only lets sounds louder than a specific level pass through. This means background noise like the hum of an air conditioner, keyboard typing, or distant conversations can be significantly reduced or eliminated, allowing only your voice to be clearly heard.

Noise gates work by monitoring the sound level in real-time. When the noise falls below the set threshold, the gate ‘closes,’ muting the noise. As soon as you speak or the sound exceeds this threshold, the gate ‘opens,’ allowing the audio to pass through. 

How to Set Up the NoiseGator Software?

One of the downsides of using NoiseGator is that you’ll have to install an additional virtual audio interface, as it doesn’t work simply on its own. Since NoiseGator only takes an audio input and applies a software gate to it, there’s no way to tell Skype or any other conferencing app to use that newly filtered audio. 

So, you’ll need to install virtual drivers such as SoundFlower for Mac or VBAudio for PC. Also, VBAudio might require Java Runtime Environment, so if you don’t have that already you’ll need to install it too. They are relatively easy to install, but this is still an extra step that is required to make this software work.

The first step is to install NoiseGator. Once you have installed the software, follow along with these steps:

• Run the NoiseGator software. The software doesn’t create a shortcut in the Start Menu automatically, so you’ll have to run the exe file. 
• Select “Cable Input (VB Audio Virtual Cable) on the “Output” dropdown menu. This is the virtual cable software. If you’re not able to see it in the drop-down menu, check to make sure it has been installed properly and try restarting your computer. 
• Then, right-click on the speaker icon in the Taskbar and click on “Playback Devices.” “Cable Input” should be selected. Right click on it to make sure that it is not disabled and click “Enable” if necessary. 
• After you’ve selected the virtual audio cable software, you can then begin to adjust the settings within NoiseGator. Adjust the “Threshold” levels depending on the loudness of the noise around you that you want to filter out. 

Once you’re done configuring the software, you’ll need to also separately set it up with any other program you want to use it with. 

Disadvantages of Using the NoiseGator Software

While NoiseGator is a useful tool, it’s not without its drawbacks:

• Requires External Configuration: For optimal performance, it often needs to be paired with virtual audio cables or additional software.
• Limited Advanced Features: Compared to newer software, it lacks advanced noise cancellation technologies and audio enhancement features.
• Potential Latency Issues: Some users may experience a slight delay between speaking and the audio transmission, affecting real-time communication.

NoiseGator Alternative: Krisp Noise Cancelling Software

Krisp transcends traditional noise cancellation techniques by utilizing AI to not only eliminate background noise but also to enhance overall audio quality. Unlike NoiseGator, Krisp offers:

• Advanced Noise Cancellation: Krisp can cancel out both inbound and outbound noise, ensuring clear communication regardless of source or environment.
• Background Voice Cancellation: Beyond mere background noise, Krisp adeptly filters out secondary voices within the user’s vicinity, ensuring the primary speaker’s voice is distinctly heard.
• AI Meeting Assistant Features: Beyond noise cancellation, Krisp doubles as an AI meeting assistant, providing real-time transcription, AI-generated meeting summaries and audio recordings. This suite of tools elevates Krisp from a simple noise cancellation tool to a comprehensive platform for enhancing virtual communication efficiency.

Popular Uses for the Krisp App

Krisp’s versatility makes it an ideal choice for a wide range of applications:

• Professional Meetings & Calls: Ensure your voice is heard clearly, without interruptions from background noise.
• Podcasting & Streaming: Achieve studio-quality sound directly from your home.
• Remote Work & Education: Enhance communication and focus by eliminating distracting noises.

Find the Right Noise-Canceling Software for You

Choosing the right noise-canceling software depends on your specific needs. If your primary requirement is basic noise gating, NoiseGator might suffice. However, for those seeking a holistic solution that offers exceptional voice clarity and elevates the efficiency of virtual meetings, Krisp is undoubtedly the superior choice. 

When comparing NoiseGator and Krisp, it’s clear that Krisp offers a significantly superior solution. Krisp not only addresses the fundamental need for noise cancellation with unparalleled proficiency but also introduces advanced features that redefine the standards of virtual communication. Its ability to cancel both inbound and outbound noises, along with secondary voices, ensures that every virtual interaction is as clear and productive as possible.

Moreover, Krisp’s role as an AI meeting assistant offers a unique blend of voice clarity and productivity enhancement. The addition of audio recording, transcription services and AI meeting summaries based on those transcriptions positions Krisp as not just a tool but a comprehensive solution for anyone looking to optimize their online communication and collaboration.

The post How to Use Noise Gator Software for Noise Cancellation appeared first on Krisp.

Yet, you might not know Zoom is also one of the pioneers in noise cancellation technology. If you make conference calls, you know how distracting and annoying background noises can get. 

Keyboard typing, barking dogs, and crying kids – all these noises can affect the productivity of your call.

Thankfully, Zoom provides the capability to eliminate these unwanted sounds, facilitating professional-quality conference calls. However, it’s important to note that Zoom noise suppression features may not always perform optimally. By delving into the specifics of Zoom noise cancellation, users can markedly improve the audio quality of their meetings. On a separate note, fine-tuning the settings for Zoom noise suppression can further aid in reducing background distractions.

In this guide, we’re going over how you can get started with background noise removal on Zoom and try advanced methods for cancelling unwanted sounds and echoes.

• What is Zoom noise cancellation?
• How to turn off Zoom noise cancellation?
• How do I reduce background noise in Zoom?
• How to cancel out background noise completely?
• More tips for better Zoom meetings and high-performance sound 

What is Zoom noise cancellation?

August 2018. Zoom just announced and added the long-awaited persistent background noise cancellation feature. According to Zoom, this function automatically detects and blocks background noise, such as keyboard typing.

This function is switched on by default, so you don’t have to do anything in the settings. When you make calls using Zoom, noise cancellation automatically works in the background, and you don’t need to worry about turning it on.

However, sometimes you don’t need to remove background noises completely. For example, if you’re teaching online guitar classes, the enabled noise cancelling feature will do more harm to you than good. That’s because your students simply won’t hear you playing. In such cases, it’s better to turn off the default Zoom noise cancellation feature.

How to turn off Zoom noise cancellation?

To disable the Zoom noise cancellation feature, you need to enable the preservation of original sound. It’s not as difficult as it sounds. 

Preserving the original sound means that other call participants will hear the original audio from your microphone, without the audio-enhancing effect and noise cancelling feature of the app.

This option is great when you have a high-quality microphone. Or, maybe you just want the other call participants to hear clear audio like in the case with music classes. 

So if you’d like to turn off Zoom noise cancellation, you’ll need to enable preserving original sound:

1. Log in via your Zoom desktop client and click on your profile picture.
2. Select Settings > Audio.
3. Under Music and Professional Audio, you’ll find the Show in-meeting option to enable “Original Sound” feature.

To suit your exact event type, you can select the High fidelity music mode, Echo cancellation, or Stereo audio.

And, that’s it. 

Now, the Original Sound setting will show up in the top left corner of your next meetings. No extra updates needed.

You can also do this on a mobile app:

1. Sign in to the Zoom mobile app and tap the Settings button.
2. Choose Meetings.
3. Under Audio, turn on the Use Original Audio toggle.

How do I reduce background noise in Zoom?

To do this, you only need to take a few steps:

1. Open Zoom’s desktop app on your Mac or Windows device.
2. Click on the Settings icon.
3. Select the Audio section.
4. Under the Suppress background noise section, select the level of suppression you need for your most common use cases. Auto is the default setting but this will commonly apply moderate background noise reduction. It can also adapt to new sounds it detects in the background, but won’t treat background music as an unwanted sound. We’d recommend opting for the High level if you want to reduce sounds like wrappers flying around, paper crunching, or keyboard typing.

How to cancel out background noise completely?

But Zoom’s noise-reducing capabilities don’t completely remove background noises. Sometimes there’s so much persistent background noise that the built-in noise cancellation may not be enough. 

Or maybe you often switch between communication apps, making work calls with Zoom, personal calls via Google Meet, and sending quick video messages through Loom.

In such cases, Krisp can help you cancel out background noise and have a productive noiseless experience.

What is Krisp?

Krisp is an AI-powered noise cancelling app that removes background noise from your calls with one click. With a single click, it helps you have a productive and professional conferencing experience without background noise.

Plus, Krisp can block background noise on both ends of the call. You can cancel noise on your side with Krisp Microphone so that other call participants can only hear your voice. Conversely, if there is a lot of background noise coming from other participants, Krisp Speaker can help you don’t hear their noises.

[demo-new]

It seamlessly works with any conferencing app, including Zoom. Here’s how you can easily set up Krisp with Zoom.

1. Download the Krisp app.

2. Follow the Krisp Setup Wizard instructions to install Krisp.

3. After this, open Zoom and select Settings > Audio tab.

4. From there, select Krisp Speaker and Krisp Microphone.

5. Now start a Zoom call and switch on the Remove Noise toggle in Krisp.

That’s all! Try Krisp app during your next Zoom call and feel the difference for yourself.

Wondering how Krisp compares with classic Zoom noise cancellation? Take a look at this video review:

If you’re a Mac user, here’s a helpful video on how to set up Krisp with Zoom on Mac to start removing common noise distractions.

If you don’t have the Zoom app installed yet, download Zoom for Mac.

And if you’re a PC user, here’s the tutorial on how to set up Krisp with Zoom on Windows.

How can I remove echo in Zoom?

Zoom has a built-in echo cancellation feature which, in most cases, is turned on by default:

You can further edit its effectiveness by heading over to your profile picture icon > Audio > Advanced:

There you currently [Zoom keeps changing the way they manage echo] have the option to choose between Auto and Aggressive. Auto echo cancellation works best for online events with multiple participants and an audience or for live music events. The Aggressive option, on the other hand, is best suited for regular meetings where no echoes are welcomed as they can disturb the session.

Krisp takes echo cancellation one step further by removing the echoes bouncing off of the walls or other hard surfaces in the room you’re taking your call from. So you can literally take calls from anywhere. On top of this, Krisp even takes care of pesky acoustic echoes your overly-sensitive microphone could cause. Zoom currently has no solution for the latter recurrent problem.

More tips for better Zoom meetings and high-performance sound 

Background noise cancellation and echo removal are just two of the many aspects to consider for a high-quality Zoom session. I’ll also take you through some extra tricks for guaranteeing the quality of your audio, whether it’s for live meetings or recordings:

Using the right equipment

Whether you’re using Zoom’s noise cancellation independent or alongside Krisp, both tools work with any headset or earset including a wireless or corded headset and mic. 

A condenser mic though is best suited for voice recordings like webinars or podcasts. Condenser mics are more sensitive and responsive, while dynamic ones are suited for extreme conditions and work for musical performances where you’ve got both singers and a complete band on the same stage.

You’ll also want to add in a pop filter or windscreen if you want to record outside on a windy day or you’ve had enough of the “p” and “b” sounds that distort your final recording.

Bonus tip: An appropriate environment plays a huge part in the quality of a recording. While Krisp helps you get that HD voice recording, if you plan on using Zoom’s noise cancellation only, you’ll appreciate shock absorbers across your recording room.

[demo-new]

Maintaining peak device performance

Zoom noise cancellation can increase CPU utilization. So you’ll want to use it sparingly for important events like webinars or other types of live streams. However, Zoom noise cancellation feature is specifically designed to enhance audio quality by filtering out background noise, making it indispensable for professional and clear communication.

For these, however, it’s super important to maintain a high-quality sound. So instead of ditching noise cancellation, use a tool like Krisp which requires less work from your system. Just switch to the optional low power mode when you’re running many taxing programs to minimize CPU usage. Talk about the best of both worlds!

Improving Zoom meeting quality in time using past insights

In addition to noise and echo cancellation, Krisp pairs with HD-supported devices to maintain crystal clear audio quality at all times. This is perfect for podcasts or events you need to record as you won’t need to take the entire recording through a complex post-editing process.

Besides audio quality, you’ll also want to consider improving your communication skills and providing a top-notch meeting experience to your team, clients, students, or event attendees. 

Krisp’s Talk Time gives you real-time insight into your meeting participation by showing you how much time you spent speaking during a call. This allows you to keep your own engagement in check and know when it’s time to let others speak. 

If you want to prevent wasting too much time in Zoom sessions, just track call performance using Krisp’s Call Summary. This answers common questions you might have had before like:

• How long do our meetings usually last?
• How much time is every person speaking? Are there any meetings where we’re losing precious time in silence?
• How much noise has Krisp canceled? 

Bonus tip 2: If you’d like transcripts for your Zoom meetings, check out how to transcribe zoom meetings free using Krisp’s AI Meeting Assistant feature.

For seamless and cost-effective transcription of your Zoom meetings, consider leveraging the innovative Krisp’s AI Zoom Transcription feature, which utilizes advanced artificial intelligence to accurately and effortlessly convert your meeting conversations into text.

Wrapping up

Hopefully, this tutorial will help you to block background noise from your Zoom meetings and enjoy productive conference calls. If you have any questions, ask us on Twitter. 

The post Zoom Noise Cancellation: How to Eliminate Background Noise & Echo appeared first on Krisp.

Are you looking for a noise cancelling app for Mac? Here is tried-and-tested selection of the 5 best apps available for Mac and iOS.

Much like everything else, team communication applications are still far from perfect. One of their biggest drawbacks and challenges that individuals and teams need to overcome is the issue of background noise. Noise cancelling technology is far from being a new invention, but we’re finally getting a good look at the demands for these tools in our daily activities. 

Even the smallest amount of background noise has a negative impact on your concentration and the quality of your calls. These unwanted noises make it challenging to properly hear and understand one another. This results in loads of misunderstandings during team calls or poor-sounding audio for podcasts and videos.

In this guide, we’re going over our tried-and-tested selection of the 5 best active noise cancellation apps currently available for Mac and iOS.

But first, let’s have a quick look over the factors you need to consider before relying on a noise cancelling app for your meetings and recordings:

• Operating system availability: Some might not be available for Mac users and there’s even mobile apps you can only use with an iOS system. Before analyzing a noise cancelling app’s features, do a double check to see if you can get it on a MacBook.
• Noise cancelling accuracy: Most tools claim to reduce (or supress) background noises. However, this means they lower the volume of noisy sounds when they should be blocking them completely.
• Use cases: Generally, noise cancelling apps for Mac are created either for live streaming or for post-recording noise editing. If you want to use the app to cancel noises both during meetings and recordings, look for a versatile tool that works on both levels or one that lets you remove noises in real-time.

[demo-new]

• Features: Besides noise reduction, you might want extra features like room and acoustic echo removal, sound quality improvement, and even reporting on your meeting time.
• Ease of use and learning curve: Some noise cancelling apps work by asking you to pre-record sound snippets you want to remove. This requires extra work to prepare the library of sounds while other apps cancel noises automatically using AI or audio volume-related settings.

1. Krisp – best for remote workers, podcasters and teams

Krisp is a noise cancelling app that takes away all of the background sounds during calls and recordings in real-time for both ends of the conversation.

You can connect it to your preferred conferencing, messaging, recording, or streaming tool as long as it accepts Krisp as the audio input. When you’re ready to use it, switch it on once and the app will automatically remove surrounding noises for everyone on the call. You can then use the Krisp widget before the start of the meeting to check the quality of your audio, removing the need to hold a test call ahead of time.

Behind the tool, there’s a Deep Neural Network that’s trained to remove background sounds and echo, leaving only the voice of the speaker closest to the microphone on the output. 

[demo-new]

2. Zoom and other video conferencing app with an integrated noise suppression functionality – best for quick use and no extra setup

With few noise cancelling apps for Mac out there, many video conferencing apps like Zoom or Microsoft Teams have built their own noise suppression features. This is a quick solution for individuals who don’t want to use extra tools or need a one-time fix to their audio issues. 

In Zoom, for example, you only have to select the sound level you want to remove throughout a meeting. Pick from Low (faint noises), Medium (computer fan, pen tapping), and High noises (typing, barking). Just keep in mind that these integrated noise cancelling features don’t completely remove distracting sounds because they don’t rely on AI to spot all potential noises.

You can use the default noise suppression feature of your video conferencing tool for team meetings and one-on-ones. However, keep in mind this won’t work for professional events, meetings, and recordings as they lack advanced features like HD voice rendering. For FaceTime noise cancellation, users can explore third-party options as Apple’s native app currently doesn’t offer such a feature.

3. AudioFix: For Videos + Volume – best for audio and video recordings you already have

AudioFix: For Videos + Volume is a noise cancelling app for iOS that cancels background noise from any video or audio recording and memo. This app is a great choice if you’re a regular iPad user and you need to improve the quality of your audio for recordings you already have. 

There’s multiple filters for the tool, including Audio Smoother, Strong Hiss Removal, and Mild Wind Removal. These help you adapt the noise cancelling process to every recording but don’t offer a completely clean final recording. Additionally, the app has some extra handy features that will help you edit your audio, like muting a sample of the recording or extracting sounds.

4. White Noise Lite – best for using your own recordings as ambient background sounds

While most noise cancelling apps give you access to a small library of ambient sounds you can use to cover up background noises, White Noise Lite lets you record your own. This free noise cancelling app for iOS is super easy to use and can help you relax, increase your focus at work, soothe headaches, and even mask tinnitus.

The app does come with a catalog of noises that induce and maintain your sleep and productivity, but it also allows you to record and enhance sound easily. The mixpad editor can be used by anyone so you can adjust the sound position, volume, sound variance, and pitch of every individual sound you want to add to your mix.

5. Sleep Pillow – best for keeping your health in check

Sleep Pillow doesn’t fully remove noises as it works by playing back high-quality ambient sounds on top of the background. These create an atmosphere well-suited for improving your quality of sleep and meditation time. This noise cancelling app’s purpose doesn’t end here as you can use it to boost your productivity by cancelling unwanted background noise at work.

Most current users praise this app’s ability to drown out background noise, but a large chunk of users have reported that it feels somewhat limited. Note that the noise cancelling sounds used by Sleep Pillow are rather short in length. This means that it’s easily noticeable whenever a loop restarts, something that can become a distraction in itself.

How does Krisp compare

More and more people are beginning to understand how drastic an impact background noise can have on productivity and concentration levels. We hope that this short list will aid you in your quest to eliminate pesky background noises and improve the quality of your work, sleep, or meditation sessions.

If you regularly use noise cancelling headphones during calls consider adding Krisp to your arsenal. This nifty noise cancelling app filters out pesky background noise at both ends, leading to a significant boost in the quality of your calls. It’s also the most advanced noise cancelling app for Mac, allowing you to:

• Record audio for podcasts, events, and videos in HD voice without requiring further edits
• Remove room and acoustic echoes that can ruin a recording for good
• Prevent misunderstandings during team calls as Krisp removes background sounds on both ends of a meeting with no manual input required
• Use different tools simultaneously through the power saving mode that won’t crash your MacBook
• Get a better idea of how you’re spending time in meetings and if you should reduce unnecessary calls to improve productivity 

P.S. If you’re a Windows user, check out our list of noise cancellation apps for Windows.

The post 5 Best Noise Cancelling Apps for Mac and iOS (For Any Use Case) appeared first on Krisp.

Noise cancellation software enhances the audio in calls by removing unwanted background noise in real time. This includes common background noises like barking dogs, crying babies, keyboard tapping and more. These software-based noise cancelling solutions can remove background noises and even echoes no matter where you work from, even on the go.

In this article, we’re going over the main differences and common features between two noise cancelling solutions: Krisp and SoliCall.

Krisp vs Solicall: Brief Introduction

Before we jump into the performance comparison, let’s take a closer look at what each tool does.

What is Krisp?

Krisp is a global software company that develops audio and video solutions to empower everyone to communicate with clarity and confidence. Its AI-powered noise, voice, and echo cancellation technology has been recognized as an industry leader, named one of TIME Magazine’s 100 Best Inventions of 2020 in the Artificial Intelligence category and one of “America’s Most Promising Artificial Intelligence Companies” by Forbes. 

Krisp supports more than 150 million users across the world and thousands of small businesses, enterprise organizations, contact centers, and business process outsourcers to create clearer communication — regardless of where they work. This noise cancelling software is trusted by some of the world’s largest and most prominent organizations, including GitHub, Discord, Accenture and more.

Krisp provides bi-directional background Noise Cancellation, Voice Cancellation, and Echo Cancellation. It works with any conferencing app or VoIP software to detect and eliminate unwanted noise, leaving only crystal clear HD audio. 

During the pandemic, Krisp became an essential solution, especially for call centers. After turning Krisp on, customers report 6% reduction in Average Handle Time (AHT), 8% increase in customer satisfaction score (CSAT), while noise complaints are reduced by 78%. 

“We frequently refer to Krisp in internal meetings as ‘working like magic. Agents, their managers, and customers are all ecstatic and happy, and the difference is black and white.”

Nathan Yap, CEO, SupportZebra

With Krisp, call center agents can resolve customer issues with confidence and maintain customers’ trust, knowing that background noise and distractions won’t get in the way. 

Besides call center noise cancelling, Krisp works for a variety of different use cases and gives individuals and teams the tools to improve their meeting experience and gather insights on communication habits to improve their digital well-being.

[demo-new]

What is SoliCall?

SoliCall develops software products that improve the sound quality in telephony. Their products are used in mobile phones, desktops, call centers, conference bridges, VoIP networks and in the cloud. Among their products are Noise Firewall for call centers and shared workspaces, as well as robust echo cancellation for the network and other challenging environments. 

SoliCall Pro solution aims to improve the quality of audio when using soft-phones without needing centralized audio filtering or analysis. It improves audio quality when making calls from any PC/laptop running on Windows and can be easily integrated with any soft-phone/VoIP application like Zoom, Skype, or Teams.

Another innovative solution is PBXMate for call centers. This product removes ambient noise in order to improve customer experience. It uses custom algorithms to correlate the audio of different calls, find the noise’s location, and remove it from calls. 

But which option is right for your needs: Krisp or SoliCall? Let’s see both of them in action!

Krisp vs. SoliCall: Features and Technical Requirements

To compare the two noise cancelling solutions, we’re first going over their features and technical requirements needed.

Krisp features

Krisp provides a suite of various features, packed in an easy to use app. The main features of Krisp are:

• Noise cancellation – Removes background noise from both ends of the call.
• Background voice cancellation – New groundbreaking feature of Krisp that removes background voices, such as the chatter of other agents nearby.
• Echo cancellation – Eliminates distracting room and acoustic echo. 
• Call summary – Provides a quick overview and insights on talk time after each call to keep track of the effectiveness of your meetings.
• Widget – Handy tool to easily control Krisp during a call.
• HD Voice – Krisp work with any HD-supported device to maintain clear audio quality
• Low power mode – Allows agent devices to run smoothly without taking up too much of CPU power.

Learn more about Krisp’s features.

SoliCall features

• Noise reduction – profile-based noise reduction (PNR) to reduce non-human sounds and reference-based noise reduction (RNR) to attenuate ambient sound.
• Echo reduction – Cancels echo generated on local or remote devices.
• PBXMate for Call centers – Displays real-time statistics on calls in progress and aggregated insights for past calls. 
• Automatic Gain Control – Keep voice volume in a normal range.

Supported apps

• Krisp can be used with any communication app, including all audio and video conferencing tools and VoIP solutions, such as Zoom, Microsoft Teams, RingCentral, Avaya, Genesys and 800 more. 
• SoliCall can be integrated with any soft-phone on any operating system and with any desk-phone as well as any communication software like Skype for Business or Genesys.

Supported headsets

• Krisp works with all headsets and earphones.
• SoliCall works best with certain USB headsets.

Technical requirements

• Krisp works both on Mac and Windows (versions 10-11) devices
• Solicall works only on Windows (versions 7-11) devices

Pricing

Krisp has a free plan so you can try and evaluate the tool at no cost. There’s also custom plans for Teams and Enterprise users. For more information visit Krisp’s Pricing page. You can also request a demo to see how the tool can help you with your specific needs.

SoliCall provides the basic version of Solicall Pro that doesn’t contain some of their advanced tools for a testing period of only 3 days. For more information and custom plans, you will need to contact their team. 

Krisp vs. SoliCall: Performance Comparison

Now let’s move on to a more technical comparison between Krisp and Solicall and see how both of these tools performed in various tests. 

In this section, we evaluate Krisp vs. Solicall based on the audio quality, meaning how well the app removes the most common background noises and maintains high voice quality.

Audio Quality (Noise Cancellation + Voice Cancellation)

For this test, we used VoIP tools which enabled us to get processed files and calculate the Perceptual Objective Listening Quality Analysis (POLQA) metric.

If you are not familiar with the terminology, POLQA is a global standard for benchmarking audio quality by comparing processed audio files with the corresponding clean voices. The results are on a scale from 1 (bad) to 5 (excellent).

When comparing Krisp with SoliCall, we did the evaluations in the exact same conditions and tested their performance for reducing background noise and voice. Two audio files were created and processed using the Krisp microphone and, respectively, the SoliCall microphone.

Results

Let’s consider the POLQA results for the processed noisy audio samples below. As you can see from the chart, Krisp has higher scores for all noise types. This means that Krisp is better able to clean background noise while keeping the main speaker’s voice intact.  

When subjectively listening to the audio, we could notice that SoliCall suppressed background noises but also removed the main speaker’s voice, meaning it has some voice suppression as well. When listening to the audio snippets, we also noticed that some noise is heard during speaking time and noise is cleaned comparatively well when there was no human voice in the audio.

Let’s consider the POLQA results for the processed multi-voice (main speaker and background voices) audio below. Similar to the results above, Krisp has performed significantly better compared to SoliCall.

When listening to audio fragments processed by Solicall, we noticed that it didn’t fully clear background noises. While testing Krisp, we didn’t notice such cases, which is confirmed by its high POLQA scores.

Looking at the results of this test, you can see that Krisp’s noise canceling solution overall performs noticeably better than SoliCall, and does a better job of cancelling surrounding noise and secondary speakers’ voices while keeping the main speaker’s voice clear. In the case of Solicall, the tests showed lower results and during listening evaluations there were some instances where it even suppressed the main speaker’s voice. 

Krisp vs. SoliCall Comparison Conclusion: Which One Should You Choose?

Our tests revealed that when compared to SoliCall, Krisp’s noise cancelling product was able to accurately remove secondary speakers’ voices and unwanted background noises from audio. Even in real-time. On the other hand, SoliCall had a worse performance, occasionally suppressing speakers’ voices or failing to remove background noise altogether. 

If you want to rely on a single solution for clear audio quality during meetings or for use within call centers, Krisp is the perfect option that scales with your business. In addition to effectively removing unwanted noises and extra background voices, the tool also eliminates echoes bouncing off of the walls and those resulting from your voice or a sensitive mic. 

Want to test Krisp right now? Try it below in real-time to see it in action!

[demo-new]

The post Krisp vs SoliCall Review – Which Noise Cancellation Solution To Choose appeared first on Krisp.

Companies lose $600 billion every year due to workplace distractions. The most common among them? Background noises during meetings, webinars, and client calls. 

Noise negatively affects the quality of your call or recording and makes it difficult to hear and understand one another, leading to further misunderstandings and even losing clients altogether. 

Over the past years, we’ve tested all of the noise cancelling solutions on the market and collected 5 of the best noise cancelling apps for Windows.

What should you look for when choosing your next noise cancelling app for Windows?

Before you make your first purchase, keep an eye on the following criteria for choosing a noise cancelling app that suits your needs:

• Operating system availability: Many of the latest noise cancelling apps are built for Mac and iOS users first since there’s a higher demand there. So whenever you come across a noise cancelling app with the features you want, make sure it’s available on Windows too.
• Noise cancelling accuracy: Video conferencing tools like Zoom or Google Meet come with an integrated noise suppression feature. However, the capabilities of these apps aren’t advanced as they merely lower the volume of background sounds instead of removing them altogether. For instance, when it comes to Google Meet noise cancellation, the feature is designed to minimize distracting noises, such as keyboard clicks or ambient chatter, but it may not completely eradicate them from the audio feed, leaving room for improvement in terms of achieving pristine audio quality during virtual meetings.

• Use cases: If you’re recording a video or podcast, you’ll want the noise cancelling app to work as you record. Some apps only cancel noises during the editing part so you won’t be able to use them for real-time calls and events.
• Features: At their most basic level, these apps remove background sounds for a fairly large specter. Advanced features include removing echoes, improving the quality of your voice in both real-time and for recordings, and getting insights into how long you spend in meetings to improve productivity.
• Ease of use and learning curve: Look for noise cancelling apps that you or your team won’t have to spend hours learning how to use. Some of the solutions on this list like Krisp and SoliCall work automatically with a single click so you won’t have to spend extra hours editing the audio.

Best Free Noise Cancelling Apps for Windows

1. Krisp – best for individuals and teams

Krisp is a noise suppression software that removes all background sounds during calls in real time.

It works with any conferencing, messaging, recording, and streaming app that accepts Krisp as their audio input. All you have to do is switch it on once and the tool automatically removes noises on both ends of the conversation. The Krisp widget can even tell you if there are any sounds impacting the quality of your audio so you won’t have to take a long time to prepare for a meeting or presentation.

Through a thorough noise cancellation quality evaluation, it’s evident that Krisp delivers superior performance by effectively eliminating unwanted sounds.

[demo-new]

Krisp uses a Deep Neural Network that’s trained to recognize and remove background noises, leaving only the clean human voice on the audio. The audio processing is done locally on the device, so your audio data stays secure.

Krisp for Windows is available, so give it a try and let us know what you think!

2. SoliCall – best for phone calls

Solicall is a noise cancellation app for Windows specifically designed for phone calls. It aims to improve the audio quality and cloud-based echo cancellation of your phone calls through two noise reduction technologies: profile-based and reference-based.

With profile-based noise reduction technology, the background noise is attenuated by focusing on the voice of the speaker. The app identifies the voice of the speaker and separates it from the audio signal. This innovative noise cancelling software focuses on enhancing your call experience.

Reference-based noise reduction technology removes background noise along with human voices. This means that whenever you’re in a call, the nearby conversations won’t be audible. SoliCall’s best use is for call centers where both incoming and outgoing calls won’t let nearby human voices come through.

3. Audacity – best for post-recording noise cancelling

Already have a recording and need to get that pitch-perfect sound? Audacity is a go-to choice for professional podcasters and video creators who want to remove or lower the noises on their recordings. The tool allows you to add special effects and even filter out noises that are covering up your speech. 

You can also use it to lower ambient background sounds so they’re not distracting listeners or making the conversation unintelligible. Note the feature doesn’t completely remove noises as it’s officially a noise reduction functionality that filters sounds based on volume, sensitivity, and frequency smoothing.

Compared to the other apps on this list, Audacity has a steep learning curve as it requires the user to learn how to use the functionality and choose the best noise reduction settings every time. The catch is that you have to select a noise portion within your audio to tell the app what it needs to remove throughout the rest of the audio. For best results, you’ll still have to edit all noise reduction settings.

4. Noise Blocker – best for reducing recurrent sounds on a track

Noise Blocker is a different kind of noise cancelling app for Windows as it works by pre-recording sounds you want the tool to remove during future calls or streams. Think of it as a library you build and then use to maintain clear audio.

While the tool is fairly easy to use, the process of reducing noises can get tedious as you have to record sounds you want the app to remove before the start of a call. Noise Blocker then compares news sounds during a live call to the ones you recorded ahead of time in order to prevent unwanted noises from passing through to the listener.

Some ideas for noises you can pre-record are humming sounds, keyboard typing, laptop fans, clapping, buzzes, mouse clicks, and even dog barking. This noise cancelling app for Windows works on apps like Skype, Discord, Slack, and Mumble.

5. Zoom or other video calling app with an integrated noise cancelling feature – best for use without any extra downloads

In the realm of virtual meetings and collaborations, tools like Zoom noise cancellation and Microsoft Teams noise suppression have become invaluable. This will be a perfect solution if you’re looking for a quick or temporary fix to your audio problems. Such features come by default with the free plans for these tools and require no prior setup. 

You can use them straight away by simply selecting the sound level you want to block. With Zoom, for instance, you can choose between Low (faint noises), Medium (computer fan, pen taps), and High noises (barking, typing). The Auto mode also adapts to sounds as the meeting progresses but it won’t fully remove all sounds you find distracting as there’s no AI or pre-recording feature.

These built-in noise suppression features work well for team meetings and one-on-ones. However, they don’t provide the advanced features you’d need for an online event, professional video recording, or podcast episode.

How does Krisp compare?

Each of the tools above works in slightly different ways, but if you’re looking for a go-to solution for multiple purposes, Krisp will suit all your needs. Compared to the other noise cancelling tools for Windows, Krisp ensures you’re:

• Preventing misunderstandings during meetings as Krisp blocks background noises on both ends of a call 
• Removing all acoustic and room echoes that could otherwise ruin your audio
• Keeping track of meeting time to maintain peak productivity levels
• Getting useful insights about your talk time to improve next time
• Recording clear audio for podcasts, videos, and events in HD voice with no post-recording edits required
• Using multiple tools at the same time through the power saving mode
• Reducing the time your new team members need to get used to the tool as Krisp has one of the lowest learning curves on the market

You can start using Krisp for free right away for higher-quality remote meetings. The free version will cancel noise for up to 240 minutes per week. With the paid tiers, you get unlimited noise cancellation for use, so head to the Krisp pricing section to learn more.

P.S. If you’re a Mac user, check out our list of noise cancellation apps for Mac.

The post 5 Free Noise Cancelling Apps for Windows in 2024 (For Any Use Case) appeared first on Krisp.

Wondering how to turn on Google Meet noise cancellation and cancel out background noise in calls? Then follow this step-by-step guide.

The use of conferencing tools has increased dramatically as the pandemic forced millions to switch to remote work and distance learning. Along with the transition, the number of conference calls has exploded as it remained as one of the few communication options during social distancing.

Many conferencing companies started to think about improving the communication quality and began to add new innovative features to their apps. Along with Zoom and Microsoft, Google announced adding noise cancelling feature inside Google Meet.

If you are interested to learn how Google Meet noise cancellation works and how to cancel out background noise in calls with Meet, then keep reading.

What is Google Meet Noise Cancellation?

In April, Google announced rolling out their top 4 most requested features, among which was noise cancellation. The AI-powered noise cancellation automatically will remove background noise during your video calls.

Here’s how the company described it:

“To help limit interruptions to your meeting, Meet can now intelligently filter out background distractions—like your dog barking or keystrokes as you take meeting notes.”

As of now, Google is gradually rolling out the noise cancellation feature to its G Suite Enterprise, G Suite Enterprise for Education and G Suite Enterprise Essentials accounts. It is now reaching its Web client first, and will later come to mobile users.

How Google Meet Noise Cancellation Works?

Google Meet uses Artificial Intelligence to filter out background noise. Similar to speech recognition, which requires figuring out what is speech, noise reduction feature also rely on machine learning to be trained to understand what constitutes noise and human speech.

With this feature, Meet is said to be able to remove non-stationary noises, some examples of which are typing, closing a door, or the sounds of a nearby construction site. When noise canceling is on, Meet filters the noise from your audio input while letting your voice through.

How to Turn On Google Meet Noise Cancellation?

Google is rolling out this feature to Meet users gradually. If you’re a G Suite enterprise customer, you can check the availability by going to the settings in Meet and and see if “Noise Cancellation” feature was added to your settings. 

If so, under the Audio tab, you should see an extra switch for Noise Cancellation between microphone and speakers selection settings.

Once this feature is available for you, it is turned on by default.

Source: venturebeat.com

How to Turn Off Google Meet Noise Cancellation?

If you would like to let noise come through in your calls or are simply in a quiet setting and don’t want denoising filters to be applied to your voice, you can turn it off. 

To do so,  you need to follow these two simple steps:

1. Open Settings from the top right corner

2. Turn off the toggle for Noise Cancellation

Alternative Way: How to Cancel Out Background Noise in Google Meet? 

Often you can find yourself in a situation when there is so much background noise that the built-in noise cancellation may not be enough. Or maybe, besides Google Meet, you use various conferencing and communication applications such as Zoom, Slack, WebEx, Loom and many others.  

In these cases, Krisp noise cancelling app is the best available alternative. 

What is Krisp?

Krisp is a noise cancelling app that works in real time and uses the power of AI to recognize and separate noises from human voices.

A major benefit of Krisp is that besides filtering out background noise on your side, it can also remove noise coming from other people on the call. So both you and other call participants can enjoy clear and professional conferencing experience without disruptive noise.

Plus, it works with any conferencing app, including Google Meet. Check out how it works in the demo below.

[demo-new]

How to Remove Noise in Google Meet with Krisp?

Here’s how you can easily set up Krisp with Google Meet for improved noise cancellation.

1. Download Krisp app. It’s available for Mac and Windows.

2. Follow the instructions to install Krisp on your device.

3. After this, open Google Meet, go to Settings and select the Audio tab.

4. From there, select Krisp as the Speaker and as the Microphone.

5. Now start your call with Meet and switch on the toggle in Krisp to remove noises.

Easy as that! More productive and noise-free call is just a click away. Give Krisp a try during your next call with Google Meet and feel the difference for yourself. 

If you’re a Mac user, here’s a helpful video on how to set up Krisp with Google Meet on Mac.

And if you’re Windows user, here’s the tutorial on how to set up Krisp with Google Meet on Windows.

The post How to Remove Background Noise in Google Meet Noise Cancellation appeared first on Krisp.