Improving microphone input by using noisetorch
So the audio quality I get from the internal microphone on my new Slimbook PROX is underwhelming when compared to the out the box experience on my Macbook Pro.
But surely I'm not the first one with this experience? Apparently not, because a quick search using Qwant revealed the NoiseTorch project to me. Installation was rather painless, just following the steps in the README
At first the sound was terrible, but after playing a bit with de sliders, the situation improved and the sound quality got a lot better than what I was getting at first.
The binary ends up as a virtual microphone device that you configure to use one of your real microphones.
To demonstrate the result I have a couple of audio files in both Dutch and English demonstrating the difference between the internal microphone and the internal microphone filtered by NoiseTorch
Dutch
"Los van de USB-C charging die ontbreekt, is mijn enige openstaande issue nog de audiokwaliteit die ik krijg van de interne microfoon. Het lijkt erop dat NoiseTorch met het filteren van omgevingsgeluid de situatie een heel eind verbeterd. Top"
English
"Apart from the missing USB-C charging, the only issue remaining is the audio quality of the built-in microphone. But it seems that NoiseTorch by filtering ambient sound improves the experience by a great deal."
Next week I will be joining MS Teams meetings again. So that is when I will learn if this is good enough solution or if I need to be on the lookout for an USB based audio alternative.