Strange zoom audio issue - please help

[bigvince]

The strangest thing is happening on my dad's new Dell laptop running Windows 11. When he's in the Zoom meeting, all the videos play fine, everything works well. But when a song is played, like to sing the opening or closing song, the audio starts getting very choppy and comes in and out. It is only on the songs, I even tried it when I hosted my own meeting from my home. I tried changing a few settings and Zoom and installing a new codec in case that was the issue, but it's still happening for some reason. Does anyone know why? More importantly, how do I fix it? I thought maybe it was because the branch was using a different codec for audio in the regular videos but that doesn't appear to be the case. Please help.

This is a 911 situation, call the angels and everybody. lol

[Tortuga]

We had a similar problem due to weak Internet service at the Kingdom Hall. When the song was played at the KH, it would be choppy for everyone on Zoom. Since your dad's problem started with his new computer, it may not be the same issue, but does he have a strong internet connection?

[bigvince]

He has a strong internet connection.

[AH173]

Maybe try to de~select optimize video option on the share screen option.

 

If it wasn't tried before. 

[Witness1970]

We had a problem with audio on the songs.  It was caused by a Zoom update.  I found out that we had to go into audio settings and, under audio profile, choose "original sound for musicians."  The new Zoom update was trying to filter out background noises when videos were played.  It was filtering the songs as if they were bacmground noises.

[dljbsp]

15 hours ago, bigvince said:

the audio starts getting very choppy

This happens often, something about it being music, that if the brothers forget to check, share audio button. the audio on music is choppy.

The button/checkbox, can still be checked while the video is playing, and it instantly clears up. This is on the congregation side of things.

Edited December 27, 2024 by dljbsp

[bigvince]

Thanks for the input guys.

@AH173 Yes, we tried that.

@Witness1970 I'll check that out.
@dljbsp That was already checked.

[Qapla]

The share audio is not checked by default. It has to be checked each time Zoom is started and then shared. or some reason, Zoom has not allowed that particular feature to be set on or off by default.

 

The optimize for video usually has more impact on creating "random" gray boxes than impacting the sound. Those "random" boxes are caused when the mouse passes over another application. If you uncheck optimize for video, the video will most likely be fine and those gray boxes will not appear.

 

Edited December 27, 2024 by Qapla

[Myew]

If the issue isn't fixed by changing the way audio is shared over Zoom, look into the computer's audio settings and audio driver settings. Drivers vary, you may be using Intel or Realtek audio or something else, but many new ones have AI background noise removal which messes up music when streaming. In the old Windows Sound Control Panel, turn off communication detection and also check what features are enabled under 'Enhancements', sometimes those have similar functions to background noise removal.

Edited December 27, 2024 by Myew

[bigvince]

John, I checked the share audio, and I'd shared another video just before which worked fine, it's only the music videos for meetings.

 

@MyewI'll check that out. Thanks.

[Myew]

What brand and model of laptop is it? I might be able to find something on the audio drivers.
There are several audio control apps that may be involved, Dolby, MyAsus, HP Audio Control, Lenovo System Update/Vantage, Realtek Audio Control...

On my desktop, my motherboard has a "7.1 CH HD Audio with Content Protection (Realtek ALC892 Audio Codec)" audio chip, but I uninstalled the Realtek audio drivers and just use the basic Microsoft driver. Sometimes that takes away the extra audio fluff.

[bigvince]

16 hours ago, Myew said:

What brand and model of laptop is it? I might be able to find something on the audio drivers.
There are several audio control apps that may be involved, Dolby, MyAsus, HP Audio Control, Lenovo System Update/Vantage, Realtek Audio Control...

On my desktop, my motherboard has a "7.1 CH HD Audio with Content Protection (Realtek ALC892 Audio Codec)" audio chip, but I uninstalled the Realtek audio drivers and just use the basic Microsoft driver. Sometimes that takes away the extra audio fluff.

It’s a Dell Inspiron 15 business laptop 

[Myew]

That can be hard to narrow down since there are over 50 models of the Dell Inspiron 15, but it looks like I found the right support article that covers all the apps that it come with Dells that may affect this. Check for and look through the "Dell Optimizer", "MyDell", or "Waves MaxxAudio Pro" applications for the background noise and mic boost options. Pictures in the links.

https://www.dell.com/support/kbdoc/en-us/000215376/distorted-multimedia-audio-in-voip-conference-applications
https://www.dell.com/community/en/conversations/inspiron/noise-background-for-microphone-on-dell-inspiron-15-3511/647fa1c1f4ccf8a8de70fb69

Edited December 28, 2024 by Myew

[minister159]

On 12/26/2024 at 4:10 PM, bigvince said:

The strangest thing is happening on my dad's new Dell laptop running Windows 11. When he's in the Zoom meeting, all the videos play fine, everything works well. But when a song is played, like to sing the opening or closing song, the audio starts getting very choppy and comes in and out. It is only on the songs, I even tried it when I hosted my own meeting from my home. I tried changing a few settings and Zoom and installing a new codec in case that was the issue, but it's still happening for some reason. Does anyone know why? More importantly, how do I fix it? I thought maybe it was because the branch was using a different codec for audio in the regular videos but that doesn't appear to be the case. Please help.

This is a 911 situation, call the angels and everybody. lol

My wife has the same laptop with Windows 11 and the same problem began after a Zoom update, if she remembers correctly. Nothing I've tried has fixed the problem, but I just went into the "Sound" Communications and changed the noise reduction or "volume of other sounds" from 80% to "Do Nothing." The next time she uses it we'll see if that fixed the problem. She does have other enhancements turned on that I didn't change, but if necessary, I might turn them off one at a time. This has to be done while the song is being played, so it limits the time you have to do the testing, not to mention it's a real distraction! When did life get so complicated? 

[Qapla]

Since some tasks a computer overlap with others - you might check to see if you have the "video de-noise" option checked in the "Advanced" button in the video settings. If so, try unchecking it to see if there is a conflict between the video and audio drivers. I know this particular option had issues in the past as it was incompatible with the video drives on some computers.

 

Likewise, under the "Advanced" button in the audio settings, you may want to adjust the "Signal Processing by Windows" and/or the "Windows system audio enhancements" settings.

 

Edited December 28, 2024 by Qapla

[Myew]

26 minutes ago, minister159 said:

The next time she uses it we'll see if that fixed the problem. She does have other enhancements turned on that I didn't change, but if necessary, I might turn them off one at a time. This has to be done while the song is being played, so it limits the time you have to do the testing

That's what I would do, testing them one after another. It may be a combination of settings. Now that I know the type of laptop, I doubt changing the Windows communication setting alone will do it, as that generally just lowers the volume.

You could speed up testing by hosting a Zoom meeting of your own on another computer and streaming JW Library to test it. 

Edited December 28, 2024 by Myew

[bigvince]

We seem to have a solution of sorts. If the zoom host changes audio output to stereo instead of mono, it works. So when I get to the hall tomorrow, I’m going to change the audio output on the hall computer to stereo instead of mono and see if that works.

Edited December 29, 2024 by bigvince

[Qapla]

[minister159]

I don't have the laptop in front of me now, so I don't remember the exact terminology of the choices in the sound settings, but basically what I did was:

 

Went into the zoom settings, not the laptop settings, chose advanced settings, chose audio profile, disabled the "noise reduction," enabled "sound for musicians" and "echo reduction or cancellation." I left the laptop sound setting on stereo, not mono. Anyway, it worked and the music came through loud and clear without any problem. We'll see if it still works the next time my wife is on zoom, although that may be awhile, since she's better now and will be attending in person for the foreseeable future. 

Edited December 30, 2024 by minister159