Professional Audio

What is Professional Audio?

Professional Audio is built for Directors who want higher quality audio from their recordings.

OpenReel’s Professional Audio feature captures richer audio by disabling a device’s hardware Echo Cancellation, which provides up to 40% more data in the final file. By removing hardware Echo Cancellation, we capture raw, unprocessed audio.

This feature also allows you to bypass a device’s native Automatic Gain Control, allowing you to change the input gain on the microphone manually. Professional Audio can be used with a device's native microphone or with a microphone externally connected, which can also improve the quality of the recordings. 

How to Enable Professional Audio

After a Subject pairs into the room, navigate to the Adjustments tab and open the Audio tab.

You can use Professional Audio with or without external microphones. Simply toggle on Professional Audio!

Now, you can manually adjust the gain of the microphone by using the slider that appears. 

Use an External Microphone with Professional Audio 

iOS

You do not have to use Professional Audio when using an external microphone, but if you choose to enable the feature, it’s very simple!

1. Have your Subject plug in the external mic. 
2. Toggle on Lavalier Mic
   

Now you can adjust the gain for the external mic and will capture unfiltered audio. Learn more about using external mics with iOS devices here.

Android

Note: In order to select a specific mic, you *must* toggle on Professional Audio. When Pro Audio is turned off, the device will auto-select a microphone for you; the selection will be device-dependent.   

1. Have your Subject plug in the external mic. 
2. Select the preferred microphone from the dropdown menu.

You’re all set. You can adjust the gain and begin recording.

Computer Webcam

If using any external mics, webcam Subjects should plug them in prior to joining a Session. 

1. When your Subject joins the Session, you should see a dropdown with their available mic inputs. Choose the one you want them to use.
   
2. Toggle on Professional Audio.
   

   

Now you can adjust the gain and begin recording.

FAQs

Does my iOS Subject need to wear Airpods when we utilize Pro Audio?

It depends on the mic! Subjects can use the lightning-native Shure MV88, and will be able to hear you, the Director, through their device’s speaker so they will not need Airpods. Any other mic used on an iOS device without Airpods will require the use of Hold to Speak. 

Please note: The Shure MV88 has been discontinued. You may be able to still find this microphone for sale elsewhere but the manufacturer has stopped producing and selling the microphone. At this time, we are not aware of any other lightning-native microphones that will allow you to bypass the Hold to Speak feature. 

Will Professional Audio affect the file size and upload times?

The file will be slightly larger than if you had recorded without professional audio but it should be a negligible difference. 

What does all of this mean? Explain it to me like I don’t understand anything about audio. 

A device’s hardware echo cancellation filters out certain frequencies of audio to give a cleaner sound; the result can sound ‘tinny’ or ‘thin’ because some data is not being captured. Removing the hardware echo cancellation removes any sort of filtering, and disables noise suppression and echo cancellation, thus capturing more data in the file. This can result in a fuller-sounding voice with the possibility of capturing more room noise. If there is unwanted room noise, this can be easily removed in post-production without sacrificing the quality of the voice.