Month: August 2020

Gaiters are OK

Much was made of a recent Duke University study that suggested that neck gaiters–tubes of material that athletes often wear to keep them warm–were actually worse than not wearing anything at all in terms of keeping your COVID to yourself.

But an update at Hartford HealthCare notes that:

The Duke researchers say they had hoped to position the study as a test of how to test masks cheaply, not as ranking of 14 mask types. (The study, published Aug. 7 in the journal Science Advances, used a cardboard box with a lens, a laser and a phone’s camera to track particles released from a person’s mouth while saying, “Stay healthy, people.”)

The mask tests, the authors wrote in the paper, “should serve only as a demonstration.” That’s not how it worked out when the results were distributed nationally in the media.

“The press coverage has careened out of control,” Warren S. Warren, a Duke chemist and study coauthor, told ScienceNews.org.

The point of the study was to demonstrate a way to cheaply test mask efficacy. The study itself used one human subject, and only one brand of gaiter.

Yasemin Saplakoglu from Live Science wrote that study co-author Martin Fisher clarified that results should not be interpreted to mean that gaiters are worse than rolling maskless:

…the gaiter was only tested on a single person, making it likely that differences between individual speakers would overwhelm any difference between masks that they noted. What’s more, the researchers tested a single neck gaiter (one that was very thin and made up of a mix of 8% spandex and 92% polyester).

The public should “absolutely not” use this as evidence that neck gaiters are worse than wearing no mask at all, Fischer said. “We tested one mask because we just had that mask lying around … there are plenty of other gaiters out there,” some that could be more protective, he said. Even the way people wear them can change how protective they are, he added.

And the NYT implores us to Save the Gaiters!:

Tests show wide variation in how much protection cloth masks provide. Some homemade masks perform far better than the gaiters tested in the Virginia Tech study, and some perform worse. Over all, tests of fabric masks have shown that two layers are better than one, and that a snug fitting mask with no gaps is best. Most experts agree that the average mask wearer doesn’t need medical-grade protection, and that any face covering, combined with social distancing, probably offers adequate protection for the average person against spreading or contracting the coronavirus.

“I’ve been recommending neck gaiters, and my kids wear neck gaiters,” Dr. Marr said. “There’s nothing inherent about a neck gaiter that should make it any worse than a cloth mask. It comes down to the fabric and how well it fits.”

So you probably can wear a gaiter. To be sure, double the coverage by folding it up on itself.

When I Decide to Mic It

Inspired in part by Michael Lopp’s “Good Meetings are Jazz,” I started looking at my audio setup, such as it was, on my home computer setup. As we moved from providing school in meatspace to a virtual model during the third and fourth marking periods of the 2019–20 school year, I upgraded my setup by adding a Tandberg Precision HD webcam, which I paid too much for due to demand, but which offers silky-smooth 30 fps video (if only at 720p) [1]. I already had a microphone, and it seemed to serve me well, sitting on my desk. I eventually added a mic stand, because I need as much desk space as I can get and it also think it looks cool.

Tandberg Precision HD webcam

Tandberg Precision HD Webcam

The issue of audio quality was nagging me some, though. No one said anything about my mic, which was a Best Buy Insignia NS-PAUBMD8 I bought to record myself while I was taking classes online and needed to complete an assignment, but it sounded a bit muddy to me when I recorded some segments in Audio Hijack so that I could hear where best to position the mic, and what impact the window unit air conditioner had on the input. And I will say that the first thing that sends me running from a podcast is noisy, poor quality audio. I thought that if my setup sounded better, it would come across as more professional. I am part of the leadership team, after all.

Best Buy Insignia USB Mic

Best Buy Insignia Mic

This happened to coincide with me cleaning up my old-but-still-great Washburn MG401 Mercury Series II electric guitar, which played fine but crackled a lot and suffered a number of cut outs when amplified. Having disassembled the thing and finding that there was nothing wrong with it, I sprayed the pots and selector switch with electronics cleaner, and played it on the clean channel of my son’s tiny (and cheap) practice amp.

Washburn MG 401

Washburn MG401 Mercury Series II

Here I was reminded that while I (still) had a nice guitar, I had no effects: I sold them all when the kids were little because I wasn’t playing much and mom wanted to stop working and stay home with the kids. Being a fan of digital solutions, I figured some way of integrating my iPad or Mac into my gear instead of buying a bunch of stomp boxes and plugging them into barely audible amplifiers would be preferable.

Lopp’s article helped me understand that what I needed was a digital audio interface for my Mac and/or iPad. I did some reading and found the Scarlett Solo, which was priced just right and perfectly suited to what I needed: it works using USB C (no adapters needed for either my iPad Pro or my Mac Mini), offers XLR input for a microphone, and an input for my guitar. So I could hypothetically play my guitar through Garageband or Amplitube by night, and enjoy crisp, clean, podcast-quality audio in Google Meet by day.

Scarlett Solo USB Audio Interface

FocusRite Scarlett Solo USB Audio Interface

But what mic? I found a lot of information online, and a variety of prices. I googled “directional mics.” I googled “best zoom microphone.” I googled cardioid mics. I made a list.

I Digress

Do you often head over to Lowe’s or Home Depot when you need to fix something, and you look for someone to help you, but you can’t find anyone? Or you try to search for a solution yourself but find yourself overwhelmed by choices?

I have, and that’s why, despite slightly higher prices, I go to my local hardware store. There are enthusiastic people there who immediately try to help you, and they know a thing or two. I think that’s why they work there.

Narrowing the Field of View

So after a brief bit of online browsing, I decided to call up my local music shop. They guy who answered the phone asked, “What are you trying to do?” Enthusiastically, I might add. I explained my use case, and he recommended three mics that they had in stock. He didn’t need to look anything up in the computer; he just dished. Here they are:

None of these come up in “best mic for Zoom meetings,” mind you. I read a few reviews of these mics and headed over to the store to see them for myself. I was pretty sure I wanted the X1S and that’s what I decide to buy. It looks spectacular.

SE X1S Mic

SE X 1S XLR Mic

I thought it would be interesting to compare some audio samples from the Insignia and the X1S, and a third and later entrant to the race, my MacBook Pro 16“ from work.

While I’m still learning about where to position a mic and things like gain/input level, the X 1S sounds better–way better–than the cheaper USB Insignia, and the considerably-improved-for-a-built-in-laptop mic on the MacBook Pro. The Insignia has a ton of background noise in an otherwise quiet (but not soundproof) room, despite being about the same distance from my face as the X 1S.

But why?

Casting aside rampant consumerism and the occasional tech obsession as possible explanations, I refer to Lopp:

So, yeah, I’m investing a lot of time and money in working to make this box we’re all stuck in a little more humane, a little more connected, and a bit more fun. I consider this a critical investment.

  1. 1 my school district uses Google Meet, though, and you have to adust the video settings from the default 360p to 720p if you want to take advantage of the camera  ↩