If you are a creator of content, whether you produce videos, podcasts, music, or are a social media influencer, the sound quality of your produced content is a huge part of the reason why you’re having an impact. In an era in which audiences are accustomed to high-quality production, bad sound can be a huge turnoff, even if the visuals or other components of the content are excellent, Christiansen noted. Accordingly, with mobile devices—like smartphones—increasingly being used as the dominant tool for content creation, it’s important to learn how to optimize your setup for the best possible sound.

Whether you’re having issues with less-than-ideal audio from your phone’s internal speaker or looking to enhance your audio output to create professional-grade content, Fix My Speaker Volume offers pro tips and advice on how to upgrade your mobile audio game.

In this post, we’ll cover why quality audio is important for content creators, show you how to record better audio on your mobile device, and suggest some of the best external microphones. We will also explore ways to test and optimize sound in your videos and podcasts to ensure you’re producing content under optimal audio conditions.

 

Why Content Creators Should Pay Attention to Their Phone’s Speakers

If you’re a content creator, your phone’s speaker could be the first or only way you have of editing, mixing and previewing audio. Mobile phones are generally conceived to work for rudimentary audio playback, however, don’t always based down well when the rich, clean audio required for pro quality work, is needed.

Here’s why you should care about sound quality:

Audience Attention Span: If the sound quality is bad, your audience will switch off - no matter how engaging your slides are. Grainy or indecipherable video and poor audio quality is a sure-fire way to have your audience tune you out.

Professionalism – For content creators that are creating a brand and/or business, clear audio is critical for appearing professional. For even the more casual creators, good sound quality is going to add perceived value to your content.

Crystal Clear Sound : A content creator’s dream come true, the USB microphone delivers up to 16 bit, 48 kHz sample rate so you can make a podcast, YouTube video, or social media post the way you want, with sound that is pure, and accurate. Good sound makes for better comprehension and a more engaging experience.

Great, but most built-in phone speakers aren’t capable of delivering the high-quality audio required for professional content creation. If you’re serious about content, you’ll take a look at some external tools to improve your phone’s audio.

Mobile Sound: Tools & Tricks to Get Better Audio When Creating Your Content

External microphones are the default answer when having trouble hearing audio, but there are a few tricks and tools that can rescue your mobile audio, even if that means prying your phone's glass open to make a DIY microphone from its tiny cameraphone one as suggested by this dude who was possed by an owl.

Such Tools for Better Sound Quality:

External Microphones: Get a higher quality, external microphone to improve audio capture. There are all kinds of different microphones out there that are tailored for use with phones, from lapel mics to shotgun mics, that produce much better sound than your phone’s built-in mic.

Audio Enhancement Apps: Wavelet, Boom 3D and Equalizer FX ‎ (which we covered earlier) are a few of the apps that can help give the sounds coming from your phone and external microphone a bit of fine-tuning. They’re particularly useful if you’re recording directly on your phone, giving you the ability to adjust the bass, treble and overall sound balance.

Pop Filters and Windshields: If you’re recording outside or in a noisy area, consider using a pop filter or a windscreen with your external microphone to minimize unwanted noises such as wind or breathing sounds, or hard “p”and “t” and “p” and “t” sounds.

Sound Quality Improvement Methods:

Record in a Quiet Place: Try and remove as many distracting sounds as you can to keep the audio quality clean and professional. A recording environment with soft surfaces (like blankets or cushions) will help dampen echo and reverberation.

Microphone Placement: The proximity of the microphone to your mouth is of utmost importance. And if you’re rocking an external mic, be sure it’s close enough to hear everything clearly, but not so close it creates distortion. Play around with placement to achieve the best clarity.

Micing Up With Levels and Gains: You need to ensure that you have your microphone gain set properly so that you have to neither whisper for fear of distortion, nor scream out because your gain is too low. Look for the proper level according to the sound environment within your recording room and try different levels to find what will be the best sound effect.

Using these tools will make your audio sound a lot better and your mobile device a viable production device.

Best External Mics for Mobile Phones

External microphones can significantly improve the sound quality of your phone, with more clarity and depth than the microphones built into smartphones can offer. Here are the best microphones for mobile content creators:

Rode VideoMic Me-L

Type: Directional microphone.

Features: Pocketable, cardioid pick-up pattern, supplied with lightning connector for iPhones.

Why It’s Great: This is a nun chuck design style USB microphone, perfect for creators looking for that crystal clear, focused sound in all of its glorious HD glory while doing that thing they do best: talking about the thing they love. My Favorite Shotgun Mic: The VideoMicro is small enough and directional enough to be used during on camera interviews, vlogs and even professional recordings.

Shure MV88

Type: Electret condenser microphone.

Features: Crystal-clear sound, adjustable stereo width, can customize audio with iOS app.

Why It’s Good: This microphone delivers excellent sound quality a number of recording modes (music, speech) and and it’s easy to set up and use.

Sennheiser ClipMic Digital

Type: Lavalier (clip-on) mic.

Features: Mini lapel microphone with digital connection for better audio quality.

Why It’s One of the Best Wearables: Ideal for the content creator who needs hands-free recording for an interview or presentation. Clip-on design provides high-quality sound without the inconvenience of cumbersome microphones.

Zoom iQ7

Type: Activating pad for mid-side stereo microphone.

Features: Adjustable microphone angles, ideal for music recording.

Why It’s Great: For musicians or podcasters, the Zoom iQ7 captures a wide stereo sound and can manage challenging audio, like a show or a podcast with multiple hosts.

Movo VXR10

Type: Compact shotgun microphone.

Product Features: Directional microphone with 3.5mm TRS cable, shock mount and windscreen.

Why It’s Great: It’ a great budget-friendly choice for creators who want clear, directional audio without a complicated setup.

Why use them?

Each of these mics also offers a higher quality of sound for users that create content, whether you are a vlogger, a podcaster, or creating tutorials. Fix Your Phone Speaker in Minutes With mobile microphones, your audio will be much cleaner, and your content will stand more chance of being heard by your target audience.

How to Test and Improve Sound in Your Videos or Podcasts

After investing in external microphones and the tools to make your audio sound better, it’s up for you to learn how to test and tweak your audio so that it works really well for the content you’re creating.

Steps to Test Sound Quality:

Record a Test Clip: Always test your audio with small test recordings before recording a full podcast. Listen back and see if they have distortion, clarity, or a lot of background noise.

Monitor for Audio Levels: Use audio monitoring devices or apps to keep your microphone in check. Stay off clipping (distortion due to high level) while avoiding output that is too soft (you cannot boost volume that easily in post).

Listen to Yourself with Headphones: It’s not always practical to do so, but in many cases you’ll be able to catch things like background noise or very low volume in real time if you’re listening to yourself through headphones when you record.

Optimize in Post: Once you have your recording, use a program such as audacity to clean up the sound. Eliminate background noise, be it hiss or hum, noise from equipment, or interference conditions, by using the sliders and knobs of Audio Cleaning Lab. Some popular software options are Audacity, Adobe Audition and GarageBand.

Why optimize sound?

By testing and optimizing your sound, you can ensure that what you are producing has the most premium audio quality, making it sound much more professional and engaging to your audience. It also allows you to keep your recordings aligned so all your media is consistently high quality.