2 wk. ago • 94%

How do you voice chat without bothering roommates?

I know using a headset helps, but you're still talking, so...Do you adjust the mic settings to pick up even as you speak quieter, or...?

How do you check to ensure you're still audible enough to those on the other end if you do that?

Also this isn't a shared room situation, so that helps, but I want to be sure I'm not being too loud.

Thanks for any advice!

46 comments

People like it when you compliment them. So next time you are in a voice chat and your roommate is nearby, start talking about how handsome they are and how large their genitals are. They wont be bothered by your talking ever again.

65
- is this how you start a polyamorous relationship?
  
  25
  
  Not sure but it might get your rent paid
  
  24
- that escalated quickly!
  
  7
  
  Just like the roommates genitals.
  
  4
Get some sort of speaker or use a smartphone. Play some music or video and put your volume around your talking volume, or a little louder. Then leave the room and close the door. This way you can get a sense of how much noise bleeds outside to your roommate.

27
Get a cruise ship horn (make sure it's rated for 140-150 decibels) and play it for the entirety of the call. This will make it so your roommates can't hear you speak on the call.

23
- Get a cruise ship horn (make sure it’s rated for 140-150 decibels) and play it for the entirety of the call.
  
  Would "TRAIN SOUNDS (true volume, horn every 5 minutes) 24-HOUR MIX" also work?
  
  10
  
  It's not ideal, but in a pinch: yes.
  
  8
Since y'all aren't sharing a room, closing your door and speaking softly is usually sufficient. Make sure you have a mic that rests in front of your mouth, and isn't setting far away on your desk. That way it can pick you up easily.

20
If you want to reduce how audible you are outside your room you can add some sound dampening material to your walls and door and seal air cracks around your door. Those black spiked foam wall panels or heavy curtains are probably best for sound dampening, but something as simple and cheap as paper egg cartons on your walls will greatly reduce how much sound gets through.

14
- Even just doing this on the portion of the wall directly behind your computer will help, if you don’t want to/can’t afford to do all your walls.
  
  9
- So, there's a difference between sound absorption and soundproofing. Curtains and foam panels can do wonders for making your room sound better acoustically but won't do much to lower the amount of sound getting out. The only way to actually soundproof is either by adding a bunch of mass (bricks/concrete blocks/mass loaded vinyl) or by creating air gaps (or some combination of the two). Conflating soundproofing and sound absorption is very common but they are different. . Paper egg cartons will do little to nothing for either sound absorption or soundproofing; this myth comes from old style sound absorption foam tiles that kinda looked like egg cartons and were therefore referred to as such.
  
  You're absolutely right about sealing door gaps helping though.
  
  8
- but something as simple and cheap as paper egg cartons on your walls will greatly reduce how much sound gets through.
  
  Hadn't come across this before, thanks!
  
  silly follow-up
  
  would keeping and rotating the eggs improve the sound dampening?
  
  1
  
  Like the actual eggs? I would have to assume yes. That's more material for sound to have to travel through.
  
  3
Ask your roommate after talking for a few minutes if you're being too loud

12
Discord has individual volume adjustor per person in chat. With my friends turning me up and me turning my mic volume setting in Windows all the way up, I'm able to talk quietly enough in the next room without bothering my wife if she's sleeping. We also have a white noise sound machine we run at nigh in our bedroom, so I'm sure that helps. White noise is probably your best bet if you're in a smaller living area.

11
You ask the people on the call if they can hear you. If not, adjust volume. Repeat as needed.

Sign language and video only is an option as well.

11
Sit in front of an open closet full of clothes or cover yourself in a blanket.

10
Talk quietly. Adjust the mic settings as needed. You can check how you sound with the playback.

9
Video call......sign language!

8
My roommate doesn't

I almost strangled him last night

7
- EVERYBODY MOVE LEFT! THEIR TRYING TO FLANK! BART WHERE ARE YOU GOING! GET IN THAT TANK! NOT THE APACHE, THE TANK YOU WANKER!
  
  8
  
  This would be funny if it wasn't so accurate
  
  2
  
  You almost wrote a song or a poem.
  
  Everybody move left,
  
  they're trying to flank.
  
  Bart! Where you going?
  
  Get in that tank!
  
  Not the Apache,
  
  you wank.
  
  2
Is voice chat anything like talking on the phone?

7
- Yes.
  
  4
Box fan helps too

7
Go in another room and close the door.

Keep the volume on your headphones down too, if they're loud you're more liable to get louder.

Plus, it's important to protect your hearing.

If the walls are thin you can look into hanging up sound dampening (can just be foam mattress pads hung up, doesn't have to be fancy)

6
Go military, buy a laryngophone. Now you can whisper and they'll hear you crystal clear

6
You could try taking tips from this video. Sound bleeds both ways so if you block out noise coming in it will help with noise going out.

https://youtu.be/h_oIgdWjqmE?si=38Bf4g5gnEV8g47s

2
You don't, don't be an asshole and go somewhere else.

-11
- ...talking, in your own room, is being an asshole?
  
  19
  
  TIL.
  
  5
  
  If you're doing it loudly enough to be worried about people in complete other rooms, kinda yeah.
  
  -1
- literally where?
  
  5
  
  Hallway, stairwell, outside the building, in your parked car, things like that
  
  edit: op is talking about gaming, I was thinking phone calls and stuff. I'm a dum dum
  
  -2

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