How can I get the best quality voice AND music in virtual classes and streaming?

By far, the #1 question we've received over the past few weeks is some version of "what's the best way to get great quality voice AND music for my virtual fitness classes and streams?"

While there are a lot of variables when it comes to your software of choice and what you are using for a camera and/or connection to the internet, the choices for best audio basically break down into four categories:

1. Using a 'room mic' to pick up the sound of your voice as well as the sound of music playing back on speakers in the room.

2. Although slightly more involved to set up, the best way we've found is to use a mixer with a digital output, such as the Behringer Q802USB or the StudioMaster Mixer, to mix the sound of a microphone and the direct sound of your music player.

We have a complete kit set up that includes the Samson Airline Micro, the mixer, some Samson speakers for playback in the room, and all the cables you'll need.  We've got a quick video tutorial on how to hook it all up.

If you already have a wireless mic system or speakers to listen back on, you can achieve this result by just adding the mixer and a few cables.  

3. Another method that works well is to use a lavalier or lapel microphone.  While we don't typically recommend them for fitness studios, they do pick up the sound in the room quite well for streaming and video applications.  So, like the 'room mic' examples above, you'll use the lapel mic to pick up your voice as well as music playing back on speakers in the room.  

4.  The last category is really just one product, as it's a custom solution we just put together recently - Using Samson's Go Mic Mobile system with two transmitter packs - one for a head-worn mic and one for a music player.  It's a little unorthodox, but it works.