What Is a Beamforming Microphone? Do You Need One for Gaming?
Reading Time: 3 minutesDoes a beamforming microphone make a difference to how you sound?
If you’ve been looking at gaming headphones, you would’ve probably noticed that the most expensive models all feature beamforming noise-canceling microphones. But what exactly is a beamforming microphone? Will it help you become a better gamer?
What Is a Beamforming Microphone and How Does It Work?
Before everything else, we should first determine what a beamforming microphone first is. Most microphones capture sound coming from several angles. So, if you’re in a noisy environment, your microphone will capture all sorts of sound and noise.
A beamforming microphone solves this issue by using several microphones. Some microphones are tuned to capture the sound from one direction, while the other microphones will capture environmental sound. The microphone runs all these inputs through a digital signal processor or DSP to cancel extraneous sound, digitally erasing noise and ensuring that the headset will capture your voice clearly.
The process forms a beam in front of the microphone that captures sound clearly from that direction, thus the name beamforming microphone.
Directional vs. Beamforming Microphones
Directional microphones capture sound from a specific direction, but that’s about it. It doesn’t process the audio it captures, so any sound that the directional microphone captures from the direction it’s facing is recorded.
On the other hand, a beamforming microphone works much like headphones and earbuds with active noise cancelation. A microphone with this technology will capture environmental sounds on secondary microphones and use that to scrub unwanted noise from the primary microphones facing the speaker.
Will a Beamforming Microphone Give You a Gaming Advantage?
Many premium gaming headphones boast beamforming technology for their microphones. But will it really give you an advantage?
If you’re a solo gamer or don’t use your voice to communicate with your teammates, then any microphone, even beamforming ones, won’t affect how you play. After all, you’re not using it.
But if team communication is crucial for your games, then a beamforming microphone could give you an advantage. However, you should note it won’t give you an edge all the time—instead, it will only work best in specific scenarios.
Unless you’re gaming in these situations, buying a gaming headset just for its beamforming microphone won’t make much sense.
When Do You Need a Beamforming Microphone
So, when should you buy a headset with a beamforming microphone?
When You Play in a Noisy Environment
If you don’t have a quiet room where you play games, you’d want to have a beamforming microphone. That way, even if your roommates, siblings, and other household members make noise, the beamforming microphone of your gaming headphones will cancel that.
With that, you ensure that your teammates won’t be bothered by your background noise. This also ensures easier communication, especially during critical phases of a match.
When You Use Your Gaming Headphones for Calls and Communication Outside Your Room
While most people primarily use gaming headphones for playing, they’re also useful for daily communication. So, if you’re planning to use your headphones for communication, especially on the go, you’d want to have one with a beamforming microphone.
That way, even if you make a call in the loudest of environments, the person you’re talking to can hear you clearly.
Better Communication With Beamforming Microphones
Beamforming microphones act much like active noise cancelation in headphones and earbuds—they use extra microphones to capture environmental noise and use the data to cancel it out from the primary microphone.
Doing so removes unwanted ambient sound from your voice, allowing the listeners on the other end to hear you clearly. With that, everyone can focus on the task at hand. Whether you’re issuing commands to your teammates, talking in a meeting, or a guest on a podcast, a beamforming microphone will help you get your message across to everyone concerned smoothly.
Reference: https://www.makeuseof.com/what-is-beamforming-microphone-gaming/
Ref: makeuseof