Microsoft announced that they are developing Music Mode for Teams—a feature that would improve the quality of music during calls and meetings. Users will also get the option to turn off components like echo cancellation, noise suppression, and gain control.
“In Music Mode, we support up to 32 kHz sampling rate mono audio at 128 kbps, and optimise our internal audio processing settings for reproducing music with high fidelity. Teams will automatically adjust the audio bitrate based on the available bandwidth, going down to 48 kbps while still delivering good music quality,” wrote Microsoft.
Microsoft also advised that professional microphones and headphones or high quality external loudspeakers are ideal to benefit from the improved fidelity, and that it’s best not to use Bluetooth headsets either. Built-in microphones and speakers on laptops “will also deliver a good experience”.
While Music Mode will be great news for if you ever want to share or listen to audio in Team meetings in high quality, the question you might have is—why would you ever need something like it? Online video calls are something almost everyone uses to communicate remotely, and it’s not just for corporate meetings.
Musicians and producers might be itching to use something like Music Mode, as the pandemic might still require them to share their tracks from home. People have even shared online concerts over video conferencing platforms like Zoom for fans—like BroadwayCares’ Quarantunes and an event by PC Music.
Though I doubt that people will be flocking to Teams to host a public online concert, Music Mode could be a great feature for bands and artists who might live far away from each other. The feature will be available later this month for all users.
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