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City staff, commissioners run audio checks, adjust microphone settings before meeting
Summary
Municipal staff and elected officials tested multiple microphones and audio processors before the meeting, noting tradeoffs between warmth and plosive sensitivity and agreeing to run additional checks and podium mic options.
Municipal staff and elected officials conducted a pre-meeting audio check, testing Shure microphones, audio gates and the room digital signal processor to reduce plosive popping and to ensure remote participants could hear proceedings.
The checks matter because audio settings affect both in-room clarity and the quality of the meeting record for remote viewers and archives. Staff noted that some settings that suppress noise can also muffle applause or audience sounds.
During the roughly eight-minute test, a staff member noted a perceived tonal difference with a Shure microphone, saying he "liked the sound" because it was "a little warmer" while also warning it was "more susceptible to plosive popping" when presenters spoke very close to the mic. Staff tested microphone levels from multiple seats, including the city manager's, mayor's and commissioners' desks, and asked speakers to try different distances and voice volumes to check consistency.
The audio technician and other staff lowered the gate and DSP settings to reduce overzealous clipping; they also reported that with default DSP settings, clapping and audience applause were treated as an attack on the microphone and could be muffled. Staff discussed adding or testing a boundary microphone at the podium to improve pickup of presenters and the audience.
Participants agreed to "run through" the microphones and make adjustments before the meeting began. The city clerk performed a short mic test (“testing 1, 2, 3”), and staff said they would coach softer speakers to lean closer to the microphone to improve intelligibility.
No formal policy decisions, votes or budget items were made during the check; the discussion produced operational directions for staff to continue tests and to try a podium boundary mic option.
Staff and commissioners plan to proceed with the adjusted audio settings and additional tests before the meeting record begins.
