2025-06-08 - Configuring Zoom for Hymn Audio During Sacrament Streams on Windows 11

        Every Sunday, I stream our sacrament meeting using Zoom on my Windows 11 laptop. One ongoing issue has been making sure the microphone at the pulpit (connected via a USB audio interface) actually picks up the hymn singing clearly. Here's exactly what I did to get the audio working right, broken down into the same order I performed the steps. 

BEFORE THE STREAM STARTED

        1. Adjust Zoom Audio Settings (Advanced)

        Open Zoom Workplace app

        Click profile icon (top right) > Settings > Audio > Scroll down > Click "Advanced"

        In the Advanced section, I changed:

        Signal processing by Windows audio device drivers > Off (Windows raw audio)

        Windows system audio enhancements > Off

        Echo cancellation > Low

        Audio capture and playback API > Windows Audio Session

        Note: The option "Original Sound for Musicians" was not visible here yet.

 
DURING THE STREAM

        Once I started the Zoom stream, I went back into audio settings, and additional audio settings became visible.  

  
        2. Enable Music Audio Profile in Zoom

        In Zoom Workplace app while streaming:

        Click caret next to mic (lower left) > Audio Settings

        Inside Audio Settings (now during the stream):

        Found a new section labeled Audio Profile

        Enabled: @ Original sound for musicians (recommended for studio environments)

        Checked the box: Displays in-meeting toggle to switch between Zoom optimized audio and original sound for musicians

        Checked: High fidelity music mode

        Checked: Stereo audio

        Then, in the live meeting window:

        Clicked: "Original Sound for Musicians: Off" (top middle/right)

        It toggled to: "Original Sound for Musicians: On"

        Zoom auto-disabled noise suppression at that moment, which is expected and correct.

 

WINDOWS SETTINGS WORK

 
        3. Open Classic Sound Settings

        Press Windows key + R > Type: control mmsys.cpl sounds > Press Enter

        Inside the Sound window:

        Go to: Recording tab

        Identified which device was the pulpit mic (USB Audio Device) by tapping the mic and watching input level

        Right-click > Rename to "Pulpit Mic" for clarity

        Double-click pulpit mic > Levels tab

        Confirmed volume already at 100%

        "Microphone Boost" option was not available

        Also enabled mic monitoring:

        Double-click pulpit mic > Listen tab > Checked: Listen to this device

        Repeated the same for webcam mic, though it was secondary

        IMPORTANT!!! At the top of the Zoom stream window, there is essentially a toggle switch for the audio input, I guess this starts appearing in the streams when you enable Original Sound for Musicians. It won't look like a a toggle switch. It will just say "Original Sound for Musicians: off" located at the top of the screen, click the OFF word, and it turns ON. I learned this one twice over the course of four streams throughout a month only once a week. It is crucial to remember this or all of the rest of it is pointless.  

      Note: Despite good audio input in Zoom, the input level in the Windows Sound window was very low. This indicates the USB interface has fixed, likely line-level input gain, and cannot be boosted through Windows.

UNEXPECTED PROBLEM

        I didn't know why but the audio icon in the zoom stream window had a red exclamation point symbol and it made it hard to tell if I had properly muted the stream for certain situations, and that it was back up when those situations passed. Apparently this was linked to my input device being set to something other than my REALTEK audio output driver. So I set it back. No idea how this happened because thought I checked every time before switching the microphone input back and fourth. 

 
SUMMARY

        I preconfigured the Zoom Workplace advanced audio settings to disable signal processing and audio enhancements, selected low echo cancellation, and used the Windows Audio Session API. During the live stream, I accessed Zoom's full audio profile features to enable Original Sound for Musicians and its related high-fidelity audio features. Finally, I used the classic Windows Sound settings to monitor and identify the correct input device and confirmed volume levels. ALWAYS remember to toggle the Original Sound for Musicians switch in the stream window. 

        These combined steps allowed Zoom to finally pick up and transmit the hymns clearly from the pulpit mic during the sacrament stream.

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