Most wired and Bluetooth headphones include a microphone for calls and voice messages. Gaming headsets, which typically use boom microphones, are designed specifically for gaming and tend to offer higher-quality microphone designs.
The source's microphone reviews assess two areas: recording quality and noise handling. Recording quality measures microphone performance and speech quality in an ideal, quiet setting. Noise handling examines how effectively the microphone separates speech from background noise and how noise affects speech transmission and intelligibility.
What the Score Does Not Cover
The score currently excludes two evaluations that may matter to users:
- Codec quality (PESQ)
- Speech quality (POLQA)
Readers can suggest missing evaluation criteria in the Q&A section.
Recording Quality
Recording quality testing covers low-frequency extension (LFE), frequency response standard deviation (FR. Std. Dev.), high-frequency extension (HFE), harmonic distortion (Weighted THD), and gain.
As a general rule, wired gaming headsets with boom microphones and wireless headphones using dedicated, proprietary wireless connections deliver the highest recording quality. These headsets benefit from the boom microphone's proximity to the mouth and their wide-band operating range.
Bluetooth headphones with built-in or in-line microphones tend to record less effectively. Their microphones sit farther from the mouth, and the Bluetooth protocol has a limited operating range of around 3.5kHz.
Noise Handling
Noise handling is evaluated using Speech to Noise Ratio: the difference between speech and background-noise levels as heard by the listener. In noisy surroundings, separating these sounds is important for keeping the voice audible and understandable.
Boom microphones generally perform better here, too. A microphone closer to the mouth captures a higher ratio of speech to background noise. Built-in and in-line microphones sit farther away, so the ratio they capture is lower.
