Cisco SX80 and ClearOne - auido issue at far end in video confernece

[fwadmin]

In our board room, we have a SX80 codec (running CE8.3.2). There are multiple microphones (one microphone per seat on the board room table) in the room (we are not using Cisco microphones) that go into three ClearOne devices. From the output of the ClearOne, we connect it to the Microphoen Input 1 on the codec. There are also two amps that control room speakers. We are currently having some audio issues. When conduct a video conference, audio in the board room is fine but at far end audio is not stable (goes up and down on its own) and distorted. I have tried to disable the Proximity feature on the code, but it didn't help. I also tried to disable EchoControl on the SX80, but it made audio worse at far end ( far end started getting echo when I disabled it). I am not familiar with ClearOne, could this be an issue on the ClearOne? Is there anything else on the SX80 codec that could cause the audio problem at far end?

[Patrick Sparkman]

We use ClearOne in some of our video conference rooms, you should disable Echo Cancellation on the codecs since the ClearOne is doing this for you.
Have you tried to go directly from the microphones into the SX80, bypassing the ClearOne? My experience, it's usually an issue with the configuration in the ClearOne.

[fwadmin]

Thanks for your response.

The audio issue (audio goes up and down at far end) was resolved by disabling AGC/ALC processes on microphone inputs on the ClearOne. The echo at far end was resolved by enabling the EchoControl on the SX80 codec. When disabled EchoControl on the codec, the echo at far end came back. I think the echo cancellation on the ClearOne is still not configured properly otherwise we wouldn't need to enable the EchoControl on the codec. We still need to do some adjustments on the ClearOne.

In our setup, audio is not only routed to far end during a teleconference or video conference, but it is also routed back to the external speakers at near end for local reinforcement through ClearOne.

[Nick Halbert-Lillyman]

Good to hear, just an FYI you can do local reinforcement on the SX80 mics natively.

[Nick Halbert-Lillyman]

Further to Wayne's comments, in my experience, audio equipment sitting between the codecs and microphones often cause more problems than they solve, especially seeing as the in-built echo cancellation in the SX80 is pretty good. If you have eight or less microphones, consider bypassing the Clear One altogether and plugging straight into the SX80.