Video conferencing that works with group singing?

Question

Hello. Could you recommend any video conferencing services that would work with group singing?I work with two organizations that use video conferencing apps for online classes. During these online classes, the participants sing together (10-20 people). The problem we're having is that the voices are out of sync. I assume this is because of the different latency participants have with the server.We have tried zoom.us, webex, hangouts, skype-- same problem across all apps (out of sync singing).I don't know enough about video conferencing technology to know what to look for in terms of features. Perhaps a service that lets me adjust the latency of each participant manually? Or a service that dynamically adjusts for latency in a way that makes in-sync group singing possible?Any help the HN community could provide is much appreciated!

djaque · Accepted Answer

Unfortunately that will be really tough. I have a live audio background and the recommendation I have always heard is to keep the latency of your signal path at the 1 ms level when dealing with monitoring applications. That's a solid order of magnitude below what is common for VOIP let alone video. You could maybe get away with audio only, but round trip latency is still getting up there.Edit: I know of some pro-grade point to point audio solutions that are able to handle this problem, but I'm unsure if there's anything consumer ready.

feliksik · Answer

One way is achieving low latency, which is technically super hard, as others point out. Keep in mind that another way is selecting less latency sensitive music, "slower" music with longer held tones. But that's a style change.

sigmaprimus · Answer

I just spoke to a friend regarding your issue, they said at their company they ran into a similar situation.

Their solution was to use Zoom Video Conferencing, apparently they have the option to have users phone in or have Zoom call users over the telecom network for audio whilst receiving video over the internet.

I didn't ask on costs, but it might be a viable solution.

  Edit>> I see you tried zoom, did you try the telecom audio solution?

jedieaston · Answer

Discord has

topkai22 · Answer

Semi off-topic, but the development of solution for this problem is a minor plot thread in "Rainbow's End" by Verner Vinge, which was a fairly popular sci-fi book with some really cool "near-future" predictions.

jtl999 · Answer

If you can get by with audio only I'd recommend Mumble with a strategically placed location of the server (to keep latency consistent between users assuming no routing shenanigans, need to test for this) and hope for the best.

abundanceof · Answer

Hey Kemitime, I'm trying to solve this problem at the moment. I'm looking to have a couple of people leading the singing, with others following on from where they are, with their mics down.

mgamache · Answer

you really need to be < 20ms latency to coordinate multiple instruments (voices).
The best solution is JamKazam https://www.jamkazam.com/ (I have no affiliation and have not used the product in years)
You'll each need a good interface and Ethernet connections. A good interface on windows would typically have an ASIO driver. This is not an easy thing for more then a few people. Note: Jamkazam also makes an all-in-one device (JAMBLASTER).

j88439h84 · Answer

What about Whereby?