A faint second copy of your guest's voice can make a clean recording sound like an echo. Before changing effects, check whether the microphone can hear your headphones. This is called headphone bleed. It happens in the room, so a faster internet connection will not remove it.
Find the path of the sound
Play a short spoken clip through the headphones. Keep your own microphone recording while you stay silent. Listen back to that microphone track alone. If the spoken clip is audible, lower the headphone volume and repeat the test. Keep the microphone gain unchanged so the comparison means something.
Use a closed headphone design when one is available. Check that the cups fit around the ears. A loose cup can leak more sound than expected. Do not turn the headphones up simply because the guest speaks quietly; ask the guest to check their input level first.
Change one thing at a time
Try these checks in order:
- Reduce the headphone output a little.
- Move the microphone so it points at your mouth rather than the ear cup.
- Speak at your normal interview level and confirm that you can still hear the guest clearly.
- Record the silent test again.
If the second voice remains with the headphones unplugged, look for another speaker or a duplicate audio route. A laptop speaker, monitor or second meeting tab may still be active. Save a ten-second clean test as your reference, then start the interview with the same monitoring setup.