Video is magic but audio is tragic #69
Description
Your Video is Magic. Your Music Audio is Your Kodak Moment (Sorry Kodak ... no offense intended)
The Praise (Where You Are Genius):
Let me be clear: Zoom's video is breathtakingly fast and reliable. The speed at which a call connects, and the quality of the video stream are engineering marvels. It "just works in a way that feels like magic”, and it has rightly made you the leader in the field. You have solved video communication for the world.
The Glaring Paradox (The Problem):
This is why it is so jarring that the audio quality for music and any non-voice sound is so poor. The same system that delivers a crystal-clear, low-latency video stream will distort a piano piece, flatten a podcast, and make a fitness class's music sound thin and compressed.
What we have is a Bugatti engine for video, paired with a scooter horn for audio.
The Strategic Warning (Your Kodak Moment):
Kodak invented the digital camera but clung to film. Your "film" is voice-optimized audio. Zoom is the leader in real-time communication, but it is about to cede the entire creative and professional broadcasting market; music, podcasting, live events, to niche competitors because of this one limitation.
These users want to use Zoom. They love your interface, your reliability, your speed. But they cannot, because the audio is a deal-breaker. You are forcing your biggest fans to use your competitors.
The Simple Solution:
We, or at least I for one, do not need you to change Zoom for everyone. We just need an optional "High-Fidelity Audio" mode:
• A toggle for hosts to enable a higher-bitrate audio codec.
• An option to disable voice-optimized processing for selected participants (musicians, speakers).
• A way to match your mind-blowing video quality with audio that does not hold it back.
The Final Ask:
Zoom has 99% of a perfect product for the future of communication. Please do not let the last 1%, the gap between a world-class video and subpar music audio, be the reason to miss the next wave. Do not let Zoom's "Kodak moment" be defined by a failure to see that its core strength is broader than we can possibly imagine.
To all the developers out there, fix the audio, and you will not just keep your crown; you will win entirely new kingdoms.