Shure sm58, even being in front of it the sound is very attenuated just by being a feet too far from it :)
yes I'm aware that some software does echo cancellation, as you say it doesn't need to be full mute while you speak, it "just" needs to cancel the signal that would cause feedback...
I started using the dedicated mic because I got complaints that my audio was pretty quiet, due to the fact (I thought) that I 1. keep my laptop farther than you usually would, and 2. sometimes I turn to my second monitor to refer to some info; mic seems to have fixed the issue but I hope echo cancelling does the rest of the job without me needing headphones :D
Well, live-performance grade cardioid microphone on a stand in front of your mouth is probably the one thing that will work acceptably well with speakers. Glad I asked :) But it's really an outlier setup you have there.
But lack of an echo is not proof that the setup works, because the problem with echo cancellation is that it is too aggressive, not too subtle. There is no echo when you use the shitty ambient microphone that is 2cm away from your laptops builtin speakers.
But in removing that echo, the software is also removing your voice from the call signal, or other people's voices from your speakers' signal. The symptoms are more subtle, but you and others will miss parts of the call when you speak over each other (or in rapid succession). This creates a lot of "huh? can you hear me?" or weird interruption timings.
Try having someone on the other side of a Zoom call that wears a proper headset, then both of you can turn on "original audio" mode on Zoom. You can actually speak over each other like you would be able to do in person, and back and forth is much more natural, especially if there is more than 2 people having a discussion.
PS: Keep in mind I do 10-12 hours of calls a day, and a lot of them are sales and/or management which requires a lot of active careful listening. My standards can be slightly unreasonable for a more normal use case (say, if you are a developer and do two meetings a day where people take turns to talk).
yes I'm aware that some software does echo cancellation, as you say it doesn't need to be full mute while you speak, it "just" needs to cancel the signal that would cause feedback...
I started using the dedicated mic because I got complaints that my audio was pretty quiet, due to the fact (I thought) that I 1. keep my laptop farther than you usually would, and 2. sometimes I turn to my second monitor to refer to some info; mic seems to have fixed the issue but I hope echo cancelling does the rest of the job without me needing headphones :D