Which video calling app is best for online piano lessons?

March 16, 2020 7:54 AM

I'll be taking online piano lessons with my teacher this week. She is just getting set up for it. What's the best free video calling app for this? Looking for good sound quality and a tight algorithm that minimizes dropouts. I have 10M/7M DSL.
posted by storybored to Computers & Internet (7 answers total)

I am told that Skype isn't as reliable as Microsoft Teams (its replacement) and in particular it doesn't adjust its audio compression to compensate when bandwidth jitters -- making it a lousy choice for wifi connections.

MS is putting Skype out to pasture in favor of teams, and so they left Skype to get mossy and neglected. :7(

Zoom, on the other hand, is pretty sleazy.

Looksl iek anyone can use Teams: https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/microsoft-teams-blog/introducing-a-free-version-of-microsoft-teams/ba-p/214592
posted by wenestvedt at 9:48 AM on March 16, 2020

Response by poster: Zoom, on the other hand, is pretty sleazy.

What's sleazy about Zoom?
posted by storybored at 11:33 AM on March 16, 2020 [1 favorite]

Yeah, Zoom’s been working really well for me. Much more reliable than Skype.
posted by mr_roboto at 11:40 AM on March 16, 2020 [1 favorite]

Thirding the request for info about how Zoom is sleazy. It's what everyone at my workplace uses for virtual meetings, first-round interviews, etc. It's better than Teams because you don't have to all be in the same IT-verse for it to work, you just send an email with a link that they click to join.
posted by rabbitrabbit at 12:30 PM on March 16, 2020

Last July it was shown that the Mac client included an always-on, no-auth web server that accepted remote commands, and wasn't removed when you uninstalled the program. When they got caught they went very Sulky Teen about it until they realized their reputation among infosec people was turning to crap because they had been given the usual 90 days to deal with it and just didn't.

https://www.theverge.com/2019/7/8/20687014/zoom-security-flaw-video-conference-websites-hijack-mac-cameras

A few days after the disclosure, Apple pushed a patch to evict the software -- which is something I can't recall for any non-malware.

https://duo.com/decipher/apple-removes-zoom-web-server-from-macs

They were irresponsible and unrepentant. *shrug* I believe that your computer should be yours to control, not some third party that doesn't tell you what it's doing, but YDY. :7)
posted by wenestvedt at 12:59 PM on March 16, 2020 [1 favorite]

That said, I would also like to know a good solution since my son's guitar teacher has a home studio, and I am reluctant to venture there.

If I could offer him a free remote tool, that might be good for everyone.
posted by wenestvedt at 1:03 PM on March 16, 2020

There is WebEx, from Cisco, and they have a free tier for up to 100 participants with screen sharing and whatnot: https://www.webex.com/pricing/index.html
posted by wenestvedt at 1:06 PM on March 16, 2020 [1 favorite]