How far can you sit from your Plaud device and still get an accurate transcript? We tested six distances, from 1.5m to 7m, across three volume levels, in a real conference room, to find out.
What We Found
The honest answer is: it depends on how loud the room is. When meeting attendees are speaking at a normal meeting volume, or a presenter is projecting their voice, both Note Pro and NotePin S hold up well, even out to 7m, as the chart below shows.
In a quiet, close conversation, like a sales pitch or small roundtable, range naturally shortens. Note Pro's beamforming extends its range to 4-5m in this scenario, then holds steady from there out to 7m rather than continuing to decline. NotePin S is built and tuned for exactly this kind of quiet, close-range moment, within about 3m.
Language made no difference: accuracy tracked the same way during our test in 2 different languages.
What This Means
Great transcription pairs the right microphone with the right processing for the room it's used in. That's why we engineer each device around specific real-world scenarios, so the right hardware and software combination is already in place before you hit record.
Disclaimer: Results are based on Plaud's internal controlled testing using fixed distances and Word Error Rate scoring against reference transcripts. Real-world accuracy varies with room acoustics, background noise, and device placement.
