@gunkslinger As someone who is a little hard of hearing, I will say that masking has really interfered with my ability to understand what people are saying. I didn't realize that I was reading lips in addition to listening. It is especially perplexing when a speaker at a microphone covers their face--senseless.
@lynnexxa Yeah, you'll see a lot of video podcasters with the spit shields in front of their microphones and then they hide behind them. It always irritated me because that kind of microphone set up is for professional radio not video. It's just an ego thing.