Re: mic audio quality is crap compared to discord, sounding like a walky-talky

Yup, still a major issue.

If you're worried about server bandwidth, make it peer to peer or use a 3rd party service.

If you're worried about client bandwidth, make the quality configurable.

There's really no excuse for the pitiful bitrate you're currently imposing; it just further differentiates randoms from premades, and inconveniences everyone.