diff --git a/speech/recognize.js b/speech/recognize.js
index 45112d48b94..639406ef6bb 100644
--- a/speech/recognize.js
+++ b/speech/recognize.js
@@ -122,7 +122,10 @@ function streamingMicRecognize () {
     .on('data', (data) => process.stdout.write(data.results));
 
   // Start recording and send the microphone input to the Speech API
-  record.start({ sampleRate: 16000 }).pipe(recognizeStream);
+  record.start({
+    sampleRate: 16000,
+    threshold: 0
+  }).pipe(recognizeStream);
 
   console.log('Listening, press Ctrl+C to stop.');
 }
diff --git a/speech/system-test/quickstart.test.js b/speech/system-test/quickstart.test.js
index 4a4b6f4ba9c..1b0407e6cf4 100644
--- a/speech/system-test/quickstart.test.js
+++ b/speech/system-test/quickstart.test.js
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ const config = {
 };
 
 test.before(stubConsole);
-test.after(restoreConsole);
+test.after.always(restoreConsole);
 
 test.cb(`should detect speech`, (t) => {
   const expectedFileName = `./resources/audio.raw`;