[MV] Microphones for iListen/some thoughts

[Erika]

if expecting a reply, please note my signature, which contains
clarification of my peculiar circumstances.
Marty Markoe spake thus:

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>The problem is the microphone, iListen doesn't support the Andreas -
they do not deliver enough gain to be used with iListen on Mac OS X.
>Supported microphone/headset for iListen include:
>
>-   Griffin iMic/VXi Parrot Translator
>-   Telex H 841
>-   Telex H 851
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
<snip>

Hello Martin,

You describe the noise cancellation characteristics of various Andrea
ANC microphones below. I have an Andrea NC-7100 headset. Surely NC
effectively means the same as ANC in this  context... Does this model
headset feature these characteristics? I have used this headset with
iListen, and have found it fairly satisfactory (and it certainly seems
to have more than enough gain), and I was wondering if you thought
that there would be any material benefit in purchasing a different
microphone.

I have it plugged straight into one of the USB ports of my G4
PowerBook, 667 MHz, 512 Mb RAM, running OS X 10.2.6.

>The three microphones you mentioned as being supported to have hi
gain. However, their 
>poor noise cancellation characteristics impact accuracy. Andrea ANC
microphones are the 
>most popular microphone in the upgrade market for speech recognition
software. I 
>probably sell four times more Andrea headsets than all others
combined. They do have a 
>lower gain and score lower on signal to noise ratio tests due to the
fact that they 
>have two microphone elements. One element faces the mouth to sample
your voice. The 
>other element faces away from your mouth and samples incoming noise.
This incoming 
>noise is nulled out by the addition of electronic white noise from a
small circuit in 
>the on/mute box. It is the nature of this active noise canceling
system that reduces 
>the gain but increases accuracy tremendously over almost all other
headsets. The only 
>headset microphones we have found that come close are new VXI TalkPro
models. These do 
>have higher gain and I believe Patrick Henebry says they wor
>k quite well with iListen. Recommending the three microphones you
support is a 
>disservice in my opinion. It is like buying a high end finely tuned
sports car and then 
>using watered-down gas to drive around.
>
>Realizing the limitations built in to the new iListen software I
highly recommend the 
>use of the VXI TalkPro microphone.

best,
   
Erica Mackenzie
Crystal Waters Permaculture Village,
Conondale, QLD,
AUSTRALIA,

N.B. Please do not be surprised or annoyed if I fail to answer your post for some time. I have a fluctuating chronic auto-immune neurological condition, and am sometimes unable to use my computer for long periods (weeks or months). Be assured that I will reply as soon as I can - if I can. Please be tolerant.
 <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
    for(i=0;i<100;i++){
   printf("I must not be rude to M$Windows users.
          They can't help it."); 
      [self castigate];
      }
      NSTolerance *myTolerance = [[[NSTolerance alloc]
          initWithKnobsOn: @"bigKnobs"] retain];

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>