[MV] comfortable microphone?

[Chuck Rogers]

Henry (and everyone else):

We are not able to certify the iMics that have been shipping for the  
past 3 years. They switched to a new chipset three years ago. What  
they switched to does not provide enough signal strength for iListen  
to get enough data to provide acceptable accuracy. This is really a  
Mac OS X issue, not an iListen issue.

Mac OS X wants a signal strength that is about 10db higher than that  
of Windows. When using devices that were designed primarily with  
Windows computers in mind for things like VoIP or gaming, you can  
always turn up the volume (which also increases the volume of the  
noise in the environment). But for speech recognition, you need that  
extra oomph right up front.

BTW, this is also why many Skype for Windows users complain that Mac  
users are harder to hear (softer). The Logitech microphones sold by  
Skype do not provide this additional signal strength.



Best Regards,

Chuck Rogers, Chief Evangelist
MacSpeech, Inc.




On May 8, 2007, at 10:52 AM, Henry Kalir wrote:

> Chuck,
>
> Would a microphone working through iMic be OK for iListen?
> I use mine with VOIP ("soft phone") when traveling - sounds GREAT!!
>
> Best,
>
> Henry
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Chuck Rogers <chuck.rogers at macspeech.com>
> Date: Tuesday, May 8, 2007 11:44 am
> Subject: Re: [MV] comfortable microphone?
>
>> Jonathan (and everyone else):
>>
>> You need the USB adapter to use the Voice Tracker (or any
>> microphone,
>> really) with iListen. This is because Macintosh computers do not
>> have
>> a Mic In port. They only support Line In for their sound in port,
>> which uses a different signal strength from microphones.
>>
>> Regarding the price, the Voice Tracker is the best array
>> microphone
>> we have ever tested. It provides accuracy nearly as good as a head-
>>
>> worn microphone. We have also certified the MicFlex, which sells
>> for
>> about $50, but it does not have the noise-canceling properties the
>>
>> Voice Tracker has. One's concept of expensive versus not is always
>>
>> relative of course, and the Voice Tracker is the most expensive
>> microphone we sell, but in comparison to many professional
>> microphone
>> out there, it is a bargain. (The most expensive microphone we have
>>
>> certified is the Airline 77 from Samson which goes for about $400).
>>
>>
>> On May 8, 2007, at 10:32 AM, Jonathan Levi, M.D. wrote:
>>
>>> At 9:24 AM -0500 5/7/07, Chuck Rogers wrote:
>>>>
>>>> The Voice Tracker array microphone from Acoustic Magic works
>>>> nearly as good as a head-worn microphone...
>>>
>>> I looked them up at http://www.acousticmagic.com. That
>> microphone
>>> comes in two forms:
>>>
>>> Voice Tracker Array Microphone          	$249.00
>>>
>>> and
>>>
>>> Voice Tracker USB Array Microphone	$297.00
>>>
>>> Does the former work just as well with iListen as the latter?
>> Also,
>>> it's pretty pricey either way: in your experience and that of
>> your
>>> customers (and other members of this list) are there any less
>>> expensive desktop microphones that work as well, or nearly, with
>>
>>> iListen? --tia, Jonathan
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>>
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