JohnO wrote:
> I need some leads on high quality PC mics for Windows XP voice control. The
> only catch is that I want the mic to be relatively small. I've got a large
> range of voice commands to give, and the clarity and response of the mic is
> important. Oh, must be a desktop or monitor mount, headsets won't work for
> my application.
>
> -John O
>
First of all, there are guys selling microphones, that travel around the
newsgroups. You've been warned
I found this device interesting. It uses two input sensors, and by controlling
the phasing (like in a phased array), is able to "focus" on a central sound
source. That makes the microphone directional, without needing anything
physical to improve the sensitivity. The concept could be extended to
more than two microphones. The reason they stopped at two, is they wanted
to use a stereo audio plug, then use software to do the math, to develop a
directional, monophonic output. I thought that was neat.
http://accelenation.com/?ac.id.251.1
More info on phased arrays here.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phased_array
The Andrea product is even bundled with some high end motherboards, to
go with the Soundmax CODEC on the motherboard.
You can also get microphones that are more ordinary, with a
directional characteristic. But I'll leave that to the microphone
salesmen, to sell you on.
I don't have the Andrea, and all the microphones I own, uniformly
suck. So I have no other products to recommend.
Paul