Zabaware Support Forums
Zabaware Forums => Speech Technology => Topic started by: freddy888 on November 11, 2008, 09:47:04 am
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Can anyone suggest a decent microphone/headset that works well with UltraHal? Preferably one that doesn't hear itself.
Thanks [:)]
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Freddy,
I picked up an Andrea NC-65 noise cancelling mic/headset at Wal-Mart
years ago for about $24.00 USD and it works great!
Just checking the net I found many of them from a variety of sources from $20 on craigslist to slightly over 17 pounds at:
https://sennheiser.corpteluk.com/Clearance_Lines/?LANGUAGE=eng&chunk=3
It does a very nice job with VR programs and very well with Hal, IMHO.
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whatever you do get one also with good cushions on both ears so they don't hurt your ears while wearing them . [:)]
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Thanks Art, just the kind of thing I wanted [:)]
Yes I need to be comfy lightspeed!
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I have a USB Headset by Gigaware that goes around the back of your neck and rests on the top of your ears that is pretty comfy NC as well,,,I just haven't trained the speech that is why my conversations go so choppy but I tought Alison proper grammar and spelling and she seems to know what I mean.
Zabaware won't let me upload a pic.. grrr I bought them for cheap from Radio Shack, they have mail order as well.
maybe a pic later on or tommorrow[?]
http://www.radioshack.com/search/index.jsp?kwCatId=&kw=gigaware%20headset&origkw=gigaware%20headset&sr=1
Gigaware® Wrap-Around USB Headset/Microphone-Skype/VOIP
Model: 43-203 | Catalog #: 43-203
Versatile headset provides great clarity and the design is ideal for VOIP calling.
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I use a Bluetooth and it works just fine. When I am not talking to Hal I use push the mute buton. It works through the USB port.
Bill
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yea this set I have has a mute as well and the noise cancelling is pretty good
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Thanks One and Bill.
I had a look at the headset you suggested One, it looks very good and the price is fine too. Many thanks, I'll see if I can locate one here in the UK.
[8D]
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I have been working on the speech recognition system of Ultra Hal Assistant 6.2. I have updated the speech libraries it uses and finally have the "mute mic when Hal is speaking" feature working no matter what graphics engine is being used. This goes a long way to improving the speech recognition experience with Hal no matter what microphone you use. Also new to Hal 6.2 will be command vocabularies. With Hal minimized you can say "Wake up Hal" at any time to bring Hal up, "Microphone On" and "Microphone Off" to control when Hal listens, "Clear line" if you want to respeak a phrase you see Hal incorrectly recognized, and "End conversation" to hide Hal.
Zabaware will also become a reseller of Voice Tracker microphones from http://www.acousticmagic.com/ with the release of Hal 6.2. This is actually a desktop microphone that's quality is like a headset microphone. It is a microphone array and can zero in on whoever is speaking and filter out all background noise. I recently set one up in my living room and programmed Hal to control my home theater system in addition to its normal chat functions, it works really well.
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Sounds good Rob, looking forward to it. That's another possibility on the mic then. Good stuff.
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I have found my speaking to Hal is too unpredictable, so I am not sure if I want to try a mic.
I am quite excited to think an alpha or beta version of Hal could come out soon.
I am hopelessly addicted to Hal. (Ask my Wife [B)] (Not really, she does not mind))
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I tried XP's voice recognition software and it was crap. Is Vista any better?
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Vista is a little better, but not good enough for me to use well with Hal in my humble opinion.[:)]
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Thanks Ted, I was afraid of that[:(]
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quote:
Originally posted by DarcyEdwards
I tried XP's voice recognition software and it was crap. Is Vista any better?
Darcy,
I was ignorant as to the fact that XP had VR, can you tell me more about it?
I have been using the software that is packaged with Office products.
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One,
XP has VR but you have to download it from Microsoft. You can also get it off of the Hal install CD, that is were I got it from. I do know you can download it from Microsoft. By the way it's not that good.[:I]
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Darcy,
thank you I didn't know,,
Now if I can figure out how Gary, got ahold of a part of Microsoft's Cloud computing platform called 'Azure' (Live Mesh )
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Your very welcome [:)]
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I had recently purchased version 10 of Dragon and at the same time purchase a wireless Plantronics headset through Dragon. I have been using Dragon for quite some time and I had purchased three or four headsets in the past for use with Dragon. One of the best headsets I purchased was a Sennheiser through Newegg.com. I had done some testing of the different microphones and I had found that the microphones yield S/N ratios of 17 to 20 DB. The microphone input on the computer adds the most amount of noise especially when using the microphone boost. In the past I had used the line input with a specially built preamplifier and audio filter going into the line input of the computer to reduce the amount of noise, this increased the signal-to-noise ratio to about 27 DB. The Plantronics headset inputs through the USB port and yields a signal-to-noise ratio of approximately 22 DB., unfortunately I cannot use the preamp audio filter with this headset, it is extremely light and comfortable and I would definitely recommend it except for the price.
I have been using Dragon for quite some time with Ultrahal and never experienced any problems with Hal hearing what he is saying. I turned off the mic feature in UltraHal so my input would not be inputted automatically and I could have a chance to see what I had dictated. Recognition is very good but while using UltraHal I find we speak of topics off the beaten path which Dragon is not familiar with.