What's a good mic and headset ?

[freddy888]

Can anyone suggest a decent microphone/headset that works well with UltraHal?  Preferably one that doesn't hear itself.

Thanks [:)]

[Art]

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.

[lightspeed]

whatever you do get one also with good cushions on both ears so they don't hurt your ears while wearing them . [:)]

[freddy888]

Thanks Art, just the kind of thing I wanted [:)]

Yes I need to be comfy lightspeed!

[One]

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.

[Bill819]

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

[One]

yea this set I have has a mute as well and the noise cancelling is pretty good

[freddy888]

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]

[Medeksza]

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.

[freddy888]

Sounds good Rob, looking forward to it.  That's another possibility on the mic then.  Good stuff.

[CypherGary]

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))

[DarcyEdwards]

I tried XP's voice recognition software and it was crap.  Is Vista any better?

[tedathome]

Vista is a little better, but not good enough for me to use well with Hal in my humble opinion.[:)]

[DarcyEdwards]

Thanks Ted, I was afraid of that[:(]

[One]

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.