Microphones, what recommendations

[Megaman]

Hi all,

I'd like to place a few microphones around the house for use with VR, what can people recommend? Ceiling mics, or desk type mics? Interested to know what others are using.

Thanks

[outbackrob]

Mics

I don't us VR much anymore. If I do, its through the phone. HOWEVER, back in my old house, I used X10 cameras. They have a mic in them and did a decent job with VR. I already had them in the house, but never hooked up the audio. The cameras were used with motion detectors so that USUALLY only one was on at a time. I had to spend some time "teaching" windows to recognize words using the mics from the cameras (had done it previously with a tabletop mic) but after about an hour of teaching it, VR was good enough to use. It did not do too well if there was much other noise in the room, but no mic does great. For instance, TURN TV ON worked great. TURN TV OFF did not always work so great.

If you are just starting out with VR, I would recommend getting a GOOD cordless Lavalier mic that you can carry around with you. Another option is to do VR though a cordless phone system. We have one base and a remote phone in every room so its rare that we are not more than a few steps away from being able to give a voice command.

[LeoS]

Crown PZM (pressure zone monitor) series...

http://www.crownaudio.com/mic_web/pzm.htm

[Rotech]

Crown PZM (pressure zone monitor) series...

http://www.crownaudio.com/mic_web/pzm.htm

I use in my other home the PZM11 with a AP800 mic mixer. The mixer allow you to turn off mic when there no one speaking (gating) and a
So can let you adjust levels on sound. It's also have a echo an cancellation feature that strips the voice from ambient noise. It's isn't 100% accurate but I got a 75% result.

[Megaman]

Thanks all for the replies, I shall look into the suggested mics.

Also whats the max distance between user and the mic these will work at?

Cheers

[karls]

If you are just starting out with VR, I would recommend getting a GOOD cordless Lavalier mic that you can carry around with you. Another option is to do VR though a cordless phone system. We have one base and a remote phone in every room so its rare that we are not more than a few steps away from being able to give a voice command.

OutbackRob,

You have peeked my curiosity. How do you accomplish VR from a cordless phone? I am guessing that HSPhone is required for this method of integration.

Steven

[outbackrob]

HSPhone and a Way2Call Hi-Phone.

http://store.homeseer.com/store/Way2...ce-P25C46.aspx


There are MANY other things you can do through the Hi-Phone. VR is just one. With a good clear cordless phone, it works EXCEPTIONALLY well.

In my book, the KEY to it (and getting X10 Camera mics to work too) is spending the time teaching the VR your voice. It's hours, not days, but the more you do, the better. A good clear cordless connection is key #2.