Mic choice advise

[Casmo]

Hi,

 Can anyone tell me if this would be a good choice? Thanks

 http://www.amazon.co.uk/Samson-Mic-Clip-USB-Microphone/dp/B001R76D42/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1393720133&sr=8-2&keywords=Usb+mic

[jitterjames]

This is a pretty good USB microphone.

It works well with VoxCommando but you need to be within a couple of feet of it and it doesn't have particularly good noise cancelling properties.  In a reasonably quiet room if you are a 2-3 feet from the mic it works great.

I often use it for testing and for skype etc.  I sometimes notice some artifacts with it when I record tutorials (I often use this mic to record my youtube videos) like a lisping sound but I'm not 100% sure if there is a setting I could adjust (or if it is related to the recording software and not actually the microphone).  In any case it is mild and VC doesn't seem to mind it.

If you were hoping to use this to be able to speak from anywhere in the room, then I think it is not a great choice.

[Casmo]

Thank you very much for the review.. From your experience,  what's the best mic out there In that kind of price range as a living room all-rounder?

[jitterjames]

I don't really have an answer for that (perhaps other will), but maybe it will help you to look through this if you have not already done so:

http://voxcommando.com/mediawiki/index.php?title=Microphones

[Casmo]

Thanks man, and thank you for such top notch support.. So happy to have found vox commando, despite a few 'her' related barbs..

[aussie mate]

The choice of which miicrophone(s) to use will depend on what you want to achieve.

you have indicated that you want a "living room all rounder".
Much will depend on how big your room is, the acoustics of the room (carpet v wood v tiles on the floor, type of walls, height of the ceiling, how many windows etc. as well as what other noise making devices are in the room ie air conditioner outlets, stereo, tv etc.
Is the room acoustically "flat" or "bright".
How much is your budget.

that said you can do alot using ebay and getting 2nd hand audio conference equipment and microphones.

If you want an open air microphone system - it can be done but you will need to get the right equipment and spend time adjusting and tuning it.
After many hours over the past few years - I am finally getting my open air system to work consistently at around 95% accuracy.
Having VC has really helped.

My current setup consists of the following:
3 ceiling mounted beyerdynamic MPC22 microphones in 2 rooms. (ebay cost from $20 - 150 each)
They are connected into a Polycom Vortex conference mixer that supplies phantom power to the microphones.
For each microphone input -the mixer can provide Noise cancelling, Auto Gain Control (AGC) of up to 10dB along with both low & high pass filters.
It also has auto mic gating.
The output from the mixer is set to a line level of 0db into a Behringer UCA202 which is plugged into my PC.
I also use ceiling mounted speakers in the rooms to direct the music & Voice replies from VC downwards - away from the mics. 

I can now be anywhere in my kitchen or lounge room and talk to VC and it will hear me and respond.
I am planing to expand the system into other rooms in my house in the coming year.

here are some web sites that may also help you

http://www.iautomate.com/pages/Whole-House-Microphones.html
http://james.lipsit.com/whole.htm
http://board.homeseer.com/showthread.php?t=104567




 


 
 

[Casmo]

Quick update, the Samson go mic is an absolute success. Attached to the side of my coffee table about 3 ft away, it's working very well..

[thumper702]

@Aussie Mate


 I read your post and was curious on your setup if you could shine some light on it, so that I can understand better. You have your mic(s) linked up to your Polycom Vortex, but which vortex do you have that is able to be plugged into the Behringer UCA202 I haven't seen a vortex with analog outputs, if you aren't running analog how do you have these two devices hooked up? Also are you able to send me a picture or two of your setup as I would like to implement a whole home mic array, I'd appreciate it. Thanks Mate.

[nime5ter]

I'm not sure whether Aussie Mate actively monitors threads on this forum.

He may be more active on the HomeSeer message board and I think also the X10 boards, so you might try contacting him in one of those spaces if your post here doesn't inspire a reply in the nearish future.

[aussie mate]

I received a pm from Thumper702 and replied with an answer however for anyone else who would like to know the answer - here it is.

The Vortex actual has analogue outlets that can be connected to any soundcard that uses analogue inputs.
I used 4 wire shielded cable. 2 wires for input and 2 for output.
so from the Vortex mixer - 2 wires (+ve & -ve) connected to the 2 RCA plugs (Left & Right Channels) with the shield connected to the grd on the mixer.  The RCA plugs are then connected to the input of the soundcard.

From the output of they sound card  connect 2 wires to RCA plugs (left & right channels)  - the cable then goes to the Amp via RCA plugs.
As all connectors are shielded or earthed - this will help prevent hum (this called a balanced line).

 

[nime5ter]

Thanks for responding publicly, aussie mate. Much appreciated!

[jitterjames]

Can you please tell us what kind of power supply is required for the polycom EF 2280 (if that is the one you have) .

It seems that there are many cheap units on eBay but none of them come with a power supply.

What are the voltage and amperage required, and what is the connector.

[keithj69]

I'll look when I get home.  Just got mine running last night.  

[aussie mate]

FYI - when I purchased my EF2280 it didn't come with a power supply - so I purchased one from Polycomm.
I think from memory it was about $40.00 and took a few weeks for delivery.

Note that the plug on the PS is not a standard type.