Questions on microphone

[mparadiso]

I want to ride my htpc with XBMC but I still have doubts about the microphone.
Reading some post here found interesting Andrea Superbeam Array Microphone, MXL AC404 USB and the USB CAD U7.
I wonder of staff who have one of these opinion.
Generally watch TV in a distance of 3 to 4 meters. Some days I get a little farther around 5 meters.
The big issue here is that I noticed that the microphone has to be able to function in a muted and the environment where I'm watching a movie in a medium to high volume environment.
I live in Brazil, have a higher cost to import this product. So I would like to have more information to not end up buying a product that is bad.

Thank you

[jitterjames]

Hi maparadiso,

Choosing a microphone can be difficult. Most people need to try different microphones depending on their setup and their accent etc.

I do not have much experience with array microphones, but I do know that they are not magic.  Even with an array microphone, if you are siting far away and you have a lot of other sound from music or TV you will probably face some difficulties.  Even the most expensive array microphone cannot filter out all unwanted sound, and most, if not all of them, will fail to filter out surround (5.1, 7.1 etc) sound.

I think the Andrea array microphone looks too cheap to be very good.  Most array microphones are quite expensive. A boundary microphone (such as MXL AC404 USB and the USB CAD U7) is definitely not a good choice for your situation since it will hear all the noise in the room.

For your situation, your best choice would probably be the Amulet remote with microphone.  In the US it is only $70.00.  I know for you it will cost quite a bit more.  If you have an Android phone or tablet you can also try VoxWav.  It is a similar experience to using the Amulet but you can try it for free.

[jitterjames]

If you would like another opinion, you can try asking here: http://www.xbmcbrasil.net/

[Soda97]

Or if you have an iPhone, an app called headset from (shape GmbH) mobiola cost $1.99

[nime5ter]

For a comparison of different options, see: http://voxcommando.com/mediawiki/index.php?title=Microphones

Some users have provided reviews of different microphones in this "Microphone Comparison Matrix".

[mparadiso]

If you would like another opinion, you can try asking here: http://www.xbmcbrasil.net/

Hello jitterjames,

Thank you for the suggestion. Before I consider buying an array of microphones, looked at Amulet on Amazon and not found.
I have also watched some videos of a Brazilian who also uses this control. I quite cool.
That day I found him in the manufacturer own site. Surely this is the best option.
I would love to take some doubts about it with you.
From what I understand, it is possible to set some control buttons of my TV at Amulet (keys power, volume, etc).
It works as an IR control for the TV?
The USB dongle is only for the vox command or has other features?

Thanks

[jitterjames]

Hi mparadiso.

Yes, I think the only way to buy a new Amulet is to get it directly from Amulet Devices.  I think they are actually shipping them directly from Ireland now.  You only need the "OEM" version which is $69/US before shipping and taxes.

The Amulet can be used as an MCE remote.  It does not come with an IR receiver so you would need to buy one if you want to be able to use buttons to control your computer.

The Amulet claims to be able to learn IR codes and let you assign them to various buttons.  I have found this feature to be almost completely useless, so do not expect it to work for you.  The default MCE buttons work fine though.

The USB dongle is for RF (wireless) communication.  It is required for the microphone data transmission only.  It has no other function.

The main benefits are the microphone being close to your mouth, the tilt on/off, and the basic MCE buttons for navigating through menus, pause/play, volume etc.

I use EventGhost and the USBUIRT (IR transceiver) to receive the IR signal but you can also use a cheap MCE IR receiver.

[mparadiso]

Hi jitterjames,

Really had forgotten the need for an IR receiver. For a moment I thought only the USB dongle solve all the problems.
I would like to take a course on the integration entreo the Amulet X EventGhost.
You said you use USBUIRT to receive the IR signal. But this only works with this device or any IR receiver or only the USBUIRT or MCE IR receive?
You said the MCE IR would receive but cheap but just found it being sold on Amazon with the remote control. Not only found the receiver.
You know let me know if the Pulse-Eight or RCAware devices work well for my Samsung TV has Anynet + HDMI-CEC.

Thanks

[jitterjames]

The choice is yours.  You can look on ebay, or amazon, or google, or try to find a good deal locally.  It is up to you to decide what you need and to find the best price, and then to decide if you are willing to pay it.  You can find an MCE receiver with a remote that is still fairly inexpensive.  If you find one with no remote control included it probably won't cost much less anyway.

You can ask Amulet Devices if they sell an IR receiver.  They used to have the option to get one with your remote for an extra fee, but I don't see it on their site.

All the information you need about EventGhost is here: http://www.eventghost.org/

If you are using an MCE remote, you don't actaully need EventGhost, it will mostly work out of the box in Windows.  You only need EventGhost if you want to customize the buttons.  For example, by the default, the green windows button will open Windows Media Center.

If you also want to control your audio-video equipment then you should consider getting a UUIRT instead of an MCE receiver. http://www.usbuirt.com/  It costs more but it is much more flexible.

[mparadiso]

I thought of the possibility of using the HDMI-CEC (Pulse-Eight or RCAware) with the Amulet but afraid to not work.
What is your opinion?

[jitterjames]

I don't know what you mean by "use the HDMI-CEC (Pulse-Eight or RCAware) with Amulet".  How would you use such a device with Amulet?

There is no relationship between Amulet and HDMI CEC communication as far as I know, unless your TV is somehow able to pass IR messages that it receives to your computer.  I have no knowledge in this area.

[mparadiso]

I don't know what you mean by "use the HDMI-CEC (Pulse-Eight or RCAware) with Amulet".  How would you use such a device with Amulet?

There is no relationship between Amulet and HDMI CEC communication as far as I know, unless your TV is somehow able to pass IR messages that it receives to your computer.  I have no knowledge in this area.

As the previous information, I made some queries on Amazon and found many MCE IR devices.
I decided to put some down because I'm not sure if all work the way you want.

http://www.amazon.com/Ortek-Windows-Infrared-Receiver-Ultimate/dp/B00224ZDFY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1423249921&sr=8-1&keywords=mce+ir+receiver

http://www.amazon.com/USB-External-Infrared-Receiver-Cable/dp/B00J5NRWFO/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1423249921&sr=8-3&keywords=mce+ir+receiver

http://www.amazon.com/TBS-Control-Receiver-Window7-Window8/dp/B0093WH48C/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1423249921&sr=8-7&keywords=mce+ir+receiver

I also found this other product

http://www.amazon.com/GATEWAY-REMOTE-RECEIVER-BLASTER-OVU4003/dp/B00QEAEYOI/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1423250786&sr=8-3&keywords=ir+blaster+usb

What is your opinion about them?

[jitterjames]

The first 3 look like they are probably OK.  I do not own any of those so I cannot say 100%

[PegLegTV]

I use these on all of my PC's and they work great and they have the capability to use IR Emitters so you can control other devices with Eventghost

MCE Remote Receiver

IR Emitters