Wired mike recommendation for DNS 11

Speech Recognition VoiceComputer
#1

While I love my Samson 77 wireless, from time to time I'm getting static (and interference) and the "HIM, HIM, HIM" routine. When that happens, I might as well just give up because nothing else good is going to happen. I've tried to track down what is going on without success. It's intermittent, which makes it even harder to track down.

What is the closest thing from an accuracy point of view in a wired mike? Do you think going to a wired mike would even help when I start experiencing static?
Do you think that the static is coming because I'm using the wireless and it's just picking up something or could it also be just internal to my laptop? If it is intermittent to the laptop, how on earth would I correct that?
This is so frustrating... DNS 11 works so well when I'm not experiencing this static episode. When the static appears, it's back to typing...
#2

Alan,


>my Samson 77 wireless, from time to time I’m getting static

(I’m probably not the best person to ask because I’m not a wireless expert.)

How old is your Samson 77?

I ask because older models are 700 MHz and may or may not work because the frequencies were changed by the FCC.

(see: http://www.audiolinks.com/tek9/Samson_Wireless_Rebate.pdf)


A great wired microphone is the Sennheiser ME-3 bundled with the Andrea soundpod.





#3

Hi Ron!


My Samson is a newer version, one made after the frequency change you mentioned. It has “Ch N6” on the front, right hand side of the unit and “CR77 UHF” on the left side of the unit.


As I said, most of the time, it works so well with DNS that I think it must be magic. Then, from time to time, it will pick up static, the mike check in DNS 11 Pro fails repeatedly and I might as well just “hang it up” because I am then no longer able to use DNS at all.


Frustrating to say the least…Angry


Thanks for your suggestion about the wired mike.
#4

Alan,

I have one of the new Samson Airline 77 Wireless Microphones and it works perfectly fine for me.

The problem that you’re having maybe how you have it configured. Consider the following:


1. The squelch should be turned completely off. If you have squelch on at any level, you’re going to get static. The only time that you use squelch is if you’re going to use the Samson Airline 77 Wireless Microphone for other than speech recognition. Squelch eliminates feedback from other signal sources.


2. Do you have the receiver unit anywhere near any EMI or EMF source (i.e. on top of your system or near the power supply. It should be at least 2 to 3 feet away from any possible magnetic interference. Keep in mind that magnetic fields can interfere with any kind of wireless transmission. Also, if you’re working in an environment with large bank overhead florescent lighting, the ballasts from those florescent lights brought a tremendous EMI field that can interfere with the Samson Airline 77 Wireless Microphone. If you’re in an office and you don’t need the overhead florescent lighting on, turn it off. If you’re working in an X terminal environment where you can’t do that, then you might have to put up with static from time to time. Regardless, large bank overhead florescent lighting puts out tremendous amounts of EMI (magnetic fields).


3. Make sure that the switch on the back of the receiver unit is set to -20 dB not -40 dB. If you set it to -40 dB you’re going to get screwy results and possibly interference.


4. Check your battery from time to time. When the battery starts getting low, your transmission signal is a very strong. Make sure that you have sufficient battery power.


5. I find that the best setting for the by on the receiver unit is between 12 o’clock and three o’clock. When you run the Audio Setup Wizard (Check Microphone in DNS 11), check the position of the blue bar. Ideally, it should fall between 10% and 50% of the bottom. Occasionally, some Samson Airline 77 Wireless Microphones will only drop the blue bar about 10% from the top. In this case, try playing with the volume setting on the receiver.

Let me know how you make out. Sometimes it’s just a matter of tweaking how your Samson Airline 77 Wireless Microphone is set up.
#5

I have tried all of the above and it still does the static thing, making it useless for anything. I took a trip to <?: prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />Virginia over the weekend and it did the same thing there with my laptop. When I came back home, it worked just fine... on both the laptop and the desktop. UNCLE... I really don't have any fluorescent lights at home. I keep the receiver at least 2-3 feet away from my computer. I have double checked all the settings and they are correct. <?: prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

I have purchased a Sennheiser ME-3 and will now have a wired mike to help me when my wireless is acting up.

If the Samson 77 is considered the best (or at least one of the best) wireless mikes, what do you consider THE best, when it comes to wired/USB mikes for speech recognition? Is there really anything that gives the same accuracy as the Samson 77 (when I don't have static)? Again, I just want to have some different "back ups" when my standby fails me. For example, I was giving a presentation this past weekend on using speech recognition and luckily, the wireless worked great. But if it didn't, I would have been up a creek without a boat, much less a paddle! ;-)
#6

Alan,

The best wired microphone is the handheld Sennheiser MD 431 II. The Sennheiser MD 431 II uses a combination of active and passive noise canceling by virtue of the microphone element that employs the cardioid polar pattern for suppression of the background ambient noise emanating from outside of the area of reception as well as an active noise canceling circuitry that cancels out unwanted background noise. The combination in the Sennheiser MD 431 II makes it virtually 99% accurate even at ambient noise levels at or above 93+ decibels (standing behind a Boeing 747 during takeoff or more practically a tradeshow environment). However, it is a handheld microphone, it requires that the microphone be positioned between one and 3 inches from the user’s mouth, and is best suited for a desktop or spring boom stand/amount. It’s great for short periods of dictation hold in your hand and it’s great for giving demonstrations in auditoriums and classrooms. It has a full mute switch and is all metal construction. It’s a very heavy-duty, long-lasting microphone that will last you for virtually forever. It produces very high quality/clarity speech input. I take this one with me along with my laptop when I’m on the road. It has a built-in wind mask and comes with an extra external wind mask for added protection from wind noise or environments that have high reverberation of sound. It’s noise canceling and accuracy capabilities are significantly better than the Samson Airline 77 Wireless Microphone. Nevertheless, it is more expensive. There is also an equivalent to the Sennheiser MD 431 II that is equally as good but almost $200 more expensive. The only advantage of this variant is that it allows you to use the microphone at a distance of up to 24 inches from your mouth. Regardless, it’s not worth the extra cost.

The bottom line is that the Sennheiser MD 431 II in the Samson Airline 77 Wireless Microphone are the best speech recognition microphones on the market currently, with the Sennheiser MD 431 II being the better of the two.

On the other hand, if you’re getting periodic static from your Samson Airline 77 Wireless Microphone, I would suggest that you contact Samson and have them check it out. What you are experiencing is not normal. I have two of them, an older one and the newer one. Both are functioning absolutely flawlessly. Therefore, I suspect that your problem with static is a repair/warranty problem. If your Samson Airline 77 Wireless Microphone is still under warranty I would contact Samson support and discuss it with them for possible return and repair. I don’t think it has anything to do with environmental or other non-unit specific issues.

#7

Thanks for the additional information. Deeply appreciated…


I guess the next logical question is, if I created my original DNS Pro 11 user file with the Samson Airline 77, and if I had the Sennheiser MD 431 II, should I create another user file with the Sennheiser or would just running the mike check in DNS Pro 11 be enough?


Best,

Alan
#8

Alan,

Because of the fact that the quality of both the Samson Airline 77 Wireless Microphone and the Sennheiser MD 431 II are the same, you should only need to run the Audio Setup Wizard (Check Microphone). The only time that you need to create a new user profile is if the microphones are so distinctly different or the Dictation source is different.

On rare occasions, such as moving from the Olympus ME 31 to the Sennheiser MD 431 II or the Samson Airline 77 Wireless Microphone, it sometimes helps to run or rerun the general training simply to adjust to that microphones signal output quality. However, you should only do what you need to do relative to whether or not changing microphones is resulting in your performance with a given user profile being up to snuff. Simply put, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.