Logitech USB Desktop Microphone (Black/Silver)
by Logitech
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List Price: Our Price: $17.08 You Save: $12.91 (43%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $6.48 (click here) Category: CE See more product details |
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Customers in the UK,
Buy this product at amazon.co.uk
for British Pounds
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Logitech USB Desktop Microphone (Black/Silver)
Customer Review: Finally The Microphone I've Been Looking For!!!!!
Summary: 5 Stars
I love my View Pic Logitech 980186-0403 Silver USB Connector Desktop Microphone. Because I don't have to worry about drivers to download, and that it has easy plug-and-play, and that's what you get from the Logitech USB Desktop Microphone. You also get true digital quality and a noise-canceling technology to filter out unwanted background noise and deliver better voice recognition, better voice command, better voice recording, and more. Sleek, compact, and attractive, the itself is black, but on the pictures it looked like a very dark grey, and the base itself sliver. Nice...but I wished it would of been a all black color! Its also not built cheaply either, it is perfect for any desktop. This has got to be the best microphone I've ever owned. I'm thinging about getting my mom and younger brother one too! Note: You have be like a half foot away from the microphone, or you'll get distorted speech. For very cheap people this microphone isn't for you, because it cost almost 20 bucks! But I'm telling you it's worth it! Their is a 3.5mm version for 9.99 with 4.99 sh, links are below.
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Pros:
Advanced digital USB provides superior clarity, The simplicity of a single plug-and-play connection, Noise-canceling microphone filters out unwanted background noise, Power switch illuminates when microphone is active, Microphone pivots on weighted, stable base to hold preferred position, 8 ft shielded cord with USB connector, offers convenience and flexibility around your desktop, Mute switch on base for easy control, Weighted base for stability.
Cons:
Not really a con, but just a piece of advice, you have to be a half foot away from the microphone, or get distorted speech.
Customer Review: Great mic for voice chatting (Win/Linux), but *disable* your old mic first
Summary: 5 Stars
After plugging this usb microphone into my win2k system. I found the volume of
the voice recorded is very small, with much background noise. And I can not
record clearly unless I speak very close to the microphone. I was very
disappointed at first, thinking I'm buying the wrong thing.
Later I noticed there are two different microphone controls in the volume
setting dialog. One is the mic of my sound card, and another one is this USB
device. I tried to disable the onboard mic and set the volume of the USB one to
maximum, then I started recording... Much to my surprise, this time the voice
quality was superior!! I phoned a friend in China for ten minutes using skype,
and the conversation is very clear even I placed the mic far from my mouth!
Then I recorded a song of mine with cooledit 2.0. Again I get superior voice
recording quality! There is almost no background noise so I think I will not
use the noise reduction feature of cooledit any more! The USB cable is also
long enough to place the mic far from computer when singing. Be sure to DISABLE
onboard mic when using this USB microphone.
UPDATED:Nov. 19, 2005
I've been using this microphone for ten months. It has helped me save lots of oversea calling fees.
If you want to use this mic as your primary input device under Linux, simply put the following lines in your ~/.asoundrc
pcm.asymed {
type asym
playback.pcm "hw:0,0"
capture.pcm "hw:1,0"
}
Then you can recard some voice using arecord:
arecord voice.wav
Overall this is a great product well worth the price.
Customer Review: Logitech USB Microphone
Summary: 5 Stars
I bought this microphone for my Apple Laptop because I got tired of using the built in mic, having to stick my face right next to the tiny little hole next to the screen. I do a lot of spoken recording using the Garageband program and thought the mic would be perfect for this. It worked beautifully right out of the box--at least after I figured out the strangeness of the Garageband program. It is strange, as if you have the Garageband program open, and, in Preferences you select the mic (by the way, the computer had no problem recognizing the mic and loading the drivers) at that point there is no mic working--neither the built in mic or the Logictech. What you have to do is select the mic, then close the program, then open it up again. I don't know if it is a quirk with Apple's operating system or the mic or what. When you unhook the mic while the program is going, Garageband will ask you if you want to use the built-in mic or close the program. Choose close the program because if you don't you will have to go through the whole opening, selecting the mic, closing then opening the program hassle.
As far as the quality of the mic I am very happy. It is much better than the built-in mic, and I have actually done some multitrack recording with it. I have finally gone over the Garageband learning curve and now know how the program works (more or less). I wouldn't go so far as to saying the mic is at the level of a recording studio mic, but it ain't bad--especially for $30.00, which is basically peanuts.
Customer Review: You will not be disappointed
Summary: 5 Stars
The big concern with USB microphones is whether they get the gain right. Since USB is a digital signal, the audio digitizer has to be built into the microphone itself. If the gain is too high, and you get digital distortion, which is horrible. If it is too low, you get lots of noise.
The designers of this mic picked just the right amount of input gain.
This mic is perfect for voice. No, you won't get the nice, bassy proximity effect that you might get from many microphones, but you will get perfect clarity, excellent sensitivity (it easily picks up ambient sound when nobody is talking), and extremely low self-noise.
This mic works perfectly with Skype, with your mouth about 12 to 18 inches from the mic (though using earphones is recommended, since this mic WILL pick up sound coming through your speakers.)
Again, a very quiet (un-noisy), very clear mic, and since it is USB, the sound quality is totally independent of your computer's sound card (most of which are not very good). These qualities also make this mic ideal for voice recognition applications.
The only drawback is that you don't get a lot of bass sound. So don't expect to sound like an FM DJ through this mic. But you will be heard loud and clear.
Also good to know is that this mic is NOT meant for hand-held use. Handling noise will be very audible.
The built-in MUTE button is a nice feature.
Customer Review: Excellent for use with Dragon NaturallySpeaking
Summary: 5 Stars
I purchased this microphone for use with Dragon NaturallySpeaking. Before purchasing it, I used the headset included with the software. If you're unfamiliar with Dragon NaturallySpeaking, it is a fantastic product. However it is rather inflexible when it comes to the audio quality of your dictation. When using the included headset, I often found errors in Dragon's transcriptions of what it thought I said. Switching to this microphone however, eliminated almost all of those errors. Whether it is the noise canceling feature, the sensitivity of the microphone itself or both, the end result is nothing short of exceptional. I can't speak to using this microphone for recording musical performances or other types of sound capture, but when it comes to Dragon NaturallySpeaking, I recommend it without hesitation.
In the pictures on line it looks a little flimsy, and getting it out of the box, I confess it's not quite as solid as a Cadillac, but taking into account the fact that you're not spending Cadillac prices its fine quality for what you're spending. When I handle it, it is neither flimsy nor cheap and I have put it in my laptop bag on multiple occasions without any adverse results. If this were a microphone of lower quality, I'm certain that it would have been damaged long before now.
The bottom line is I am more than satisfied with this product both in quality of build and quality of performance for the affordable price I paid.