Plantronics DSP-400 Digitally-Enhanced USB Foldable Stereo Headset and Software
by Plantronics
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List Price: Our Price: $79.95 You Save: $50.04 (38%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: CE See more product details |
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Plantronics DSP-400 Digitally-Enhanced USB Foldable Stereo Headset and Software
Customer Review: reasonable quality & easy install
Summary: 5 Stars
I have some new Bose headphones, about the same price, and the headphones on this Plantronic headset gives me better fidelity but that may be the result of coming out of the USB port with the Plantronics headset rather than going through the headphone jack with my Bose headphones. On my '08 MacBook there was no installation, it was just plug and play after (doing the obvious and) looking under System Preferences > Sound.
I listen primarily to strings (guitar and violin) and they just sing through this headset. And I appreciate the volume control and handy mute button. But the headphones are better than the mike. I've used the headset to make audio-podcasts and the quality of voice through the mic, while good enough for VoIP calls is inadequate for a more demanding purpose. And ... sure nuff, mikes (alone, w/o any headphones) recommended for audio podcasts are invariably more expensive than this Plantronics headset.
A shortcoming for me at least -- WHY such a looo..ooo...oong cord?
Customer Review: Improved voice recognition - and decent stereo listening!
Summary: 5 Stars
I purchased this headset to replace the rather chintzy, monaural headset provided in the box with Dragon's Naturally Speaking 8 (Standard.) I was delighted to discover that, even prior to further 'training' of the software, the voice recognition ratio improved immediately and dramatically. Unlike the hardware from Nuance (the current makers of Dragon), the Plantronics set is USB2 plug-and-play with XP, requiring no software and it works, just as advertised, right out of the box. Other reviews that have criticized this set because of it's inadequate 'portability' and the feeling that the way it can be folded compromises it's structural integrity, simply have not been my experience. I must say, though, that it doesn't travel. It sits on a hook next to my PC.
Voice recognition is not the perfect (or even improved) solution to every writing need - however, coupled with a GOOD headset/microphone combination, it is well worth having and using for many usual Word and emailing functions
Customer Review: No drivers needed for OS X
Summary: 5 Stars
This has to be one of the best mics I have personally owned. The first thing I did with the included driver disk was to toss it in the trash. Plugging the DSP-400 into my Powerbook G4 resulted in no pesky "driver needed" BS that currently plagues the dark side of the computer world. Bringing up the sound prefs I was delighted in seeing that not only was the DSP-400 recognized, but it was raring to go. Changing the default I/O's from the onboard line in and speakers to the USB interface was all that was needed to get it up and running. All level functions and effects are accessable and fully functional, since they are a function of the OS and not a driver.
No, the DSP-400 is not a noise cancelling headset, but the mic does a very good job of weeding out reasonable ammounts of background noise. And as for it being heavy, I did not notice any unreasonable heaviness.
Yes, the cord is a bit long, but I would rather have it a tad long than short.
Customer Review: What are the other people talking about?
Summary: 5 Stars
This headset is very good. The usb connection is so relable and fast, unlike the analog connections on normal hearsets that require 3 plugs (right audio, left audio, mic)! This is great if you don't have a sound card. The audio quality is very good too. I listen to music, play games and watch movies. The mic is handy in games that I play like The Specilists, Counter-Strike, and Day of Defeat. The sound quality is beautiful and gives me the chills when I play games like Deus Ex Invis War at night. The robust booms of mortar fire rock my world in Call of Duty. My friends sometimes don't even have their mics on because their mic analog plug is so far from the other sound plugs. Sometimes I wonder why I got my soundblaster audigy 2 soundcard and 6.1 mega works speaker system, o ya, for parties, duh! Anyways, this is a great headset, I don't quite know why the other have experianced what they have.Customer Review: Great for voice recognition
Summary: 5 Stars
Someone in an earlier review rated the DSP-400 headset as useless for voice recognition. Not sure what his technical problem might be, but Dragon rates it as "6 dragons" on its hardware compatability list which is the max, and I have bought two of them...at different times...one for work and one for home since I was so pleased with performance using two completely different types of PC's, memory size, etc. It works great for me at least. I am a long time Dragon user, and this is the best headset I have tried. So beware the "worthless" review. Picking the right headset that works with your particular system can be iffy...but I have two of these headsets and I couldn't be happier with the recognition voice quality. (I use Dragon Preferred Version 9 at the moment, so I can't say whether a different version would affect performance.)