Wireless PC Microphone

[CircuitsMan]

Hello All,

I don't know of a good place to ask this, but I figure this is as good as any since I have HTPC of sorts and others may have run into the same issue. Does anybody know of a good wireless microphone? I'm looking for something similar to what people use with their XBOX (Microsoft XBOX 360 Wireless Headset) that isn't a bulky headset with headphones. I'd still like the audio to come through my TV's speakers, but being able to chat while playing online games would be a big help.

I did find that Microsoft made something similar called the Lifechat ZX-6000 (maybe a precursor to the XBOX stuff) but a few online reviews I read a while back said it stinks.

I had thought of getting/using just a regular cell-phone bluetooth headset, but I have no idea if you could get one to sync with a PC or if the audio would still come through the speakers instead of the headset.

 

[sabregen]

bt usb dongle + headset. pair the headset to the pc, and set audio output device to your speakers in the control panel. done.

 

[CircuitsMan]

Do I need to get a bt headset specifically marketed to working with PC's or will any bt headset do?

 

[sabregen]

any bt headset will do, as with all bt headsets though, consider the feautres you're buying it for, and the usage. basic ones are $10, decent ones start at $30 and you just go up and up from there.

 

[CircuitsMan]

Thanks sabregen. I'd probably use it for PC gaming, VOIP, and maybe to use with a cell phone (as soon as I get one that is BlueTooth enabled). I just didn't know if it was possible.

 

[Riboild]

Another thing to note, you can choose which devices you are outputting to using a right click on your speaker in the taskbar in windows 7 and choose playback device...

I haven't figured out yet how to have two devices outputting at same time though....

Another factor to have in consideration is battery life and signal strength... I bought a motorola bt headset for a phone and while it worked beautifully with my phone, using it for chatting with skype and gaming, made it die quick, about an hour and it was dead, also getting any further than 10 feet and you lost signal or poppy sounds were introduced....

My 2 cents...

 

[sabregen]

I haven't figured out yet how to have two devices outputting at same time though....

you can't mix analog and digital outputs. windows won't do this at all (output to multiple devices). it's one at a time. however, depending ont eh device that you're outputting to, you may be able to split it off from there (to a receiver, for example).

 

[CircuitsMan]

Last questions. Most info I read on Bluetooth says that revisions are backwards compatible but does it matter which device, adapter vs. headset, has the higher revision? For example, one of the BT headsets of choice online and the one I'm considering is the Plantronics Voyager 520 ($30.99 @ NewEgg.com) which is BT 2.0. The adapter I'm looking at is the Belkin F8T016 ($15.50 @ Meritline.com, however website currently has problems) which is BT 2.1. Will they necessarily work together? I would bet they do, but I really don't know. Also, would I miss out on anything like much better quality by not having the Enhanced Data Rate of 2.1? Other options I'm considering are the Motorola H720 ($29.99 @ NewEgg.com) and the Plantronics Voyager Pro ($46.49 @ Amazon.com), both of which have BT 2.1.

 

[cnick79]

Have you ever used any Bluetooth sets like the ones you are looking at? I used to use the Lifechat ZX-6000 for gaming and it sucked! It can get uncomfortable when gaming for a couple hours straight. It also sucks when you want to use headphones. I also didn't like having something over my ear when I was outputting to my speakers because it blocked some of the sounds from games.

Maybe it's just my bad experience from the Lifechat, but I think you are better off getting a lapel microphone. This way you can use it with headphones or not and it can attach to wherever and whatever you want.

 

[sabregen]

BT is a backwards compatible standard, thankfully. If the adapter is of a higher BT rev than the headset you're using, no worries, it'll work! Also, you will probably want a BT module (transceiver/dongle) that's got the +EDR (enhanced data rate) specification on it. My BT 2.1 nano dongle + Motorola H500 earpiece allowed me to go from the bottom floor of my 2 story house all the way up into the computer room (top floor, most diagonally far away point in the house from my netbook) and get perfectly clear SIP voice chat without missing a beat. My 2.1 non-EDR dongle could only go about 20feet before dropping out.

 

[CircuitsMan]

Have you ever used any Bluetooth sets like the ones you are looking at? I used to use the Lifechat ZX-6000 for gaming and it sucked! It can get uncomfortable when gaming for a couple hours straight. It also sucks when you want to use headphones. I also didn't like having something over my ear when I was outputting to my speakers because it blocked some of the sounds from games.

Maybe it's just my bad experience from the Lifechat, but I think you are better off getting a lapel microphone. This way you can use it with headphones or not and it can attach to wherever and whatever you want.

Hey cnik79, I haven't tried headsets like the Lifechat, but I did read other reviews which also said they were pretty crappy. Maybe newer more expensive headsets would do better. I have a "binaural" (aka stereo headphones) headset wiith boom mic from Plantronics at work for use with my phone. I was hoping that headset would block out background noise, but it hardly does anything. Hopefully their single-ear monaural bt headsets do the same thing and let you hear background noise.

I'd also use this headset for chatting as I use VOIP for my main phone service so being able to turn on and off the sound going to the headset would be nice.

BT is a backwards compatible standard, thankfully. If the adapter is of a higher BT rev than the headset you're using, no worries, it'll work! Also, you will probably want a BT module (transceiver/dongle) that's got the +EDR (enhanced data rate) specification on it. My BT 2.1 nano dongle + Motorola H500 earpiece allowed me to go from the bottom floor of my 2 story house all the way up into the computer room (top floor, most diagonally far away point in the house from my netbook) and get perfectly clear SIP voice chat without missing a beat. My 2.1 non-EDR dongle could only go about 20feet before dropping out.

So you're saying the bt adapter has to be a newer bt rev than the headset? I'm not too concerned about distance. I live in an aparment so 90% of the time when I'm home I'm within 20ft of my computer.

 

[CircuitsMan]

I went and got the Belkin BT adapter and decided to get the Plantronics Explorer 395. It was a lot easier to set up than I thought and it works. Thanks everyone.