Throat mic?

[AlgoFlash]

Hey GH! I just got my Majestouch Blue 10kless, and it's really awesome but I'm concerned about the noise since I happen to play and use teamspeak or skype at the same time.  

So I was considering buying a throat mic in order to eliminate the background noise. Has anybody every tried one for computer? I haven't found many models online and I'm afraid it might be cheap.

What do you think? Don't tell me it's too geeky, remember you're on GH...

[iMav]

I saw this one on Amazon.  Not sure if that would work to eliminate keyboard noise though (based on the reviews).

I suppose it is cheap enough to give it a try though.

[WhiteRice]

Do you use PTT? Shouldn't really be that much of an issue. You should ask if you keyboard is disrupting your teammates before you jump to conclusions.

[AlgoFlash]

No I'm not using PTT, as I would like to find a solution that would fit my gamers needs as well. Doing 100 actions per minute plus having a finger stuck on a key, I'm not sure I would be able to do it.
But that makes me think that I've never tried to lower the sensitivity of my present mic, which is the easiest solution. wow.

[AlgoFlash]

It's a contact mic that is placed on your throat and should allow you to be heard even with loud background noises. I've already used some with walkies-talkies and it was really great, but that was on another continent and a long long time ago.

It's really nice but rendered obsolete by telepathic powers, and ventriloquism isn't quite effective if you have gastric problems.

[keyb_gr]

My gut feeling says a hypercardioid mic in front of your mouth (like better headsets have) should be just fine. Look at the mic specs. A throat mic might be needed in very noisy environments (what do they use in jet fighters?) or when you can't speak properly, but hardly in this case.

[AlgoFlash]

My gut feeling says a hypercardioid mic in front of your mouth (like better headsets have) should be just fine. Look at the mic specs. A throat mic might be needed in very noisy environments (what do they use in jet fighters?) or when you can't speak properly, but hardly in this case.

I'm now looking into hypercardiod mic, thank you.

[itlnstln]

MmphUgampth

Kinda like those announcements in ItlnStln's chain of Grocery stores.

No kidding.  About 2" away from the mouth is the sweet spot.  I had prior experience in radio, though.  I used to record the announcement, so others could just play it back.  Rambling-ass, to-close-to-the-phone-talkin' employees.

[Lanx]

It's a contact mic that is placed on your throat and should allow you to be heard even with loud background noises. I've already used some with walkies-talkies and it was really great, but that was on another continent and a long long time ago.

It's really nice but rendered obsolete by telepathic powers, and ventriloquism isn't quite effective if you have gastric problems.

is this what you see special forces using in movies where they use the index and thumb touching the throat and talk to base?

[Crypt]

What's a throat mic?

Is that like Tuvan Throat Singing?

Edit:  NVM - pretty mediocre reviews.  Recommend Ventriloquism classes.

That's what I was thinking...Sheldon Cooper Tuvan Throat Singing, lol...

Anyway, I used to use voice chat without PTT on a *desktop mic* a few inches away from my hammering on an IBM buckling spring keyboard.  People said it was like I was shooting a machine gun.  But I'll tell you this...no one ever gave me sh** for not trying hard enough or messing up 'coz it makes you sound like you're outplaying everyone and their moms, LOL!

Useless comment, I know, but it brought back some good memories.  

edit:  oh yeah, on some higher end mics, there's noise cancellation.  There's two microphones.  One of the microphones picks up regular noise and "subtracts" it from the microphone that picks up your voice.

[AlgoFlash]

is this what you see special forces using in movies where they use the index and thumb touching the throat and talk to base?

it is, although it's a 2.5mm jack and pretty high quality.



And thanks to other comments, I've improved my Tuvan Throat Singing techniques and may be putting a Tuvan Throat Singing website up soon!

[Megaweapon]

As I prefer speakers over headphones I've looked into throat mics before but wasn't able to find anything suitable.

I would be interested to know what you find for PC in the way of the hypercardiod mics or even just a cheap-but-decent head/ear/chest worn PC mic without headphones.  While you're searching for weird stuff in this vein:  I'd also like a cheap single action USB foot pedal that I could use to activate PTT.

Right now I'm getting by with an old lightweight Plantronics headphone/mic combo hung around my neck, but it's a little awkward.

[Megaweapon]

Yes, exactly like that.  Thanks!

[keyb_gr]

I checked again, and it seems the headset I thought had a hypercardioid pickup pattern in fact only has a cardioid one (it was the Beyerdynamic DT234Pro / MMX2). Guess the usual Sennheiser PC1xx ones with "unidirectional" mics are the same. (The more upscale models then come with a "noise-cancelling" mic - this might mean a super/hypercardioid pattern.) You definitely don't want an "omni".

Not sure whether anything with at least cardioid pickup pattern will cut it, super/hypercardioid would be better. It seems "noise cancelling microphones" aren't uncommon on somewhat better headsets.

Now as for mic-only setups, hmm. You can get pro lapel mics like the Beyerdynamic MCE 10 but I guess that'll be a little too pricey, as will setups geared towards performers on stage. (I think Kate Bush was the first to use a headset mic back in '79. They had to make one at the time, as it wasn't available as a finished product yet.) That'll need some more research.

[Ekaros]

I once had to used some throat mics, which were likely soviet-desing, worked good, but they picked voice from walkies very good when hold  somewhat near for some reason...