Logitech USB Desktop Microphone (Black/Silver)
by Logitech
|
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 |
|---|
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: Far above what I would have expected for the price
Summary: 5 Stars
This microphone turned out to be a very good purchase. My uses for it are for gaming and voice dictation. What I like about it is that it's sensitivity can be very wide. When gaming, I can speak into the microphone without having too much sound from my speakers being caught up, yet I can set it so that it can pick up voice commands while I'm on the other side of a 20' room. I made good use of that the other night when I was trying to hook up some speakers (which I didn't mark which cables went to which speaker) so I told the computer to click on the test button (Vista voice command) to run the test so I could get the right speakers in the right places. Plus the comfort of not having to use a headset when gaming is great.
The unit is also surprisingly stable. The base is weighted enough to keep the cord for turning or pulling the base stand around. It also has a rubber surface on the bottom to help prevent it from being slid around. The angle of the microphone is adjustable easily enough and so far hasn't loosened any. The microphone can be angled down to the point where it is flat and picks up from in front of it, as if it was sitting on top of something above you, like the top of a shelf or monitor. The mute button is handy, though I haven't made much use of it since the majority of the applications I use have built in mutes or require a button toggle to begin voice.
I have used other microhpones. I was previously using a Plantronics GAMECOM 1 PC HEADSET ( 67003-01 ), and it works great, but when sitting at home, I prefer the comfort of not having something on my head (also makes eating a lot easier without having a microphone in the way.
Customer Review: Great for common use, but has a tragic fail
Summary: 3 Stars
I've been having this mic for about 6 months, expecting goodness out of it, but holy lolly, this thing failed my expectation of every aspects. Lemme put it together in cons and pros
PROS:
+ Very comfy design, comes with a built in base stand for easy recording and talking.
+ Have a on-off button with a led light, which looks very cool.
+ Can transmit sound from 2 holes, one in the tip, and one on the shaft side :) no corrupted imagination here, people. And the one on the sides look very classy, like those old school mics from the 50s.
+ Easy USB installation.
CONS (PLZ READ THIS PART CUZ THEY'RE MAJOR, MAJOR CON) :
- Bad sound transmitting quality, creating so many statics when used with audio recording softwares. that was just my personal opinion, but seriously guys, if you really need to record your favorite song, buy an ordinary mic with a transferring jack.
- Bad compability with online chatting programs, especially SKYPE. Seriously, Logitech clearly said that it's best to go with SKYPE, but the sounds drop off very often when I tried to talk with my friends online, and they could barely hear what I said. >:(
- The "shaft" will gradually comes loose and the mic droop off often.
- Create some extra minor, but obnoxious confusion. It's the "cool" on-off button I mentioned. The button is pushed down when the mics off, and pops up when it's on. This , maybe hard to explained, but i dare you guys, buy one and try it out.
To conclude my experience with this mic, I wouldn't recommend this mic to anyone. plz don't buy this thing, you wasted [...] bucks, not really much, but it's $[...] people, you can spend on more better things than this.
Customer Review: It's okay and about what I expected
Summary: 3 Stars
I was mainly curious about a mike one could plug into a computer via a USB port and start recording audio right away. You can certainly do that with this mike. In terms of fidelity and sound quality, let's just say you still get what you pay for but for most people, I'm sure the audio result will be fine.
Not to place myself on some lofty pedestal, but I am a part time voiceover talent having spent (Maybe a better word would be 'squandered'?) many years in my youth as an on-air radio DJ, newsman, and production talent. For me, the mike fails to filter out the harsh highs and tends to break up if the voice levels go much above medium range talking. A quick remedy: Get an old cotton sock, wrap it around the business end of the mike and secure with a large rubber band. Most of the problem described above will be corrected.
I suppose my 3 star rating is not as accurate in my appraisal as I'm unfairly comparing it to far superior and more costly professional microphones that can be mated with audio production mixers, so bear that in mind as you note my score. In other words, from a VALUE alone, or convenience perspective, it would rate another star but I'm reviewing it from all sides including the actual quality of the audio it provides. Fair or unfair in this instance? I'll leave that for you to determine.
I use the mike mainly for fun stuff like talking on a Skype connection or trying out new audio music production beds just to get a feel for how well my voice meshes with the music as audio quality is not a concern at this stage. Overall, the mike performs fairly well and for reasons already stated, I'd rather have it in my microphone stable than not.
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.
[...]
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.