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Why don't more people use throat mics?

vadosware.io

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Re: Why don't more people use throat mics?

#141

Post by hardwaresofton »

HideousKojima wrote: post #83
beanjuice wrote: post #3

One of the most Hacker News articles ever written. A bad solution (wearing a choker) to a self-generated problem (using Arch) that costs a lot of money. In summary: this generates more problems than it solves (unless you're a navy seal).

Eh, I've actually been thinking of getting some for my wife and I for cycling, would make hearing each other over the wind and road noise a lot easier.

Hey so one thing that my SO mentioned was never wanting to wear one despite being an avid cycling because of the danger of them being caught on something!

If you can find some that are wireless and are crescent (so not fully closed) maybe that would be safer!

Re: Why don't more people use throat mics?

#142

Post by hardwaresofton »

failrate wrote: post #137
hardwaresofton wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I'm curious as to why the author even thought that a throat mic would have good audio quality. Throat mics are designed for loud, high intensity situations. For the use case of a throat mic, "good audio quality" means the receiver can actually understand what you're saying, something that is pretty easy to achieve in a home office environment. The good audio quality I thought would come from it being viable in a "l…

I enjoyed your article. I think it is very in the spirit of hacking and science that you asked a question and then meticulously chopped away at it until you had a solution-shaped object. I have also been fascinated by throat-mics from e.g. cyberpunk novels. Have you also thought about bone conduction to replace headphones? That would be very cyberpunk :)

I have not, and now I have a new thing to look into, already firing up the browser tabs.

Thanks! :)

Re: Why don't more people use throat mics?

#143

Post by turbinerneiter »

mortenjorck wrote: post #116
nend wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One of the most Hacker News comments every written. A dismissive comment about a diy home project because you'd rather be critical of someone else than build something yourself.

I think this is a reaction to the tone set by the headline, which seems to ask "why don't people use this far more cumbersome alternative?" That said, the assessment of pros and cons in the article is less stereotypically oblivious and more nuanced than the above would suggest.

The tl;dr right at the beginning of the article states that these mics don't make a lot of sense.

People only read the headline and get triggered, not even the tl;dr can reach these humans anymore.

Re: Why don't more people use throat mics?

#144

Post by falcolas »

roelschroeven wrote: post #69
tristor wrote: post #6

I have a pretty serious audio setup for WFH. I assessed throat mics and bone conduction headphones and IEMs, I then ultimately decided against these options and instead went for a front-address microphone on a boom and open circumaural headphones. In my testing, all of these technologies intended for stealth (primarily) were uncomfortable for long periods of wear/use, and traditional options were massively more comfo…

For what it's worth I have bone conduction headphones (Aftershokz Aeropex) and I find them very comfortable to wear for long periods (a few hours at a time; I have never used them for a full day), more so than other types of headphones. They don't cover my ears at all, so obviously they are only good in situations where I don't want to block out sounds from the environment. I tend to use them on a low volume, partly…

I've used these, and have two comments. High-ish volumes and high-ish bass result in bouncing on your head. And the microphones absolutely suck.

Re: Why don't more people use throat mics?

#145

Post by hardwaresofton »

drath wrote: post #75
hardwaresofton wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I'm curious as to why the author even thought that a throat mic would have good audio quality. Throat mics are designed for loud, high intensity situations. For the use case of a throat mic, "good audio quality" means the receiver can actually understand what you're saying, something that is pretty easy to achieve in a home office environment. The good audio quality I thought would come from it being viable in a "l…

Could you provide samples? Maybe it works for you in particular, but all the throat mic tests I've seen on youtube have absolutely abysmal sound quality.

Hey the article has been updated with an example! Direct link below

https://vadosware.io/audio/hn-throat-mic-test.ogg

(also .mp3 and .mp4 are there, praise be to ffmpeg)

Re: Why don't more people use throat mics?

#146

Post by falcolas »

eropple wrote: post #33
tristor wrote: post #6

I have a pretty serious audio setup for WFH. I assessed throat mics and bone conduction headphones and IEMs, I then ultimately decided against these options and instead went for a front-address microphone on a boom and open circumaural headphones. In my testing, all of these technologies intended for stealth (primarily) were uncomfortable for long periods of wear/use, and traditional options were massively more comfo…

I tend to agree with you in the main - I use MDR-7506's and a sE Dynacaster as my normal setup - but you absolutely can get comfortable IEMs. But they really aren't cheap. If I need to do something that looks "cans free" at my desk I keep a set of Shure SE215s, which aren't super comfortable but they're tolerable for an hour or two. To me, reasonably affordable throat mics sound terrible, which is a big factor.

Comply foam tips make all IEMs all-day wearable in my experience. It's surprising how much of a difference in comfort they can make.

Re: Why don't more people use throat mics?

#147

Post by omnicognate »

sgtnoodle wrote: post #121
devonallie wrote: post #55

Messing with Bluetooth and Arch? Are you trying to hurt yourself? I also use Arch btw.

One you follow the fourteen step instructions, it's as reliable as any non-Android Linux Bluetooth stack. I've been using Arch at home for half a decade now, and it's been absolutely boring in a good way. I had a glitch plaguing me for a week on my work laptop. The left mouse click would get stuck. It turns out a Bluetooth mouse was powered on in my backpack! At least Ubuntu was reliably connecting with it...

I have a 7 year old laptop running the same installation of Arch I put on it when I first bought it. Bang up to date and solid as a rock.

Re: Why don't more people use throat mics?

#148

Post by falcolas »

csee wrote: post #117
jaywalk wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've worn Shure SE215s for 4+ hours at a time countless times for professional broadcasts. I found them to be very comfortable, and actually do use them at home for conferencing. It's definitely a personal preference thing, although I'm sure the more expensive ones are even more comfortable.

How do these IEMs with their passive seal compare to active noise cancelling headphones for the purposes of unwanted noise attenuation

Better, in my experience. They can get around 25-30db reduction across the spectrum, and they don't let voices (i.e. non-repetitive noises) through like ANC can.

Re: Why don't more people use throat mics?

#149

Post by conductr »

mortenjorck wrote: post #116
nend wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One of the most Hacker News comments every written. A dismissive comment about a diy home project because you'd rather be critical of someone else than build something yourself.

I think this is a reaction to the tone set by the headline, which seems to ask "why don't people use this far more cumbersome alternative?" That said, the assessment of pros and cons in the article is less stereotypically oblivious and more nuanced than the above would suggest.

The headline is meant to be a joke or /s and of course "the internet" reads everything as literal, this happens more broadly than HN

Re: Why don't more people use throat mics?

#150

Post by hardwaresofton »

jgrahamc wrote: post #107
hardwaresofton wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But what if it had bluetooth though? There's a kickstarter in here, I know it! I just need someone on HN that is crazy about hardware to see this post.

You want to make it even worse?

Well it'd be an improvement for me since the other things are not such deal breakers.

Forget v1, I'm more excited for v5 though -- would love to see people push the boundaries on throat mics.

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