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Why don't more people use throat mics?

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

#161

Post by falcolas »

rr888 wrote: post #7

I'm open to this. I can't believe after 2 years of work from home zoom calls are so bad. Headsets really arent as good as they should be. I'm experimenting with regular shotgun mics but they aren't ideal either. How come if you sit in a room its easy to talk to someone but online people are muffled or too loud or just hard to understand.

> online people are muffled or too loud or just hard to understand

Crappy (i.e. cheap) microphones and wireless connections. I use a Sennheiser EPOS headset - wired USB connection and a microphone with a passive background noise rejection - and it's all but perfect. The quality is high, and it was under $100.

Non-headset mics, even shotgun mics, are going to be sensitive to background noise. That's just how they are. They have a lot of rejection around them, but it's not 0. Headset mics put the mic close enough to your mouth that rejecting other noise becomes a lot simpler.

Oh, and Google et.al. try too hard sometimes to "fix" audio that they'll screw a decent audio setup up by "fixing" the gain dynamically.

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

#162

Post by _8j50 »

nend wrote: post #54
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).

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.

You don't post on HN for just a pat on the back. Nothing wrong with people responding with respectful criticism even if they are wrong so long as they put some thought into it. People can feel a certain way and keep it to themselves or they can express their opinion and someone else can correct them or if they are correct others are corrected by them.

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

#163

Post by numpad0 »

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

Passive IEMs are better, ANC is always weaker and more selective. I was once using Etymotic IEM and frantically searched for the source of a loud wind noise that hit my ears upon removing the earphones, only to realize it's just an air conditioner on the ceiling. That don't happen with ANC headphones, partly due to technology and partly for product safety concerns.

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

#164

Post by kodah »

ARandumGuy wrote: post #31

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. And I'm sure that it's possible to make a throat mic that has great audio…

> 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.

I've only configured a handful of throat mics, but they actually are designed to be used when you're speaking at a whisper. That's one of the main features, you're not grabbing a handset and shouting into a directional microphone off your shoulder.

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

#165

Post by pinum »

Honestly, your sample doesn't sound very good. It's a bit better than the other samples that have been linked in this thread, and you're perfectly audible, but it's very muffled and there are noises that sound like the throat-mic equivalent of cable noise. If I head this on a call I'd assume you were using a particularly bad laptop mic or gaming headset.

Not bad enough that I'd comment on it, but if I knew you'd gone to the trouble of a custom setup with elaborate extra adapters etc, I'd expect it to sound excellent (like a podcast mic or similar).

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

#166

Post by noctrine »

hardwaresofton wrote: post #99
mindvirus wrote: post #20

Love it. Throat mics and subvocalization are a place that I think would really change how we use devices. Genuinely surprised there's not more investment in this area. Imagine being able to use an audio interface without speaking, just by subvocalizing. It'd be like magic, you could basically think something and get the answer.

> Love it. Throat mics and subvocalization are a place that I think would really change how we use devices. Genuinely surprised there's not more investment in this area. I'm more and more seriously hoping someone who is of the right bent will see this on HN and go make a better one... > Imagine being able to use an audio interface without speaking, just by subvocalizing. It'd be like magic, you could basically think…

There was a subvocalization mic project out of MIT back in 2018.

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

#167

Post by koofdoof »

Interesting piece, I am curious about how well the throat mic picks up whispered speech. I recall a gaming oriented throat microphone being sold once under the premise that it would let you communicate without disturbing other people late at night.

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

#168

Post by rkangel »

hardwaresofton wrote: post #56
ARandumGuy wrote: post #31

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. And I'm sure that it's possible to make a throat mic that has great audio…

> 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 thought would come from it being viable in a "loud, high intensity situation".

The reason they're used is because they're particularly good at rejecting background noise - so that you can hear someone over the sound of nearby gunfire. Throat mics are obviously right at the source of audio vibrations and aren't picking up vibrations from the air (at least not on purpose) so they have high ratio between signal (voice) and noise (unwanted background).

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

#169

Post by jaywalk »

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

They are definitely better. ANC can't beat physically blocking the soundwaves from hitting your eardrums.

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

#170

Post by beanjuice »

shrimp_emoji wrote: post #152
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).

Fair comment, but > a self-generated problem (using Arch) I would argue this is a good solution to the problem of using Windows or Mac. ;)

That part of my comment was just having some fun along with the author who was also tongue-in-cheek about mentioning Arch. Having spent too much of my life troubleshooting Windows bluetooth issues, I suspect most are in agreement with the author here.
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