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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?

#271

Post by m463 »

hackernewds wrote: post #250
spamuel wrote: post #233

We had them in the military and we preferred the boom mics. Throat mics, the exact ones pictured, did not pick up low-talking or whispering, which is a large amount of pre-contact traffic. The new thing the DOD has spent an UNGODLY amount of time and money on is called TCAPS. They were even worse. They're noise-canceling earbuds with a bone-conducting microphone that sits inside of your ear. Sounds great - but when y…

Just wanted to say Hackernews is such a robust source of content and expertise. Perhaps almost as much as that-which-shall-not-be-named (reddit)

I block reddit and have this firefox bookmark:

javascript: (location.hostname="teddit.net")

it takes a reddit url and loads it on teddit

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

#272

Post by Brajeshwar »

happyopossum wrote: post #217
Brajeshwar wrote: post #70

I thought this was a satire. It looks like this is not. I like the fact that the author loves experimentation and tried this setup. I'm someone who still thinks Apple has not even solved the design of the AirPods/Pro. So, anything else that makes us like "Batman with a utility belt" is something I would find a more aesthetic alternative. For most of the video call needs, I have tried boom/condenser and XLR microphone…

> These days, I drive past busy social hangout areas or visit diners with the family; I see people wearing AirPods or AirPod-like knockoffs as an always-on ornamental addition even while not talking (on phone). Uhhh, you are aware that talking on the phone is a very moonier use case for most folks these days, right? We listen to music, podcasts, audiobooks, YouTube videos, etc - all on our headphones?

Not yet here in India. People love to just call and talk on phone. Sometimes, many of them get angry when I do not pick up phone calls or tell them to use other means instead of voice calls.

https://phone.wtf

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

#273

Post by dolmen »

yellow_lead wrote: post #181

Someone on hacker news recommended this mic before and it's much better than this sample (and sounds closer to podcast quality). https://www.amazon.com/V-MODA-BoomPro-Microphone-Gaming-Comm... I use it with ATH-M50x which can be modded to use it if you add a 3.5mm female to 2.5mm male adapter.

This product has been released in 2013. I hope that the market has improved since.

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

#275

Post by aidenn0 »

fire wrote: post #253
digitallyfree wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Marketing has pushed a lot of Youtubers towards LDCs like the Blue Yeti, which are great in a studio setting but pick up lots of background noise. For some reason everyone considers the SM7B as the way around that (despite being overkill and overpriced for their applications), which is a broadcast dynamic. Dynamics can handle fan noise and busy streets no problem. There are less expensive handheld dynamics which are…

> If those don't provide enough isolation there are ENG dynamics that are designed to handle interviews in the middle of loud protests and such. Do you have a link? "ENG dynamic microphone" doesn't bring anything useful up for me

ENG is "Electronic News Gathering" it's designed to only pickup sounds very close to the mic, as for news reporters who need to sound good in very noisy environments. It's probably overkill if you have a quiet interior room in your house, but if you don't, an omnidirectional ENG is a great option and you can get decent ones for under $200.

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

#277

Post by recursive »

hardwaresofton wrote: post #260
chrismorgan wrote: post #134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks for the sample. That sounds very bad. Not quite as bad as any samples I had found, and still reasonably understandable, which some lousy device microphones (especially laptops’) aren’t—it’s bad in a somewhat different way. But I would strongly dislike having to talk to you with that as your microphone, especially if you were in a context where you could have used almost any other microphone. If I knew that you…

Noted, thanks for the honest feedback, looks like the tech is just not ready for primetime. I don’t think it’s so bad but people definitely have strong (mostly negative) feelings towards this experiment! The reactions after adding the audio sample are also pretty negative… > No. Absolutely not. Any podcast using such a microphone will bomb hard. Well I wouldn’t go as far as to say it would tank a podcast — but I agre…

> I wouldn’t go as far as to say it would tank a podcast

I would. It seems like you have a rosier impression of how this sounds than anyone else who listens. It's not completely unintelligible, but it's worse than "not good" to me. It just sounds plain bad.

If I started listening to a podcast, and it sounded like this, I would just turn it off. Unless I was keenly interested in the subject material. Subpar audio recording is a peeve of mine, particular in a medium that's all about information via audio.

But thanks for publicizing this. It's good to know that it exists, and what it sounds like.

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

#279

Post by kamarg »

akira2501 wrote: post #216
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 liked his "I don’t remember exactly when the thought first snuck into my head," comment, because I know exactly when the thought snuck into my head. The very first time I watched the movie "Speed." I've wanted one ever since. Keanu Reeves made it look so "tacticool" it hurt.

Tears of the Sun for me. Bruce Willis and his unit made them seem absolutely badass.

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

#280

Post by antiterra »

remram wrote: post #66
antiterra wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It definitely reads as a personal project and not one claiming a superior solution (“People can hear me gulp”)

The TLDR says: > Throat mics are an improvement over a standalone wired microphone Seems like a claim to me!

I can accept a general claim that some throat mic has at least one advantage over an unnamed wired microphone.
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