Although all of the wireless microphones are high-performing and are discussed in the section above on microphones for the advanced user, we separately review them here to provide further comparative information for those contemplating purchase of a wireless microphone.
Price |
Performance |
Comfort |
Stability |
Talk Time |
Range |
Warranty |
||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Accuracy |
Noise Cancellation |
|||||||
Sennheiser DW Pro-1 | $379 | 12 hr |
180 m |
2-years | ||||
Sennheiser DW Pro-2 | NA | 12 hr |
180 m |
2-years | ||||
Sennhseisr SD Pro-1 | $349.95 | 12 hr |
180 m |
|||||
Sennheiser SD Pro-2 | $369.95 | 12 hr |
180 m |
|||||
Andrea WNC-1500 | $99.95 | 8 hr |
30 ft |
1-year | ||||
VXI Xpress | 2-years | |||||||
VXI Voxstar | ||||||||
Samson Airline Micro | 10 hr |
2-years | ||||||
Samson Airline Micro Camera | $299.99 | No mic |
No mic |
NA |
NA |
|||
Samson Airline 77 | 14 hr |
2-years | ||||||
Plantronics CS50-USB | 8 hr |
200 ft |
1-year | |||||
Plantronics CS530 | 350 ft. |
|||||||
Revolabs Xtag | 8 hr |
60 ft |
90-days |
Comfort: This parameter is obviously extremely subjective and variable from user to user. In general we weight headsets with typical over-the-head mounting arrangements a bit higher than ear mounting (BW900) given that most users are accustomed to the feel of a typical over-the-head arrangement.
Stability: This refers to the tendency of this microphone to remain in place in reference to the user's mouth during movement of head and potentially when assuming a supine (laying on back) position
Price: Prices represent current prices for the microphone, with basic additional hardware if required (both the Plantronics CS55 and Sennheiser BW900 require the GN Netcom rocker switch in order to work with a PC and prices include this). With the exception of the VXI and Revolabs mics, all of these microphones work best when used with an external USB sound adapter. The cost of this is not included in the prices listed above.
*The VXI Xpressway does not come with a base station and must be used with a Bluetooth equipped device or pc.
This is the newest wireless offerring from Sennheiser and is the evolution of the previous DW Pro- series but with a different outer form. Functionally this system provides the same excellent results, whether using it with your computer with speech recognition, or with your corded phone.
Features:
Sennheiser SD Pro-1 | Sennheiser SD Pro-2 | |||
MSRP $349.95 Learn more |
MSRP $369.95 Learn more |
It's been a long time since we've been as impressed with a product. Until now we have considered the Sennheiser BW900 the best wireless microphone for use with Dragon. While we loved the convenience of the Sennheiser DW Office, which allowed seamless movement from the phone to PC, we never felt the speech recognition accuracy nor external noise rejection was quite at the level of the BW 900. Now things have changed.
For any user wishing to go wireless, either for VoIP or speech recognition, and especially for the user wishing to use the same set-up for wired telephone use, this is the perfect product. This DW Pro has all the features of the DW Office and betters the quality of the BW900. It is, in our opinion, an amazing product.
Features:
Included in the box:
Links:
Sennheiser DW Pro-1 | Sennheiser DW Pro-2 | |||
MSRP: $379 Learn more |
MSRP: Current out of Production and not in stock |
The dream of a high quality and comfortable wireless headset microphone for Dragon users has finally come true. This recent offering by Andrea Electronics, a pioneer in the manufacture of products for speech recognition users, will be welcome news to the serious user needing to be untethered and hands-free while dictating.
From Andrea: “Andrea Electronics has combined the benefits of a Wireless headset with our PureAudio USB digital audio which includes Andrea’s complete PureAudio™ Voice Solutions software Suite (including Audio Commander, Voice Center and Pure Audio Technology). The WNC-1500 wireless noise canceling computer headset delivers a high fidelity audio enhancement, noise reduction and EQ with an excellent 5 Dragon voice recognition rating awarded by Nuance.
Andrea’s Pure Audio Wireless USB Soundcard solution bypasses your desktop or laptop computer’s integrated sound system, providing increased intelligibility and performance of microphone input and stereo speaker output for all of your digital audio applications including VoIP and speech recognition programs on your Mac or PC.”
Features:
Links:
Specification Sheet from Andrea
Included in the box:
Comments: We consider this an excellent product for the Dragon or Windows Speech Recognition user needing to go wireless. The microphone is not particularly hot, so we recommend placing the mic element between ¼ and ½ inch from your mouth. In terms of functionality this product is similar to the Logitech H600 although the dongle full sized, rather the “nano” dongle that comes with the Logitech mic. It is built and packaged in a more quality manner than the H600, although is a bit more expensive. If you don’t mind the extra $30 bucks, we recommend this mic, but if you go with the Logitech mic you will also be getting a well functioning wireless headset microphone.
MSRP: $99.95
The VXI BlueParrott Xpress is the latest product from the company that has been on the forefront of speech recognition micropones for more than a decade. If you need the best quality and don't need to connect to your wired telephone, this is the product we recommend.
Features:
Included Items:
More Details:
VXI BlueParrot Xpress Microphone
MSRP: $99
Coming soon ...
This is a relatively new addition to the Jabra line-up and is the first offering by Jabra that we consider to be serious competition for our favorite wireless microphones made by Sennheiser. Unique to this set-up is:
Features:
Additional Information and Links:
Comments: No system is perfect and this system has its minor issues, but we feel that this is the best "all-in-one" system for the busy professional that wants a single system for use with the telephone, computer, and cell phone. We consider this somewhat similar to the Sennheiser DW Office, but with notably better external noise rejection. In fact, what we most love about this system is the extremely high quality performance with Dragon NaturallySpeaking. Be aware that the Bluetooth interface with your cellphone involves pairing your phone with the base station and not the actual headset. Although we love the look of the color touch screen, in some respects we also appreciate the simplicity of simple button pushes and the touch screen can actually be a bit distracting. Wonderful about this system is the way that instructions provided through the touchscreen walk you through the set-up with your pc, wired telephone and cell phone. Any way you look at it, though, we think this system provides superb performance and we highly recommend it. It has replaced the Sennheiser DW Office on our own desk.
If you need a headset lifter, consider purchasing the GN 1000 lifter shown below.
Overall Rating:
Warranty: 1 year
Price: $399
This unique device is revolutionizing the way we use microphones. It is a wireless microphone which communicates with a small base station which connects with and draws it's power from your PC or Mac computer using an available USB port. The microphone itself measures only 2.5 inches x 0.9 inch and weighs only 0.05 lb (less than one once). It has a range of 20 meters, and uses a rechargeable lithium polymer battery with an 8 hour talk time. The big advantage of this microphone is extreme comfort - you will forget you are wearing it - and a surprising high level of accuracy. The only disadvantage (other than price!) is the relative lack of noise cancellation resulting from its positioning relatively distant from your mouth. This is an outstanding microphone to use in a quiet environment but will provide disappointing results in settings with anything other than mild background noise.
Overall rating:
Warranty: 90 days
Price: $224
We continue to test this unit, but our preliminary impressions are very favorable. It is amazingly small and lightweight and yet attaches so securely that use by a fitness instructor is entirely feasible. On the other hand it seems to have the accuracy to allow practical use with speech recognition software. We have not yet formally evaluated the external noise rejection qualities of this microphone, but in preliminary testing it seems to do fine and was minimally affected by our babbling 8-year old son, a fairly loud air conditioner and other household noises. The external noise rejection is clearly well above average.
We recommend using this device with a monaural USB adapter such as the Andrea USB adapter since it does not have sound out capabilities. This product is packaged for use with professional sound equipment and not a personal computer. The audio output cord has a 1/4 inch plug. We recommend that you purchase a double male stereo 1/8 inch cord if you plan to use this with a pc. We list both the USB adapter and 1/8 inch double male cord below.
Overall Rating:
MSRP: $359.99
Price: $ $249.99
Samson Airline Micro - Camera Edition
If you don't depend upon headset speakers and want to convert any microphone into a convenient wireless microphone, this is the perfect solution. Although made for use with a video camera and bundled with a simple lavalier microphone, there is nothing about this unit that prevents it from being the ideal means of making your favorite speech recognition microphone a wireless microphone. The transmitter features a standard 3.5 mm (1/8 inch) jack which will accomodate any wired microphone with a 3.5 mm microphone plug. Although the transmitter is equipped with a removeable belt clip, it is so small that it can easily fit in a breast or coat pocket (the transmitter weighs just 1.5 oz and is 1/2 inch thick). Unique to this system is the ability to choose one of two transmitter output strengths and the ability to export the signal from the receiver at either mic- or line-level.
AirLine Micro Camera Wireless System
AL2 Transmitter
AR2 Receiver
Price: $299.99
This is a unique and highly accurate wireless microphone that provides the best accuracy in the wireless category. It does not include speakers and the transmitter sits on the back of the microphone, essentially near the base of your skull. This includes a good sized transmitter which, in turn, is connected to your PC with a supplied cable. The advantage of this microphone is the freedom from wires and the high accuracy. The disadvantages include 1) It requires daily replacement (or recharging) of the AAA battery in the head-worn transmitter and 2) it is a bit rigid and not the most comfortable microphone we have tried.
This system comes in two version:
Overall rating:
Warranty: 2 years
Cost (with needed cable for PC):
Vocal Version: $299.99
Fitness Version: $349.99
This is a comfortable, ear-mounted, wireless microphone which communicates with a base unit which, in turn, is attached to your computer via an available USB port. Although we were skeptical that this microphone would perform so well, it is truly outstanding in both noise cancellation and overall accuracy. The main advantage of this microphone over its rival, the Sennheiser ME3, is the freedom of the wireless connection. It has a 200 ft range and the battery lasts a full 8 hours. The disadvantage, if any, is that it attaches to the ear and based on your ear shape, it may or may not be comfortable. It includes a variety of different ear-pieces and the option of using it as a typical over-the-head headset microphone (follow some of the links below to see options). The battery in the mic unit charges when in the base unit which in turn receives it power either via the USB connection or the supplied AC adapter. Overall, we find this to be an extremely good, albeit pricey, microphone.
Overall rating:
Warranty: 1-year
Cost: $239.95
This is the latest addition to our line of Plantronics wireless microphones and the replacement for our old favorite, the CS70N. This wireless product uses DECT frequency, and features an ear mounted headset that weighs only 29 gm, so it is ideal for all day use. With optional connecting devices, this microphone can interface directly with your personal computer and performs extremely well with speech recognition software.
Features:
More Information:
Plantronics CS530
MSRP: $329
Our Price: $224