Sennheiser ME 3-EW headset EW microphone

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• Model# ME3-EW

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I have tested several microphones on several computers for Dragon NaturallySpeaking software, and one thing is very clear: to improve the accuracy of Dragon, you need to invest in a high-quality microphone. I am using the Sennheiser me3 (which I bought on Amazon), and the results are outstanding. I believe that it is not the sensitivity of the microphone, but its capability to cancel noise that determines the quality and the accuracy of your speech recognition. Clearly, not all microphones are smart enough to understand what "noise" is and what "speech."

I am using the Sennheiser me3 at work in a loud office with many staff members walking in, with printers calibrating all the time and an air conditioning unit running constantly. With all this noise, it works perfectly.

If you want to invest in a high-quality microphone and significantly improve the accuracy of Dragon NaturallySpeaking, consider the Sennheiser. Before you do so, please note the following:

The ones I bought on Amazon were not "modified." The modification has nothing to do with the electronics or the accuracy of the microphone. It only has to do with the plug at the end of the cord. All you need to do is buy a little adapter for the nonstandard 3.5 mm plug of the microphone that comes with a locking ring.

I could not find this little plug adapter on Amazon: you need to search the Internet for these. You will find them by searching the Internet for "Sennheiser ME3 Plug Adapter". It would be great if Amazon sells these plug adapters as well.

The standard plug that comes with this microphone is different from the standard 3.5 mm plug. Because of the locking ring of the Sennheiser microphone, it does not fully go into the audio port of your computer. But perhaps more importantly, you should use this microphone with a USB adapter.

I do recommend the Andrea USB adapter that is available on Amazon AND-C1-1016600-4 ANDREA USB ADAPTER. I tried the microphone without the USB adapter and plugged the microphone directly into the soundcard of my laptop ASUS G73SW-A1 Republic of Gamers 17.3-Inch Gaming Laptop (Black) together with the plug adapter to make it a standard 3.5 mm plug. Although this is a very good laptop with a great sound card, the results were significantly better when I used the USB adapter.

The microphone comes with a strap which you can adjust. I'm using mine without problems. Please also note that you can use the microphone only on the right side of your mouth.

You do not wear the microphone on top of you head but behind your head.

If you are in the market for an excellent microphone and you want superior speech recognition with Dragon NaturallySpeaking (especially when you work in a noisy environment and it seems most of us actually do), the investment in this microphone with the plug adapter and the USB adapter is worth every penny.

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I've been trying Microsoft's built in Windows Speech Recognition (WSR Vista and Windows 7 only) to see if I could somehow play poker and chess, hands free, while running on a treadmill. After trying a bunch of microphones, this is the first one that practically eliminates the noise of the treadmill and other background noises from being passed to WSR. The others I tested would cause WSR to interpret voice commands from background noise, even when I wasn't speaking into the microphone.

With this headset I did not have to repeat a command once while playing several poker tournaments, and no superfluous commands were generated from background noise. WSR recognized every command I issued perfectly. For Poker these were commands like "check", "raise", "quit", "push". I used WSR macros to tie these voice commands to keyboard sequences on the computer. For example CTRL F is fold, and by speaking the word "fold" that keyboard sequence would be initiated on the active window. I'm able to play multiple games simultaneously without ever touching the keyboard now. Who'd have thought, play poker and exercise at the same time!!

One caveat though. The connector on these headphones, that plugs into the pc microphone port, has a metal ring around it that prevents it from fully engaging with the PC. You will have to buy or make an adapter to get these to work on a PC. If you do an internet search with something like "Sennheiser ME3 voice recognition", you'll find at least one site that sells this inexpensive adapter. Thus 4 stars, the PC adapter should be included with the headset or at least be an option.

One other point, in order to use WSR to control applications that are not already part of the WSR package, you'll need to download a free update from Microsoft that allows User defined voice commands to be added. A search for "WSR speech macros" should lead you to the appropriate download link for that.

I use this product: SurfShelf Treadmill Desk and Laptop Holder to allow my laptop to be attached to the treadmill.

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I am dictating this review using my Sennheiser ME-3 and Dragon NaturallySpeaking Medical 10.1. I previously used the Andrea NC-181 headset which came with Dragon. The NC-181 is highly rated by Nuance and gave me good results in perfectly quiet conditions but left something to be desired in other conditions. I frequently dictate with my young children playing (screaming) nearby, and their noises were constantly picked up by the Andrea headset.

The Sennheiser headset is extremely accurate, an improvement even under perfectly quiet conditions, and absolutely game-changing under noisy conditions. It near completely blocks out external noises, and my dictations are far less frustrating as a result.

I purchased the Sennheiser ME-3 headset from Emicrophones.com, who sell the headset with the proper connector and USB pod so that it will work great "out of the box", in contrast to the item being sold here. I have no relation to Emicrophones other than being a satisfied repeat customer.

Amin Sabet, M.D.

Boston, Massachusetts

February 9, 2012 update: My opinion of the ME-3 has not changed. It is superb. However, I found another headset which has similar performance to the ME-3 but better comfort (for me), and that is the Audio Technica PRO8HEX. The PRO8HEX build quality is not up to the Sennheiser standard, but overall the former suits me better because it is more comfortable, doesn't interfere with my glasses, can be worn on either side, and has a boom that can swing out of the way when I talk on the phone or eat/drink. The PRO8HEX has an XLR termination, but there is another version, the PRO8HEmW, which differs only in that it has a 3.5mm termination. Most people who want this mic for speech recognition will want to choose the PRO8HEmW unless you are going through a mixer.

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I bought the Sennheiser wireless base unit and the mic it came with was all over the side of my head, it moved constantly.

It was the kind that fit over only one ear, it is flesh colored and looked good, but, as I preach and teach, it moved.

This mic is solid, a little cumbersome at first, but after our first concert (playing congas and doumbek) and teaching afterwards, I love it.

It stays put and works well, very solid.

Pastor Brian Howard

New Water Fellowship

Sumner, Wa. 98390

I recently purchased the Sennheiser ME 3-EW headset EW microphone to use as a voice-recognition microphone with Dragon Dictate for Mac. In fact I'm using it right now, and it's working quite well. Although I'm very happy with my purchase there are a few things you should know before purchasing this microphone. After doing some reading it sounded like the best way to hook up this microphone to my Mac was with a USB connection. I purchased the AND-C1-1016600-4 ANDREA USB ADAPTER along with the microphone to hook it up to my iMac. The problem is that I never read in any other review is the Sennheiser ME 3-EW does not make a good connection to the ND-C1-1016600-4 ANDREA USB ADAPTER. The microphones connection is a little recessed so it does not fit flush against the adapter. The problem was easily fixed with a 1/8 inch (3.5 mm) stereo male to 1/8 inch (3.5 mm) stereo female adapter from RadioShack. Total cost $5. Not the end of the world and like I said, the setup works really well with the additional adapter I brought from RadioShack. Obviously, you can buy the adapter from anywhere you like; I even saw a few on Amazon. But without the adapter the microphone is hit or miss and when it comes to voice recognition you want as much accuracy as possible.