Computer-Music.com contains articles and product reviews related to making music using
computers and creating 3D computer animation in sync with music.
Computer-Music.com is also the home page of Donald S. Griffin, an
experienced professional composer, sound effects designer and audio consultant
with an emphasis on computer games, video games and internet music and
sound effects. For pricing and contract availability send email to: DGriffin
(@) Computer-Music (.) com
Yamaha MH200 Headset
The Yamaha MH200 consists of stereo closed ear headphones with a dynamic
microphone on a flexible boom. Street price is about $50.
The connectors are 1/8 inch stereo for the headphones and 1/8 inch mono
for the boom microphone. The padded top piece is adjustable and retains its adjustment
well. The dynamic microphone was better than expected considering the price. The ear
pieces are the type that fit against your ears rather than over around them so I didn't
find them as comfortable as I would have liked. My AKG K240 headphones (a very common
model) don't touch my ears at all. The closed design of the headphones strongly muffles
sound from the outside but is necessary to prevent their sound from reaching the nearby
microphone. I used these with IBM ViaVoice speech recognition software after having used a
few cheaper noise canceling single ear headsets and they worked very well probably because
the microphone is a higher quality and it is easier to precisely position the microphone
just out to the side of the mouth out of the air stream and away from the chin. Because of
the reasonable quality of the microphone and the fact that the boom can be positioned at a
consistent distance from the mouth this headset is a very good choice for voice annotation
or for internet telephony. Because of its reasonable quality, convenience and ability to
maintain a constant distance from the mouth I will probably be using the MH200 for any
voice annotation I record for this web site.
Headphones are never recommended for mixing music You should always use
speakers specifically designed for near field monitoring and an amplifier designed for the
same purpose. These products are designed to avoid the kind of sound coloration that is
actually designed into consumer stereo systems to try to make one system sound better than
another. Headphones also give a misleading impression of what a final mix will sound like.
Headphones are appropriate when you need to listen to one track while recording another
and you don't want the sound of the speakers reaching the microphone.
Headphones are not recommended for when you want to turn up the volume and
somebody nearby disagrees. Headphones focus acoustic energy into your ears in a way that
speakers do not so using headphones for any length of time at high volumes or for
prolonged periods at low volumes can cause prolonged or even permanent hearing damage.
Because of the 'against the ear' design these headphones would probably
not be comfortable enough for hours of continued use anyway. Other companies make
professional headsets that may be more comfortable and have a better microphone but they
also cost as much from five to ten times as much as the MH200. This makes the MH200 a
great value.
You can link to Yamaha's web site at http://www.yamaha.com
(more specific links will be added soon)
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