# Using a gaming mic with your HT system



## Bob in St. Louis

Hey all, I have a question for you regarding PS4 gaming and the microphone you use....

I'm an avid gamer and love co-operative online games. The problem I have, is that the "open" mics I've used in the past not only pick up my voice, but the sounds from my speakers too. I've tried using a wired "throat mic" (tactical military mic) into the PS4 controller but the console see's it as a speaker instead of a mic. 

Is it possible to game in your HT room, using your HT equipment and speakers, and not have your teammates hear the "echo" of the game due to the speakers? I'm not interested in headphones.

I've struggled with not being able to communicate my team since the days of CoD4, and MW2, and up to current games like GT5, BF3, BF4, and now presently the game "Destiny", on both consoles, PS3 and PS4.
I'm not worried about a solution for the PS3 anymore, just the PS4.

Any help would be GREATLY appreciated!
Bob


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## gazoink

I'm not a gamer, but I'm an old audio guy who used to sell voice recognition software...back when it was a $1000 product. We had similar problems, the mic wanted to pick up ambient noise and cause recognition failures. 

The solution was to use a noise cancelling headset microphone. Noice cancelling mics work using two principles, the first of which has nothing to do with cancellation. You just get the mic as close as possible to the talker's mouth. The optimum position was 1" from the corner of the mouth, not in front because there was too much breath noise pickup. The second principle was actual noise cancellation. It works by using two tiny mic elements, or one bipolar element. Both elements are connected such that sound that arrives at both is electrically cancelled, or in the case of the bipolar version, acoustically cancelled. The voice, however, is stronger at one element or direction, so it is not cancelled (as much), and dominates the signal. 

One of the mics we used was the Shure SM10A, which is actually just a cardioid dynamic very close to the mouth. It wasn't bad. Then I discovered the Andrea microphones, they were better, but then the software I was selling prices to $100, the manufacturer sold via Best Buy, and I was out of that business in a week. 

Andrea still makes an inexpensive noise cancelling headset mic without earphones.  You could wear it, get the advantage of a close noise cancelling mic, but not have your ears covered. 

I have no idea about how compatible it would be to the PS3 or PS4, that's going to be your problem to figure out! I didn't bother to figure out if the connections are compatible as they stand, or if you need to rewire/adapt.


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## natelivliv

From the Soundblaster software you should be able to set your sound to ''Surround 5.1/7.1'' instead of ''Stereo'' which it is likely on. However I would stay on stereo, because the audio quality feels much better. However it will make you hear directions better.



text repeater app


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