For those new to speech recognition software, particularly the user planning to dabble with this technology but not necessarily use it regularly or in association with his/her occupation, any of the inexpensive entry level microphones should be fine. The difference in accuracy between these "low end" mics and more expensive microphone is not huge and for the cost savings, these are very effective. And after all, should you decide to upgrade, you have not made a huge investment in that first microphone. Inexpensive microphones that we recommend and carry are shown below.
| Microphone | MSRP | Accuracy | Noise Cancellation | Durability | Warranty | Overall Rating |
| Andrea NC 181 | $24.95 |  |
 |
|
1-year | |
| Andrea NC-181 VM | $29.95 | |
|
|
1-year | |
| Andrea NC-181VM USB | $49.95 | |
|
|
1-year | |
| Buddy DM101 | $49.99 | |
|
|
2-year | |
| Buddy DS102 | $59.99 | |
|
|
2-year | |
Cyber Acoustics AC101 |
$14.99 | |
|
|
1-year | |
| Cyber Acoustics AC201 | $19.99 | |
|
|
1-year | |
Andrea NC 181 and 185 Series Microphones: This is a series of microphones released by Andrea to replace its prior NC series. The 181 series has a speaker for one ear and the 185 has a speaker for each ear. Each series comes in 3 versions.
For more information on the differences between the microphones in this series, please refer to the comparison table below:
|
This is a series solidly performing microphone series and in the years that they been around we have sold many thousands of these and virtually never get a return or call with a question. Do we consider this microphone series to be worthy of the "5 Dragons" that Nuance provides in their quality evaluation? Not really. Although the native accuracy of this microphone series is quite good, when it comes to noise cancellation (rejection of external noise) they fall short in our opinion. But they are cost-effective work-horse microphones.
The addition of the Andrea Pure Audio Adapter included with the 181VM-USB and 185VM-USB means that you will not be using your on-board sound card, but rather the included USB adapter. This provides a greater level of certainty that the microphone will be compatible with your PC and also offers the theoretical advantage of doing the analog to digital sound conversion in a more "electrically quite" environment (not inside the less "quiet" confines of your desktop or laptop). Again, this is a theoretical advantage.
Overall Rating:
Warranty: 1 Year
Learn more or order an Andrea Product
Andrea NC-181 |
Andrea NC-181 VM |
Andrea NC-181VM-USB |
 |
 |
 |
Andrea NC-185 |
Andrea NC-185VM |
Andrea NC-185VM-USB |
 |
 |
 |
Note: we no longer carry these Buddy headset mics, but only because the company (InsynSpeech) changed their distribution model which focuses on direct sales through Amazon and other sources. It no longer became cost effective for us to carry these mics. They are, nonetheless, good microphones.
Insync Speech Technologies makes a series of microphones under the name "Buddy" and these are all well-constructed and solidly performing microphones. Shown below are similar microphones that are both analog (3.5 mm connectors rather than USB) and which differ only in the presence of one versus two speakers. The Buddy HeadsetMic DM101 is a single-speaker headset and the DS102 is a stereo headset. Both feature a stainless steel headband and reinforced cables. 3.5mm audio connectors makes it ideal for pairing with the Buddy 7G USB sound adapter.
Features:
Include in the box:
Buddy DM101 |
Buddy DS102 |
 |
 |
Although we were reluctant to carry these microphones simply on the basis of their incredibly low cost and sense that "they couldn't possibly be good at that price", over the years we had enough customers tell us they had used these microphones and noted good performance that we had to try them out. Our thoughts? These are perfectly good microphones and for the cost, a great value. The only difference between the two models we carry is the presence of one versus two speakers. The microphone element and performance with speech recognition is identical.
Cyber Acoustics AC-101 |
Cyber Acoustics AC-201 |
 |
 |
Overall Rating:
Warranty: One year
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
