microsoft's lx-3000 headset

[videovillageidiot]

has anyone used microsoft's lx-3000 headset? i've never used a headset before but found this on sale at best buy for 29.99 this week and have been wanting one for a few projects so i picked it up. haven't opened it yet because i wanted to see what y'all think about it.

it comes with software, but the bb guy said i could just use it without loading that...i think the software is for "windows live" - whatever that is. if i just need something for occasional voice-overs or a Skype session with a Muvipix expert (THANKS again Steve!!), is this headset a good choice?

thanks to all of you who know soooo much more than i do!

[Bobby]

It looks to be a standard USB headset and if so the software is built into Windows, even XP I believe.

I have two headsets and they are very handy to have in certain circumstances. I do use one for recording audio for my DVDs, and also for the occasional SKYPE chat when I don't want to have to worry about audio feedback.

As to the audio quality of the MS unit, hard to say - try to find some reviews on Google.

[Chuck Engels]

I had one of the inexpensive headsets and it worked fine. The audio quality was not great but it did ok. For the occasional narration or Skype conversation it will probably be fine. Best thing to do is try it out and see for your self. Hopefully if it isn't all that great you can return it for something else.

I don't have any USB headsets or microphones as Premiere Elements has been know to not work with some of them. There are other ways to record narration, like Audacity, so it isn't necessarily a problem.

Let us know how you like it. If it really works well then you can recommend it to others that may be looking for an inexpensive headset

[videovillageidiot]

well i finally tried it last night - using it only with the windows sound recorder. works ok with that. biggest problem is that, apparently, i'm a "'p' popper" so i probably need to adjust the position of the mike. no big deal.

Chuck - i didn't even realize i could do narration in elements4 - i really need to use this program more! anyway, i tried it and the program really isn't happy. sometimes it records but when i try to do anything with the properties of the wav file the program fails. is this the kind of problem you meant?

[Chuck Engels]

Usually if the microphone works then there aren't any other problems. The problem is that Premiere Elements doesn't recognize some USB microphones at all, that is the bigger problem.

What are you trying to do with the wav file properties?

I do know that the narration seemed to worked better in version 7. But still, I use a standard microphone that plugs into the mic jack on the sound card or the front of the computer. No problems at all that way with any software

[videovillageidiot]

i'll try it right now...in a project that i created a narration in...yeah right; now i can keyframe the volume - before sometimes if i tried that kind of stuff the program just stops. also sometimes, recording the narration gives me an error.

i'll keep using it and see if there is any consistency to the problems and report back to you!!

in the meantime...thanks to all of you!!!

[Bobby]

Just FYI, I stopped using the narration feature pretty quickly. I found it hard to align my voice where I wanted it without some nervousness on my part, and I didn't like the large WAV files it produced.

I ended up using the popular free audio program Audacity and reading from a prepared script - either in one big file or smaller ones. Then I bring the audio into PRE and cut and move the individual pieces where I want. The end result is much more, well accurate to me.

I know other people have used the same technique also.

[Chuck Engels]

I agree with Bobby, Audacity is great and really easy to use.
http://audacity.sourceforge.net/

[videovillageidiot]

thanks Bobby - since i hadn't realized the narration feature existed until now, i guess i won't miss it! i had tried using the windows sound recorder and just recording small chunks of the whole or chopping a large file into small chunks but hearing everyone talk about audacity made me decide to try it.

thanks Chuck for the link. i just installed it (after creating a restore point - see everyone, i am learning ) and i think the sound quality is better than when using windows sound recorder.

so far so good!!!

[John 'twosheds' McDonald]

I ended up using the popular free audio program Audacity and reading from a prepared script - either in one big file or smaller ones. Then I bring the audio into PRE and cut and move the individual pieces where I want. The end result is much more, well accurate to me.

I know other people have used the same technique also.

Exactly the way I do it too!

[Jayell]

I also use Audacity as Bobby and John mentioned. Much easier doing large chunks of narration, then cutting them up as needed. I tried PRE7 narration, but it always stopped after about 15-20 seconds. Audacity works great.