The Andrea 1212 Pro Gamer headphones.
Voice recognition and voice-recognition software is something that has interested me for some time. I also tend to play a number of computer games, often playing them late into the night. As is often the case with most modern games sound plays an important part, and having my computer speakers turned up often tends to impact on other people's sleep. So I was quite interested when given the opportunity to review the Andrea NC-1212 Pro Gamer headphones. The Andrea NC-1212 stereo headphones also include a noise-cancelling microphone. The stereo headphones provide good playback for games, music and movies, while the noise-cancelling microphone is very useful for voice recognition applications, which is now available in some games.
Our review headphones were kindly supplied by VoiceRecognition.com.au, who have the Andrea Pro Gamer's listed at $119. Agg edit: On the last page of this review, we have details of a better deal for OCAU Forum members. Obviously at this price they are not aimed at audiophiles who would happily spend hundreds of dollars on audio equipment. Also, I am no audiophile myself, so this review will concentrate on game, music and voice recognition applications rather than technical specifications, which I am sure you can find elsewhere, including this PDF.
My test system consisted of an AMD Athlon 1.33Ghz, 512Mb Corsair RAM, running on an ASUS A7V133 with a Sound Blaster Live! Value soundcard, Optus@Home cable was also useful for online-games. Full details of my system are available here in the Overclockers Australia PC Database. I was also provided with an evaluation copy of Dragon Preferred V6 which was used for voice-recognition, WinAmp was used to play both MP3's and music CDs, and various games were also tested.
As you can see in the picture above the ear peice shells are made from silver plastic with padded surrounds and foam inserts, the microphone is mounted on a flexible extension and a self-adjusting headband keeps everything in place. The headphones and microphone are connected via 3.5mm computer plugs, which can plug directly into the back of a soundcard. The flexible microphone mount easily pivots out of the way when it was not being used, which was very useful for using the Andrea Pro Gamer's as a simple set of headphones. The headphone cable is a generous 2.4m in length, so you don't have to sit right next to your PC in order to use them.
My current speakers - Boston Acoustic BA7500G's - have no ports to plug headphones or microphone jacks into, so I needed to plug the headphone input/output plugs directly into the sound card. While at first I thought this would be a problem, in that I could only use the headphones or my speakers at anyone time, I soon realised that my BA7500G's use the digital out (yellow plug) and the headphones use the stereo out (green plug), so I could easily use both at the same time. I generally have music playing all of the time while I am at my computer, so it would have been nice to see an on-off switch on the headphones, because I'm not sure how they will like being used constantly for extended periods of time – I guess I'll find out in several months.
Comfort and Audio
Quality
When I first put on the Pro Gamer headphones, they felt a little
loose and I tried to adjust the fit by moving the earpieces up-and-down,
like you would with a traditional set of headphones. However,
the Andrea headphones are fixed in place and rely on a self-adjusting
headband to keep them securely in place. Although they did feel
a little loose at first, I expect that this adds to the comfort
level when worn for while, and after getting used to them the fit became quite comfortable. I
even went for a run up and down the street with them on, and they
did not fall off or shift into an uncomfortable position, so I
doubt that they will fall off or move while you are sitting at
your computer.
When I first started using the headphones I had two main concerns; firstly, with the default Windows audio settings, I noticed the input from the microphone feeding back into the headphones, and when the music volume was turned up a rather loud feedback scream was heard. Additionally there was quite noticeable static even when no sounds or music were playing.
A visit to the Audio Commander web site – the URL printed on the headphone headpiece - and I was able to download the AudioCommander software. As mentioned on the web site, AudioCommander is software is similar to the Windows audio controls except it was designed to cater for voice recognition applications. After installing the program and running the simple configuration wizard, both problems were easily fixed. While it is possible to stop the feedback by muting the microphone using the Windows audio controls, I'm not sure what was causing the static sounds, except that after installing the audio commander software I did not notice it again.
Once everything was behaving as it should be, it was time to test some music to see how the headphones perform. For a start I played a few MP3's, but given their compressed nature, I was not sure what to expect, however the sound quality through the Andrea headphones was surprisingly good. While I could turn the volume up to 100% and still tolerate the sound, it was not something that I did often. Generally a setting between 20% and 30% on the volume control was a comfortable listening level.
The sound quality obviously depended on the quality of the MP3 being played, but I found that using the Andrea Pro Gamers generally produced crisper sound than my PC's speakers. In some 'live-bootleg' MP3's I was able to hear people in the audience talking, something that I'd never noticed with my PC speakers. As I mentioned, I'm no audiophile, but I could not fault the sound quality of the 1212s when listening to a variety of CD's.
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