CAD Audio USB U7 Boundary Omnidirectional Condenser Microphone, Black

I spent a lot of time trying to find the best USB microphone and this is it.I wanted a microphone primarily for Skype and other VOIP calls and net meetings, as well to be able to record certain meetings. I have the Logitech WebCam Pro 9000, which is a great webcam but in my opinion not a great microphone.I wanted a USB microphone that would minimize the "echo effect" as well as the "scratch effect" certain net meetings would produce. The "echo effect" is pretty much what it sounds like and is most prominent when someones speakers are turned up too high, and the "scratch effect" is when the volume of your voice is too high for the microphone and it creates a scratching noise on the other end (sometimes happens in Skype). Given this microphone is a "condenser" I must say it has helped out dramatically.I have this microphone in a conference room as well as my office, and it really does a good job at producing incredibly clear tone consistent sounds; it works well at picking up the quiet sounds as well as reducing the louder sounds.The dimensions of this microphone are a little off as it's a little smaller than this page says. The dimensions are 4 x 3.25 x 1.1 inches. The microphone is obviously very easy to place.This microphone comes with a 10 foot USB mini B cable (the 5 pin cable which is the same cable that plugs into most Blackberries) and you can easily replace it with a shorter or longer cable.As for other microphones the closest contender i was able to find was the "MXL MXLAC404 High Quality USB Conference Room Microphone" which also looked like a very good microphone but i could not tell if the USB cable was replaceable, and it seemed a little big. I also have been using the "Logitech USB Desktop Microphone" which works well for the price (which is $20); I would say it is a good microphone for only one person that will be sitting at their desk talking and they don't mind having it right in front of them when they use it.

I tried this both in Linux (using drivers built-in to the Kernel) and Windows (using the provided drivers).In Linux I was able to adjust the settings so I could get clear sound quality from everyone (7 people) in a 20' x 12' room. It wasn't nearly as flexible I've had issues with other 'conference microphones' where voices would get horribly scrambled and people on the remote end couldn't make anyone out if there was more than one person talking at a time. This generally isn't an ideal situation anyways but the remote people reported they could make out two or three conversations at a time and generally complained less about the quality (definitely a good sign with these folks).The Windows software wasn't as flexible as Linux and was quite a bit quieter, we had to cluster everyone around the Microphone fairly closely for the remote end to hear everybody. This isn't a problem for me as our conferencing system is based around Linux but may be good for other people reading this to know.The build quality is great with the top being made out of a rigid metal mesh, the bottom has a rubberish plastic that keeps it from moving around which is also helped by it's heft. This is definitely solid and I'd recommend it.

We had a baby shower in Kansas City for our daughter in law who lives in Los Angeles. We called it a "cyber shower" in the invitation. She is in the 8th month of her pregnancy and didn't want to travel back. We hooked up the laptop to the Big Screen TV and both parties hooked up on [...] and it worked perfectly. We even both served the same food. It was almost like they were in the room. The gifts were sent to LA and she opened them for everyone while we watched and talked. I decided in advance to purchase this add-on mic because I felt the small one on the laptop would not be sufficient with a crowd talking all at once. The party in LA also had 2 additional showers with other relatives, 1 in NY and 1 in Lima, Peru. They said ours was the best because we were the only party with the added mic. They could not hear the other two parties very well as people were talking over each other. It was a great $65 investment and we will use it everytime we call. And it was delivered to the door without a glitch and free shipping. Could not have been more pleased.

The microphone works, and is fairly sensitive, but it's been very hard to get it to work well with Teamspeak software. There's immediate problems with feedback between the microphone and speakers, even when they are 20' apart. The settings in Teamspeak that mostly seem to work involve setting AGC off, setting echo cancellation on, and cranking the echo reduction to -30db. That stops the squawking, but people on the other end of the connection have problems hearing everything that's said.It's probably a fine mic for other purposes. The pickup seems to be as close to omnidirectional as I need. The blinking blue LED om the mic is annoyingly bright and I ended up putting tape over it. The cord is over 10' long, which is a good length for most purposes.It would be nice if it came with a notch filter, so feedback problems could be addressed directly.Addendum: With a LOT of fiddling and a Teamspeak upgrade, this has settled into a workable solution. People on the other end can usually make out what's being said. Still 3 stars, but I'm not dissatisfied. Be prepared to experiment.

I guess my CAD U7 USB Desktop Condenser Recording Mic was defective because the instructions said that it was plug and play, but when I plug it in, it doesn't do anything. The product did not bring any installation CD or anything. This sucks! Now, I have a $60 mic that does not work. And since it was sold by Amazon and not an independent seller I can't contact them for directions on how to work this item since they do not have a phone number or email.If anyone knows how to make it work please let me know!!!!!!!Thank you