Supplemental tests to go with a librivox project meant to test many brands of microphones. The project is here:


http://forum.librivox.org/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=31710&p=574890

In the offical librivox Zoom H2 reading: my mouth was 18" away from mic.

In the first 4 of the supplemental readings here (poem 1, poem 2, poem 4, poem 6), I'm using USB mode mic hooked up to a toshiba satellite laptop with triple core and a hyperactive noisy cpu fan that likes to kick on and stay on for minutes at a time at inopportune times for readings.

So this test demonstrates:
1. difference between 18" and 6" distance, mouth to mic.
2. how much background hiss is added to reading when the cpu computer fan is on (noticable, but not too bad).
3. I'm speaking in a softer/quieter voice on these supplemental tests, so there is much less room echo, and maybe less sibilance.

There are a couple of good sneezes in here from my housemate who was maybe 20ft to 50ft away (there's two different good powerful sneezes, you can even hear good echo on them, house has all hardwood floors), mostly bare hard walls.

poem 8 + poem 9: same room, different time of day to test the windscreen cover that fits over the zoom h2. I can't tell the difference between the two. I wondered if the windscreen would reduce detail and fullness of the voice range. It does help with reducing accidental puffs of air and 'plosives which make the resulting mp3 harder to normalize later.

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2 pictures showing SJMarky's homemade foam baffles
img_0447_1 and img_0046_2

SJMarky captioned the pic: The mic stand was purchased separately for like $10 from either Guitar Center or Amazon, I don't remember.. The little tripod stand that comes with the mic can't be adjusted for height. You want it about nose-high, 6 - 12 inches away, and just slightly to one side.

this was his description on librivox:
No problem. Home-made, actually. Two pieces of foam-core board from an office supply about 15"x20" each, hinged length-wise with duct tape. I got some Auralex acoustic foam and glued cut pieces to the board on one side, leaving room near the hinge. My local Guitar Center store used to sell it from an open case by the sheet, but there is other stuff out there you can use. I think Amazon may sell some inexpensive acoustic foam. But any padding will work. Foam's nice because it works, easy to apply with spray contact cement, and it's light weight. So anyway, I plug a mic into my laptop on my desk and then with the baffles hinged at 90 degrees with all the foam facing inside, just stand it up so one panel is behind and the other to the outside of the mic to make a little "room". My home office has hard walls, windows right next to the desk with blinds and no curtains and hardwood floors, so it's pretty echo-y. This improves the sound quite a bit. When I'm not using it, I just fold it the other way so the foam is on the outside and tuck it under the desk out of the way.

The mics tested are plug-and-play USB. No interface or drivers. Both come with a USB cable and a little tripod stand. The stand is pretty cheesy and doesn't adjust, so I recommend getting a separate desk top mic stand for about $10. I use a foam wind screen over the mic rather than a pop screen, also extra $10. In my experience, they work about as well as a pop screen and aren't in the way.

CIMG35 is my crude attempt to make foam baffles, results were poor
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the two logitech readings are using the "clear chat comfort" headset USB hooked up to the toshiba laptop. One of them the laptop is running on battery, the other has an ac power cord plugged in, and it adds an unacceptable level of distortion to the recording.

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