Dear AG Colleagues, In our search for a cheaper, simpler echo-cancelling audio setup for the small conf. rooms to be used at our UCSF AccessGrid nodes, we have received *many* very helpful comments from the ag-tech mailing list. I thought everyone involved deserved a concise summary. Starting from the most expensive:
Clearly, for larger spaces, the ClearOne (formerly Gentner) XAP400 can not be beat, but it is expensive ($3000) and takes time and skill to configure properly. It has the advantage of accepting not only 4 mic inputs, but a phone connection as well. The Polycom Vortex EF2241 is roughly equivalent in specs. and cost, and one respondent thought it might have a superior configuration interface. The ClearOne RAV600 and 900 ($2200 and up) are bundled systems, with an audio mixer, microphones, speakers, and wireless control device. They do require some configuration via an attached computer, but this process is claimed to be simpler than that required for the XAP400. They also gets strong reports from users, and seem to be attractively flexible. For smaller rooms, where speaker-to-microphone distance is roughly constant, the ClearOne AccuMic has excellent reports. It is a microphone only. At ~$550 (street price), it does not require configuration. There are two models: the VC (which uses RCA plugs for its connections) is identical to the original AccuMic II in every way save the name, and the PC (which uses 1/8" phono jacks for its connections) is a variant with slightly lower gain settings, and may be more appropriate for use with the audio in/out connections on PCs and Macs. It appears that you can gang a second unit onto the first if you need wider coverage. One group reported great results in a larger room previously covered by use of a XAP400. This seems such a generically useful device for conferencing that I have ordered one for myself today. There is an ever-growing number of even cheaper solutions for microphones, though most of these seem geared toward desktop conferencing and are aimed at the consumer market; the online documentation for most is sketchy. The VRVS (CalTech/DoE) group has documented their experience with such devices: http://www.vrvs.org/Documentation/Recommendation/audio_systems.html (which suggests that the cheapest echo-cancelling solutions for anything beyond the desktop are ~$200). It's great to have a range of options, even if it does initially complicate the decision-making process. :) Sincere Thanks to All, Rick Rodgers -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- R. P. C. Rodgers, M.D. * rodg...@nlm.nih.gov * (301)435-3267 (voice, fax) OHPCC, LHNCBC, U.S. National Library of Medicine, NIH Bldg 38, Rm. B1N-30F2, 8600 Rockville Pike, Bethesda MD 20894 USA http://lhc.nlm.nih.gov/staff/rodgers/rodgers.html
