CAD Audio USB U7 Boundary Omnidirectional Condenser Microphone, Black

I bought this microphone for the sorority I advise, as many of the advisers are unable to attend meetings in person, so we rely heavily on Skype to conduct our business. For months, we'd limped by on using the sub-par microphones built in to the laptops we used for Skype, often having to supplement either with cell phones on speakerphone, text messages, or instant messaging.Finally we bought this microphone, and it was like being in the room with the women. We've used this microphone with as few as 5 people, up to 35 people, in college dorms and loud conference rooms, and everyone's voice comes through crystal clear. Setup was easy, simple plug and play, and Skype worked like a champ with it. If this ever breaks, I'll be back to buy another, but the build quality on this is excellent. It's a decently weighty microphone, within a metal chassis. This microphone has been dropped, and lived to tell the tale, so I'm fairly certain it'll last a while.

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

Simply put, the audio quality of this versus my Logitech Webcam Pro 9000 are almost indistinguishable. Additionally, my voice (2-4 feet away) did not compare to the high amplitude of the background noise it picked up (HVAC vents, people downstairs, my mouse clicking). I was expecting more.I can see how this would be useful for conferences specifically, though, because it does pick up the smallest noises around the room. But then again, so does my webcam.