Re: Re: In celing mics.

["Eamon O'Gorman" <eamonogorman@xxxxxxx>]

Well, another good point about the Kustom, is that you can use the keypads
as an IR repeater system for the house also (although I dont know the
xantech system, you could probably do the same). I have on of the Kustom
base units IR outputsd wired to a buffalo IR splitter, and each output goes
to the source equipment, and one goes to homevision. I have then programmed
macros into the keypads, which do various things to HV. Four Macros for
heat
(one for each zone, and one for all four zones on a timer). I also have a
goodnight macro on all keypads, so when I go to bed at night, it tells HV
to
shut down the house and turn Comfort security on to night mode. It wasnt
something I had initially planned on, I thought I would have had to install
a seperate IR distribution system, but then though of using Kustoms keypads
and it works great.... That, plus the paging facility for whole house
announcements makes it very usefull for HA (and its CE approved....) It has
actually turned out to be a major part of of my HA setup, controlling
video,
tv, sat and DVD functions also.

On the voice control again, I have had some success tonight after
following some tips from Mike Huggins. Pretty accurate recognition (90%) in
the test setup I have in my PC room, although this is just using a mixer,
without the gates, and one mic only. I think you have to accept that in
noisy rooms its just not going to be reliable enough, but I reserve
judgement on how usefull its going to be.

I also had homevoice, which has its plus's.. I would argue that the
recognition of homevoice may be better as its trained, and each specific
command is trained, but HAL seems to be more flexible in what it can do.
Shopping lists (wifey friendly bit, clever marketing by HAL), macros, phone
facility (and the recognition over the phone is excellent...), schedules,
reminders, email, news, weather, phone directory and autodialing, CID
(although I believe there are problems with this in the UK, it seems to
work
to a fashion over here), internet, email, voicemail....  and on and on...

If the recognition can be good enough, its going to be pretty cool once its
working. Although when all is said and done, is VR usefull or just a toy ?.
People tend to be interested when you tell them about HA, but when you
mention voice control, they tend to look at you funny....

Eamon
----- Original Message -----
From: "psghome2002" <psghome@xxxxxxx>
To: <ukha_d@xxxxxxx>
Sent: Tuesday, February 19, 2002 7:10 PM
Subject: [ukha_d] Re: In celing mics.


> I looked long and hard at the Kustom 6640 - looks pretty good. But
> then my eye got drawn by the Xantech switcher which seems more
> flexible (without the paging features though). I'm still not
> decided - if only I can figure a way of getting a supplier in the US
> to ship Xantech kit here (even with 4% audio goods import duty and
> VAT it's CONSIDERABLY cheaper than buying it from here :( )
>
> Still not sure about voice recognition using HAL/HomeVoice etc.
> Couldn't get HomeVoice to work (W2K or XP not supported) and HAL is
> so American (some features don't work outside US). This kind of
> setup is still a way off for the reliable setup that I want (with
> voice recognition in most rooms/zones)
>
> --- In ukha_d@y..., "Eamon  O'Gorman"
<eamonogorman@e...> wrote:
> > I've got a similar set up to the one the chap in the U.S is
> talking about, I
> > am using the Kustom 6640, which I hope to be able to use the page
> input for
> > whole house announcements. As to mounting the mics in the
ceiling,
> I dont
> > see as there is any other real choice,,,,, wall mounting is out
of
> the
> > question (wifey would rather rip out my spine than let me chase
> the walls).
> >
> >     I got some tips from Mike at letsautomate, so I am going to
> try these
> > and see how I get on. If there are any sound engineers out there,
> can they
> > please explain to me what the hell  "Soft Knee " or
"Hard Knee"
> means on a
> > liimiter/gate for a start, and then explain what the other 14
> knobs annd
> > buttons do.....
> >
> > Regards,
> >
> > Eamon "Way over my head here" O'Gorman
> >
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "psghome2002" <psghome@h...>
> > To: <ukha_d@y...>
> > Sent: Tuesday, February 19, 2002 11:43 AM
> > Subject: [ukha_d] Re: In celing mics.
> >
> >
> > > I've not done it yet but am planning on doing the same as
you
> using
> > > Shure intelligent mixer and crown mics. I did get some
advice
> from a
> > > US based guy - I've copied it below. I'd be VERY interested
in
> your
> > > findings, I'm a few weeks away from the whole-house retrofit
of
> > > lights,power,CAT5 etc and am still undecided whether to go
the
> full
> > > monty with voice recognition.
> > >
> > > Paul.
> > >
> > > +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
> > >
> > > Well whole room voice recognition still has a way to
> > > go.  There is just too much background noise to make it
> > > 100%.  Using the local phones work much better since it
> > > reduces the outside noise such as radios, others
> > > talking, etc.
> > >
> > > I am single so that is not as much a problem for me.
> > >
> > > I have 4 Crown PZM-11 mikes mounted in the major rooms
> > > feeding into a Shure 410 mixer/gate.  Does a pretty good
> > > job but there are times where I have to turn down the
> > > radio/TV to get understood.  Quieter rooms such as the
> > > bedrooms or bathrooms work much better.
> > >
> > > If I don't want to turn down the volume due to guests, I
> > > just pick up a phone, dial # and talk to HAL.
> > >
> > > One caution, do not put the mikes in the ceiling.  Even
> > > Crown states this is not the best place even though it
> > > would seem to be.
> > >
> > > For the house audio, I have a Kustom unit.  Would prefer
> > > to have the 6640 but it wasn't out at the time I bought
> > > mine.  Would like to upgrade sometime when I find
> > > someone that has a need for just a 4X6 instead of a 6X6
> > > unit.  The page function would be great to feed HAL into
> > > so the responses go to all areas.
> > >
> > > Has doorbell inputs that could be connected to sensors
> > > or X10 devices for notification or alarms.
> > >
> > > Hope this gives you a little help.  Check out the Feb
> > > issue of Home Automation magazine for a more complete
> > > list of equipment that I have here.  My home is the
> > > Featured home of the month.
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > --
> > > Don    K9SOA/4  EM77EX
> > >
> > > www.k9soa.net
> > >
> > > Home of "JEANNIE" The House That
> > > Listens
> > >
> > > My voice controlled, automated
> > > home that was featured on HGTV's
> > > Dream Builder show on home
> > > automation
> > >
> > > Featured Home of the Month
> > > Feb 2002 issue
> > > Home Automation magazine
> > > > Hi Don,
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > I'm just about to start a HA project covering pretty
much
> > > everything
> > > > including Lighting, Security, Heating, Audio etc. I've
got a
> few
> > > > questions I hope you don't mind answering?...
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > I'm looking at putting in a whole-house open-air
microphone
> > > system - I
> > > > presume you use something like this?
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > I've tried HAL2000 with some success just using a
standard
> > > microphone.
> > > > How accurate (in terms of recognition accuracy) have
you
> managed
> > > to get
> > > > your system? . and how difficult was it to set up?
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > What equipment do you use?
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > Many thanks,
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > Paul Gale.
> > > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > --- In ukha_d@y..., "Eamon  O'Gorman"
<eamonogorman@e...> wrote:
> > > >    I have just started playing with some mics/mixers
for voice
> > > control via in ceiling mics. I have a feeling its going to
be a
> bit
> > > of a struggle to get them working reliably, but thats the
fun of
> > > it....
> > > >
> > > >   Anyone else tried this, or had any success/failures.
I am
> using
> > > HAL2000 (which has quite good recognition over phone and
using
> basic
> > > pc microphone), but these limiters and gates are looking
pretty
> > > complex. I've got the wiring right for my first mic, and get
some
> > > recognition (although not near as good as with my pc mic).
If
> anyone
> > > has any tips I'd appreciate it.
> > > >
> > > > Thanks,
> > > > Eamon
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > For more information: http://www.automatedhome.co.uk
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> > >
> > >
>
>
>
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