Rookie needs help / guidance on where to look

[dzirkelb]

I am starting home automation, and through this process, i will be giving my home commands with speech. I would like to have around 4 wireless microphones set up (probably more) throughout the house. Then, i would like my computer to know which microphone is talking and, in a sense, turn off the others so it doesn't get any background noise and distort the speech commands.

So, I am at basically ground zero on this besides the fact that I pretty much know I need some piece of hardware that distinguishes which microphone is sending speech / noise and which ones are not sending any speech / noise.

However, i have absolutely no idea on where to start looking. I know this will have to be PC based, and preferably windows 7 64 compatable.

I am guessing there are two different pieces of hardware needed here, one receiver, and the other would be however many microphones I get.

So, any and all guidance is appreciated to get me in the right direction to find wireless microphones (3 levels of house) and the hardware to receive the microphones and thanks!

 

[dzirkelb]

Oh, I'm not looking to spend a thousand dollars also if at all possile...wifey would toss a fit if I did that

But, if it costs that much no matter what, then please still educate me and I'll see what I can do

 

[darrin_h2000]

If you didnt mind just running along phone wires you aint using now (unless you have 2 lines in the house there is another tip and ring that will go to all the jacks...and they would be free of any phone signal)...the microphones could be installed for a buck or two each.

 

[moresound]

would some simple gates help?

 

[dzirkelb]

How would the phone lines come into play? that is interesting; however, I believe the phone jacks are being used at this time...not sure if that matters or not.

What are simple gates? Sorry, I don't know the lingo yet

 

[darrin_h2000]

How would the phone lines come into play? that is interesting; however, I believe the phone jacks are being used at this time...not sure if that matters or not.

Only 2 wires are used to make the phone work...there is 4 run to each phone jack...the red and green ones are running your phone....the yellow and black ones should be open and available.

 

[dzirkelb]

Ok, that makes sense...I could possibly use that as a solution, but not sure as I think the placement of the phone jacks will not work. So, back to wireless mic's, any ideas?

 

[antichef]

Are you putting up cameras for security? I just did that for a sort of blended automation/security project. The reason I'm asking is that many IP cameras also have microphones built in - even some cheap ones. Right now I'm ignoring that information, but it would be cool to hook into it. Of course, I don't have camera coverage everywhere I'd want to have a mic for voice commands.

 

[ez_willis]

just have a couple kids. they are good with verbal commands until they hit 16, then they start questioning everything.

 

[dzirkelb]

Nope, no cameras.

 

[Richard Monroe]

Yo Dzirkelb! You have an interesting problem, and I don't claim to know the answer. Understand that homerecorders are very interested in sound quality, so we tend toward the more expensive end of the audio gear spectrum. If I did it, it would be waaay over your $1000 point, but sound quality is not the issue here, as long as the computer can recognize the speech. The "gate" that Moresound is referring to is a noise gate, often used for drums. It is adjustable, so that a mic transmits no signal unless the sound source rises above a set threshold of volume. That's not that hard, and you could use cheap mics, such as omnidirectional electret condensers. The expensive part is the wireless part. Reliable transmission of multiple mic signals over a large area is not the cheapest thing going, and your system would have to run virtually 24/7. And- you need to get those four signals into the computer, which would also have to run 24/7.

First, you don't need a particularly bright computer. You could probably do it with a netbook, if it has a USB input. Just for jollies, I'll see how I would do it. The first problem is that by and large, wireless microphone systems are designed for the personal belt pack to run on batteries, so you would have to wire up some AC-DC convertors to feed your transmitters. The transmitters aren't that hard, and many of them come with the mics in question, such as:

http://www.8thstreet.com/product.asp?ProductCode=40584&Category=Microphones

OK, moving right along- here's your noise gate:

http://www.8thstreet.com/product.asp?ProductCode=3435&Category=Audio_Processors

Then we have to get the signal into the computer for processing. Here's your interface:

http://www.8thstreet.com/product.asp?ProductCode=60682&Category=Audio_Interfaces

4 line ins to 1 USB should do it. After you spend about $10 each on (4) 9 volt AD converters, and do some soldering, you're at about 618.79. That's the best I could do on my first pass, with about a 300' wireless range. I don't doubt the audio geeks on this site can figure out how to do it cheaper. Once you give up the idea that it has to sound good, the rest is a piece of cake.-Richie

 

[moresound]

HE HE HE ...soooooo how do they do it on star trek when they whack there pendant and talk to the computer ?

Ya Richie you pretty much nailed it, unless he went to a place like "you-do-it-electronic to get the stuff surplus.

Another problem is interference from police radios when near by,over head jet communications with airport tin pushers,EMT vehicles,fire trucks,cranked CB radios...etc - so if your close by to any of this and who isn't your going to have to get the expensive new stuff

I was just doing a live sound theater show a few weeks back and for the first time ever had police radio interference,they were in the back parking lot,ever sense the sell off of the white space and certain fm spectrum you have to be careful of the frequencies you choose-

In fact even blackberries were giving me a problem! when the advance team supervisor of a presidential candidate would walk up to me at the FOH mix position and hang over the console to ask if everything was OK with their blackberries in his or her hands leading them around like they were using a divining rod looking for water during the presidential primaries and the final race for the White House here in New Hampshire

 

[dzirkelb]

Ya, unique situation for sure.

Let me see if I understand right...the wireless mic would go to Behringer XR4400, where each channel would then go to Alesis MultiMix 4 USB, which would then go to my computer...is that correct?

If so, then that is an excellent place to start.

As far as microphones go...one guy uses baby monitors, the cheap 22 dollar kind, so that sort of shows you the quality of mic needed. Now, on his setup, he can only have on on at a time or else there is too much noise and the commands aren't heard correctly.

In theory, would using those two pieces of hardware solve his problem? If so, then I have a great place to start brainstorming.

 

[Richard Monroe]

Essentially, you are correct. As always, the devil is in the details. The hard part would be getting the settings on the noisegate right, so that each mic would kick in at a conversational level in its own room, but not kick in from noises coming from other rooms. That would depend on the position and acoustic properties of those rooms. Needless to say, one barking dog might turn on your washing machine. You've got it though. Each mic's wireless signal goes to the noise gate. Then the four line outs of the noise gate go to the four line ins on the interface. The interface goes to the computer by one USB connection. In a perfect world, all four wireless mic systems would transmit at different frequencies. Be advised- I have no idea whether this would work in the real world. It is a theoretical solution to a theoretical problem.
Thanks for posing the question, though. From my perspective it is a fun puzzle.-Richie

 

[dzirkelb]

The random commands is easilly solved...the program listens for a command to turn it on, aka, you say "hey smarthome", and it then says "what may I do for you"..then it is in listening mode.

How does the sound get sent to the computer via usb? I'm not exactly sure how that works, or if it will as I have to tell my program what section to listen in on. Any ideas on how that works?

 

[dzirkelb]

I also realized I will need a unit that will output speakers wirelessly to certain rooms from a computer. Any ideas on where I would look for that type of unit? I would like this one to be an 8 speaker out if possible this time.

 

[Richard Monroe]

The only thing I am sure about is that you are now waaaay over $1000-Richie

 

[dzirkelb]

Na, not yet...I wouldn't buy those mic's you recommended, or if I didn, maybe just one. I think I'm going to use my phone lines to transmit signals for wired mic's, and maybe get one wireless one.

So, I'm looking at like 180 for the hardware you gave me for now, then some microphones (not sure on price for those), and some speakers.

I'm just goign back and forth on where to start with this...do I just buy a wireless mic to see how it works for one, and build from there? Or, do I buy the 4 port mic and go from there?

I'm leaning towards just doing the basement for now, which would be one microphone with one output speaker...and, I can wire those as they are near my computer.

So, thank you for the information you have provided...I think I'm goign to start with one mic and one speaker...for now. Then, in a week or two i'll revisit expanding.

so, what would be a good mic that would basically be specifically for speech? I would like it to pick up my voice on roughly a 20' radius.

 

[moresound]

you can get a small cheap .50 mic that you can hide any where from an electronic outlet chain I see them all the time when they send me there printed catalogs.

You said that you also wanted wireless speakers you can find a unit that will do that at phonic.com, but you should beware of wireless as of what I spoke of earlier in this thread.

 

[dzirkelb]

Where could I find those cheap mics at?