Plantronics DSP-500 Digitally-Enhanced USB Gaming/Multimedia Headset & Software

DSP-500 digitally-enhanced headset with full-range stereo sound. Perfect for games, CD’s and MP3 music, speech recognition and voice applications. The 40mm speakers provide dynamic bass response. Packaged with Plantronics’ PerSono Audio Control Center Software, as well as leading speech recognition and voice applications.

• DSP for digitally-enhanced stereo
• 40mm speakers provide greater bass response
• Digital Signal Processor provides full range digital Audio
• PerSono Software
• QuickAdjust microphone boom allows the user to position the microphone easily

If you make a lot of Internet phones calls, create vmails, or depend on voice-recognition software then you know the importance of a good microphone. A lot of computers have built-in microphones, but they don't sound good at all. They're omnidirectional, so they pick up a lot of noise. The microphone input on many sound cards is not necessarily optimized for voice input, either, which can create noise and distortion.

Plantronics' DSP-500 headset does not plug into a sound card, it connects via the USB Port. The USB connection means that the Plantronics hardware and software have control over the entire encoding of voice input. That means it can provide higher-quality audio to voice recognition programs and netcam-based Internet calls.

USB also makes sense if you want to add an external microphone to systems lacking a Mic-In port, such as the Gateway Profile II and the Apple iMac.

The Plantronics DSP-500 headset has a built-in DSP chip and voice-processing hardware that adjust the sound and cancel echos in real-time. The headset also includes software that controls the microphone and adjusts the output equalization.