[mdlug] USB Headset

[Michael Mikowski]

Hi Robert and mdlug-ers:

I did a lot of research last year, and got a FREETALK Everyman USB headset last year for use with Skype, and it works great out of the box. 

My experience has been very good, and I highly recommend this headset for Linux.

http://shop.skype.com/headsets/usb/iss-talk-5115-everyman/


And here's a review:

http://blog.tmcnet.com/blog/tom-keating/skype/freetalk-everyman-skype-headset-review.asp


No driver installation necessary.  Just plug it in, and the system recognizes it almost immediately.  This is on Kubuntu 10.10 with KDE 4.5.5, and the output device (actually 4 variations) can be viewed on  System Settings -> Multimedia -> Phonon.  I have used it without a hitch since 9.04 and KDE 4.2+.

If you purchase the headset (mine was delivered in about 3 days), here is what you should be able to do, assuming you are using ALSA:

* plug in the headset
* run alsamixer in a terminal
* press f6 to select the device, and choose "FREETALK Everyman" as your device
* press f4 to select input, and make sure your mic is turned up (press 8 to get 80%)
* press f3 to select output, and make sure your pcm output is turned up (again press 8 to get 80%)
* press escape to exist

* arecord -L will list your PCM devices.  In my case, the device "default:CARD=Everyman" works great
* Record a test file.  Speak into the headset after typing in  arecord -Ddefault:CARD=Everyman -t wav -f cd test.wav
* And play it back through the headset: aplay -Ddefault:CARD=Everyman test.wav 

This should be an excellent choice with Google Voice.

Hope that helps!


Sincerely, Mike







________________________________
From: Robert Jim Fulner <fulner at gmail.com>
To: MDLUG <mdlug at mdlug.org>
Sent: Thursday, March 3, 2011 3:43 PM
Subject: [mdlug] USB Headset

Dear All,

I'm thinking about purchasing a USB headset that I can use for making VOiP
phone calls with Google Voice.

Has anyone had any experience with this? Make a suggestion for those that
play nice with GNU/Linux? Anything to avoid?

I will be using this mostly with my desktop, which runs Debian stable, if
that matters.

--
Jim Fulner
The DetroitLibertyPenguin
Promoting Free Minds, Free Markets and Free Software
*and whenever possible Free Beer
*"For as long as one of your brothers is not free, none of you are free"
248-765-7458 (cell)
http://www.facebook.com/jim.fulner
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