Let’s Talk About Mics….

Historically I don’t do voice comms in game. The exception to this was Ghost Recon six or seven years ago on the PC using Roger Wilco when I was playing with a couple of good online friends from a forum I was involved with. Then more recently on the Xbox360 with a friend of mine playing Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter – but that was it.

However, that’s all set to change with the gameplay of BFBC2.

Up until now I’ve been using a Motorola HS820 bluetooth earpiece thingy. I started using it when I began playing Modern Warfare 2 to negate the need to mute every player. All game chat audio went to the earpiece which sat in exile next to the TV…..bliss.

Motorola HS820

But after playing BFBC2 in a proper squad I decided that a mic was a necessity rather than a luxury, especially for this game. So I tried using the mic on the Motorola. Kudos to Motorola. The mic is really sensitive. Even at mic volume 1 it was almost red lining. Which is a problem. There’s no mute function on the mic, and being so sensitive means that EVERYTHING happening at my end would be broadcast to my squad – the sound from my speakers (hooray, gameplay with a delay…), the sound of me uttering words of encouragement at the other team, and other household nuances that I’m fairly sure others wouldn’t want to hear.

Donncha suggested that I dip into the Hauppage Fund and get myself a pair of PX21s. That would be awesome, but impractical – not just because it would cripple the fund more than it has been already, but also because they are wired. Great headset, but in my situation not ideal.

So I was looking for ways to bodge stuff together, checked out jack to usb adapters, looked at the price of headsets, even considered hooking up my guitar/mic mixer to the PS3 – but that would have been overkill. The compromise in the end was a fairly inexpensive PS3 bluetooth headset thingy from Geo-Tech.

GeoTech EX-01

So that’s another twenty quid hit to the Hauppage Fund. But it should be worth it. I had a quick test of the mic and unlike the Motorola this one only picks up what it’s supposed – my voice and nothing else. It even has a mute button for those times when I need to yell abuse at the screen cough.

I look forward to testing it out in a proper game.

Peas and loaves.

Find me on PSN – evaDlivE

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