[Jerry Steiger]

"Chris Hornbeck" wrote in message
...
Sounds like a cool project. So you really need to measure
voice intelligibility, and likely with a pretty serious
and unpredictable noise background?

That pretty well nails it.

I say this because I see surveyors all the time working
right beside (or occasionally, in) the roadway. Traffic
goes by with noise levels of what? 75dB SPL (C)? 90db?
Could be even more with the dump truck or Harley option.

Your guess is as good as mine, probably better. I wonder if I could talk one
of the software guys into writing a sound logging program that we could
supply to chosen customers.

Another way of saying this is that I really wonder if the
model of measuring the hi-fi quiet-background aspects of
the box is going to matter to you at all. Maybe so, but
my guess is only very, very indirectly.

One reason to make the system work well in a quieter environment is that
customers usually decide whether to buy us or the competition based on how
the products work in the store. Our customers also work in much quieter
environments.

Voice intelligibility is often a surprisingly non-hi-fi
product, with severe bandwidth restrictions, dynamic
range compressions, sometimes even deliberately added
distortion (!) parts of the final mix.

These are subtle elements we may be able to get into after we have a better
working knowledge of the basics. Right now we have a long ways to go.

Wiser folks have already suggested that this is a very
specific question for a very unusual use, so I'm only
riffing on their ideas when I propose that you consider
connection to a Bluetooth headset. Folks walk around
with these things all the time already, pretending that
they've been assimilated. Just a thought.

Use with a Bluetooth headsets is in the product plan, but marketing still
wants a built-in microphone and speaker that works better than the ones on
our existing products.

Thanks again!

Jerry Steiger