A few years ago I was lucky enough to pick up a used Acoustic Magic Voice Tracker Microphone, more specifically: Acoustic Magic Voice Tracker I Array Microphone (1/8" microphone plug).
I had high hopes for this device, but it failed to meet my expectations, testing it on IBM ViaVoice for Windows Standard Edition 10.0, as well as Dragon NaturallySpeaking Professional 9... both on Windows XP.
To produce the best results possible, I wore earphones to eliminate any audio feedback, and did speech recognition tests in an unusually quiet environment.
The Acoustic Magic Voice Tracker Microphone performance was far below that of a good noise cancelling headset: 1/8" microphone/earphone plug headset versions as well as USB headset versions.
I've successfully used the Acoustic Magic Voice Tracker Microphone, but only for what it was designed for: on my portable lectern, equipped with a microphone for the speaker, and then switched over to the Acoustic Magic Voice Tracker Microphone, pointed at the audience, to serve as a large room microphone for public discussions and input.
I know that the Holy Grail of conversing with developing Artificial Intelligence will ultimately be free of headsets... but we're just not there yet.
Any suggestions? Change my mind.
