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I do, because I paid for it, and I have no reason to believe my data is used for any purpose other than Amazon selling me more stuff, and that they're not inter

I do, because I paid for it, and I have no reason to believe my data is used for any purpose other than Amazon selling me more stuff, and that they're not interested in poisoning the well by surreptitiously recording audio when I'm not actively engaging in a dialog with my Echo. That said, regarding the RasPi project, I did something similar for home automation before Echo/Hue/SmartThings/etc were around, and I used the Acoustic Magic Voicetracker I array microphone, which still works well for an updated use of that (now it sits on my desk for dictation and VoIP calls). Perhaps that microphone would be useful to cover an entire large room for you? The manufacturer claims 30 feet of usable distance between the array and the speaker, and in practice, I found that to be pretty accurate. EDIT: it should be pointed out that the microphone (https://www.acousticmagic.com/products/voice-tracker-i-details/ https://www.acousticmagic.com/products/voice-tracker-i-detai...) is more expensive than an actual Amazon Echo. The price hasn't changed in the 12 years that I've owned it, either. But I did test the audio samples my Echo sends with audio recorded via the array microphone, and the standalone microphone was far superior at all distances in terms of quality, would would be important if you're doing speech-to-text processing with PocketSphinx.

roel_v 11y ago
The mic I have works across the room, but e.g. our living room is arranged in such a way that sometimes you sit with your back towards where the mic is. In that case, you have to turn around and address the mic, as it were. Also, when you're all the way across the room, you have to speak up - not just talk at conversational level, or mumble under your breath as I tend to do. How well does the Acousticmagic work in such cases? Can you speak away from it, and will it still pick it up? Furthermore, how well does it work wrt background sound filtering? Does it hear you when the tv is on, or when children are playing or similar cases? Those are the main cases in which my setup requires speaking up.

roel_v 11y ago

The mic I have works across the room, but e.g. our living room is arranged in such a way that sometimes you sit with your back towards where the mic is. In that case, you have to turn around and address the mic, as it were. Also, when you're all the way across the room, you have to speak up - not just talk at conversational level, or mumble under your breath as I tend to do. How well does the Acousticmagic work in such cases? Can you speak away from it, and will it still pick it up? Furthermore, how well does it work wrt background sound filtering? Does it hear you when the tv is on, or when children are playing or similar cases? Those are the main cases in which my setup requires speaking up.