If your multimedia PC came with a microphone it will be worth your time to try it with HearSay; it may work fine. Some low-cost microphones (in the $20 range) will provide the speech recognizer in HearSay with adequate speech signals in normal user environments. Microphones in this category include Radio Shack's model 33-3025A Desktop Computer Microphone, Lab Tech's C-315 Headset/Boom Microphone (available at office supply stores such as Staples) and the Telex desktop computer microphone (distributed with Sound Blaster Live! and available from Creative Labs, http://www.creativelabs.com). For optimal performance in noisy environments, a high-quality noise-canceling microphone (usually in the $50 to $70 range) is considered essential for good recognizer performance. The VXI Corporation VXI Parrott 10-3, (mono headphone) or ST (stereo headphones) and other VXI microphones (http://www.vxicorp.com/) and Andrea electronics NC-500, NC-80 and others (http://www.andreaelectronics.com/) are recommended in this case.