Videoconference microphones

[Miyh]

My wife and I use Windows Messenger "Video Conversation" to chat with our grandkids. It works very well overall, but the audio echo can get annoying. I was hoping someone here might have a solution.

When the conversations are just one-to-one, we use headphones and everything is great. If it is just one of us talking to two kids, we can use headphones on our end so at least the kids don't have to hear the echo, but when there are two of us talking to two kids....it gets annoying.

I have been looking for something that would let me plug in two headsets to the computer. Has anyone seen such a thing? (I was browsing Radioshack recently, thinking I could make one hehe.)

I have also read about more expensive "array" or "beam" microphones that might solve the echo problem, but I haven't found any real user reviews of them, just the marketing hype that I never trust. Has anyone had any success using one of these microphones for videoconferencing?

Any help would be appreciated.
Miyh

 

[Slugbait]

The easiest thing would be a mini-jack splitter. Radio Shack has plenty to choose from. It works likes any other splitter, I have one myself that I take on trips so the wife and I can both listen to my MP3 player on the plane. The cheap ones are four bucks.

I've tried those mics, they're OK, but I had a few problems anyway...and they cost more than 4 or 6 dollars.