Using a USB Headset vs. Mic-In Headset
You will find significant advantages in using a USB headset over a Mic-In headset with your speech recognition software, whether you have a laptop or desktop model computer.
The main advantage of a USB headset is that it contains a higher quality sound card than that comes standard on most computers. This is most prevalent in laptops and tablets, since in order to be more compact they utilize a sound chip which typically produce poor audio quality.
Photo to left is a standard USB headset with embedded sound card.
The photo on the right is a close up of the USB adapter, 
which can be used if you have a headset with mic-in plugs (displayed
below).
With either type headset, you will receive the same basic advantages: allowing you to be hands-free, providing a stable and consistent positioning of the microphone as well as, noise-canceling capabilities.
There are many other USB options if you choose not to use a headset. These include desktop microphones, wireless microphones and stylus pen microphones. All of these models will provide you the same USB benefits.
