One of the most common searches that end up with visitors landing on my blog is people looking for a trial version of Dragon Dictate for the Mac. Good idea, it is quite a hefty purchase price for some software that most know little about and therefore the cost vs risk factor is high. A trial version would be a good lead into the software and would allow people to have a play, see how accurate it is and become more comfortable before committing to a purchase. Great idea but alas a free trial version is not available.

As a compromise Nuance have just released to the Mac App Store Dragon Express for a cut down, yet still significant price of $US49.99 (AU$51.99). This app is an excellent introduction into voice recognition on the Mac and is essentially a cut down version of Dragon Dictate 2.5 – Nuance’s flagship speech recognition product for the Mac.

So how does it work?

Similar to Dragon Dictate you will need to train your voice in Dragon Express, this creates your personal profile and allows the Dragon speech recognition engine to understand the way you speak. This task takes only two minutes and involves reading some pre-defined text so the app can listen to how you speak. (Note: if you decide to upgrade to Dragon Dictate your trained Dragon Express voice profile will not be compatible with Dragon Dictate, you will have to train a new voice profile, but hey only takes 5 minutes in Dragon Dictate). Nuance claim that the in-built mic in your Mac can be used but from years of experience a good quality noise cancelling USB headset and mic will give you better results, no support for the Dragon Microphone iPhone app . Already reading some of the App Store reviews there are alot of negative comments, most based around accuracy, I would be willing to bet a couple of dollars that is because of using the in built mic. Good quality speech recognition relies on good quality audio input with minimal or no background noise.

Dragon Express also differs from the fully fledged Dragon Dictate version in that you can only dictate into the Dragon Express window, here you will see your words transcribed into text. From the Dragon Express window you can then post or route the transcribed text to any active app – so for example into TextEdit, twitter, Facebook, Google+, email or a Word or Pages document.

If you are interested in giving speech recognition a try then this is an excellent and cost effective way to see what it is all about. Not quite a free trial but a good general overview of the Dragon speech recognition technology and the great work Nuance are doing in the Apple space. I would like to see a discount off Dragon Dictate 2.5 if you have Dragon Express installed but until Dragon Dictate appears in the Mac App Store this is a tricky one to manage and therefore isn’t yet available. If you have more questions on Dragon Express which I have not covered head over to the Nuance – Dragon Express FAQ.

Be warned, it’s a hefty download at 1.21Gb (Lion only – OS X 10.7) – virtually all of that download will be the dictionary that Dragon uses that holds words and context.

Have you tried Dragon Express? Let me know what you thought by leaving a comment.

Below is a video demo of Dragon Express for Mac in action from the “Ask The Dictator” series of YouTube video from Nuance. This gives you a good basic overview of Dragon Express in action, interesting on the post to twitter that the you can not dictate to click the OK button but still need to mouse click, which clearly shows the cut down nature of this software. I still think it is an excellent buy if you want to see how voice recognition works. At the time of posting this blog post there were only five comments on the YouTube video, most of them highly critical – I state again, using the in-built MacBook or iMac mic will not give highly accurate results, do yourself a favour and buy yourself a USB noise cancelling headset and mic before you try this software.

This makes me smile. I’m a Mac person so anyone who supports this platform automatically gets a big tick from me. This is one of the key reasons I am an Olympus reseller, Olympus have been Mac compatible for years and any company that has the foresight to be Mac compatible should give themselves a pat on the back. Just have a look around next time you are at the airport, at a conference or in a university lecture hall, all you see is a mass of glowing Apple logo. Step up NCH Software (I still go to call them NCH Swift Sound from the old days) who have featured regularly in my blog of late. Following on from their recent release of Express Scribe Pro for Windows comes Express Scribe Pro for Mac.

Following the same format as its Windows brother there will be both a free version (with limited audio formats supported) and a Pro version supporting just about every popular audio and video formats.

Express Scribe FREE for Mac supports:

• .AIFF
• .DCT
• .MP3
• .WAV
• .WMA

Express Scribe PRO for Mac supports audio formats:

• .AAC
• .AIFC (Compressed .AIFF)
• .AU
• .CAF
• .DS2
• .FLAC
• .OGG
• .M4A
• .MPC
• .QPC
• + all the audio formats supported in the FREE version

Express Scribe PRO for Mac also supports the following video formats:

• .3G2
• .3GP
• .ASV
• .AVI
• .DivX
• .DV
• .FLV
• .M4V
• .MKV
• .MOV
• .MP4
• .MPEG
• .VOB
• .WMV

Yes the Mac version does support .ds2 audio files from Olympus, Grundig and Philips BUT unlike the Windows version does not support the older .dss format and Sony’s .dvf audio files. Express Scribe for Mac works on OS X 10.3 all the way up to OS X 10.7 (Lion).

Click Here to go to the NCH Express Scribe for Mac website to download the free or buy the Pro version. Looking for NCH Software on twitter? @NCHSoftware

Annalisa Holmes from The Transcription People, one of Australia’s dynamic leading outsource transcription service providers, recently wrote a guest post on the NCH blog detailing how her transcription business has grown over the years and how Express Scribe has been a constant throughout that growth. Now with a plethora of big name Australian blue chips using their services, The Transcription People’s large team of transcription typists and proof readers all use Express Scribe in their daily work.

With the release of Express Scribe 5.40 NCH have introduced a paid option, don’t worry a free version is still available, aimed at the Pro transcription provider and adds compatability with the DSS Pro (.ds2) audio format from Olympus, Philips and Grundig digital dictation recorders as well as video.

Click here to read Annalisa’s guest blog post on the NCH blog.

The Transcription People Pty Ltd is the sister company of Dictate Australia Pty Ltd.

This seems to be a minor bug fix release with the following issues addressed:

System Focus on Notification

The notify dialogue box was causing some angst while transcribing as when it popped up it took focus away from the document being transcribed and interupt the typists flow. In this release focus is not taken away to the pop up dialogue box.

Do Not Display The Main Windows – Dictation Module / Workflow

When this option is selected in this release Device Detector 4 will launch the Dictation Module on device connection.

System Admins Can Now Show/Hide Options In Dictation / Transcription Module

Administrators can now choose to show/hide options in both the dictation module or transcription module. This is a very handy feature as it should take away from the user the ability to “play” with some of their settings which may cause issues with their normal way of working.

Click Here To Download The Full R5.0.12 Release Notes In PDF Format

All the full change details can be found in the official Olympus release notes and are shown below in full:

Changes

R5.0.12

1. 1. System focus on Notification dialogWhen the Notification Dialog popped up the system forcibly focused on this.
   This was causing issues when Transcribing as the system focus was being taken away from word processing programs and would interrupt the transcriptionist.
   In R5.0.12, the dialog no longer takes focus. In addition, the dialog will now appear in the corner of the screen.

    

2. 2. When the “Do not display the main window” option is selected in [Workflow] on your Dictation Module, the Device Detector 4 will now forcibly launch the Dictation Module when a device is connected.
   The reason for this is because any files on connected devices will not be downloaded unless Dictation Module is launched.

    

3. 3. In the System Configuration Program, administrators are now able to change the show/hide some options from users in the Dictation / Transcription Modules.
   For example: When an administrator hides [Workflow] option from System Configuration Program, the user will no longer be able see all options in [Workflow] window within Dictation / Transcription Module.

    

Note

When DSS Player Pro is installed to a client via an Active Directory, etc., in silent mode, make sure to install .NET Framework 2.0 stored in the Redist folder before installing DSS Player Pro.
Please copy LICENSE.DAT to the distributed package when silent installation occurs.
For obtaining the LICENSE.DAT, please contact your dealer or distributor.

Well, all official Olympus resellers will also sell spare parts, the trick is knowing what that spare part is called. In this post I will go through everything that is in the box and show you the part numbers and their RRP (in Australia) to give you an idea if you really should have looked after that part a bit more carefully. When you open the Olympus branded shoe box that contains your new DS-5000 or DS-5000iD everything inside can be replaced except for the recorder itself. So apart from the recorder what you will find inside are:

CR10 – Docking Station for Olympus DS-5000 – RRP AU$95 incl. GST

This black dock acts as the interface between your recorder and your PC or Mac. Be warned though this replacement part is only the dock, the cables which connect to it are separate Olympus parts. The dock allows charging of the DS-5000 and also the USB connection to your computer.

The CR10 dock can also be used with the Olympus DS-3400 but will not charge batteries in the DS-3400.

BR403 – Ni-MH Rechargeable Battery Pack – RRP AU$45 incl. GST

These are the Olympus rechargeable nickel-metal hydride batteries which come with your Olympus DS-5000.

Over time your batteries may get tired from constant use or you may prefer to have a spare set of rechargeables on hand, if so this is the part for you.

These batteries also fit the older Olympus DS-4000 digital dictaphone.

A513 – 5v AC Power Adaptor – AU$59 incl. GST

The power supply for your Olympus DS-5000. This connects directly to the back of the CR10 dock or into the DS-5000 itself, this is the part you need if you want to have a spare power supply to take on business trips with your or to keep at home.

Make sure you buy this from an Australian reseller other you may end up with a plug which is not compatible with Australian wall sockets.

KP21 – miniA-B USB Cable – AU$59.50 incl. GST

This cable is essential, it is the USB cable which directly plugs into the CR10 dock or into the Olympus DS-5000 directly and connects your recorder to your Mac or PC. If you store your audio on the internal memory then without this cable you will not be able to access your digital audio files other than playing them back on the recorder itself. Just a tip, if you are away and have forgotten your KP21 and you have urgent dictation stored on the internal memory that you need to send to your secretary or transcription service, copy the dictation to the removeable SD memory card. Finding an SD card reader will be much easier to find than a KP21, anywhere in the world.

AS5001 – DSS player Pro v5 Dictation Module CD-ROM – AU$145 incl. GST

The all important software, the software which on Windows works much of the magic behind the Olympus DS-5000; Auto send of dictation by FTP, onto a network drive or via email. Audio editing, file encryption, file conversion, recorder settings and much more are all controlled using this software. On the Mac this disk contains the DSS Player Plus v7 software. Most importantly though this CD-ROM includes a single install licence key, one for a Windows install and one for a Mac install. Maybe you have a new PC and can’t find the original software disk or more often the case the licence key then this part is for you. Please remember you can still get audio off the DS-5000 without this software, on both Mac and Windows the software just adds all the functionality. The CD also holds a PDF copy of the DS-5000 manual, so if you are looking for that it’s on the CD. If you just need the manual, email me I will send you a PDF copy.

CS-119 Carry Case for Olympus DS-5000 – AU$55 incl. GST

This part is the carry case which keeps your Olympus DS-5000 free from dirt and scratches and over time can become a bit tatty.

If you need a replacement look for the CS-119.

That covers all the parts that come with your Olympus DS-5000 or DS-5000iD digital dictaphone. If you lose something it can be replaced, please make sure you always get your parts from Authorised Olympus Australia Professional reseller, which of course is what we are.

As usual, any questions or comments please post them here or tweet us @dictates. All these parts are available in Australia from Dictate Australia – Olympus Gold Professional Reseller

Nuance Australia this week released the Legal vocabulary pack for Australian Dragon NaturallySpeaking 11 Professional users. The language pack is available as an add-on, you must have Dragon NaturallySpeaking 11 Professional already installed, or you can buy the language pack with DNS 11 Pro as a bundle.

The legal pack is designed specifically for Australian legal users and is crammed full of Australian centric legal terms, just over 200 million words Nuance claim which will help legal users achieve optimal accuracy out of the box when dictating legal terms.

As usual with Nuance there are numerous options open to you whether you are new to Dragon or you already have a version of Naturally Speaking installed. Only two options are currently available from the Australian Nuance distributors but a couple more will be coming later this year, including upgrades from earlier versions of Dragon NaturallySpeaking Preferred and Professional. Here are your options and the pricing for what is available now:

I Already Own Dragon NaturallySpeaking 11 Professional

Then all you need is the add-on language pack which self installs itself with your Dragon NaturallySpeaking 11 Pro.

• Product Name:  Dragon NaturallySpeaking Pro 11 Legal Commercial Vocab Only
• Product SKU: A509M-K00-11.0
• RRP: $499.95 incl. GST

I Am New To Dragon And Do Not Own Any NaturallySpeaking Software

Then you will need the DNS11 Professional plus DNS11 Legal vocabulary pack.

• Product Name:  Dragon NaturallySpeaking Pro 11 Commercial + DNS Legal 11 Australian Edition
• Product SKU: A509M-G00-11.0
• RRP: $829.95 incl. GST

For those of you running older versions of Dragon Naturally Speaking, be it the Professional or Preferred versions there are upgrades available for you to Dragon NaturallySpeaking 11 Professional, which you must have installed before you can install the add-on. Currently you need to purchase the upgrade to DNS 11 Pro and the legal vocab separately.

As always, any questions please drop a comment here or tweet us @dictates

We are now in the day and age of digital dictation and transcription. But, believe it or not, there are people and organisations out there who are still using some form of cassette tape to record dictation. Olympus long ago discontinued their micro and mini cassette transcription kits (remember the old Pearlcorder brand?) and more recently their hand held tape dictaphones and the tapes bit the dust.

So, what if you do transcription work and you only have digital transcription software, how do you get taped audio into a digital format for you to transcribe? Really it is quite simple as long as you have a device that can play the tape usually the device that made the recording if you have a microcassette or mini cassette. Standard tapes can be played back using a standard tape deck although you have to be careful as some standard cassette recordings can be made in double time which you won’t be able to play on a standard tape deck. As long as that tape player has an earphone or headphone jack you are in luck.

As audio is played back through the earphone jack socket, typically to a headset or earpiece, when you play the tape use that output source and run it into the mic socket on your PC or Mac. To do this you will need a cable which on one end has a male jack plug the correct size to fit the earphone/headphone jack socket on the tape player. On the other end of the cable you will need another male jack plug the correct size to fit the mic socket on your PC or Mac. Don’t worry if the sockets on the tape player and your computer are different sizes, you can get adapters to change the male jack plug size. Once you have the cable all you need is some free audio recording software to record whatever your PC/Mac mic socket can hear as the tape is played back. Once recorded you can save the audio in your favourite digital format; mp3, wma, wav etc.

One thing to watch out for is excessive noise output from the tape playing device. In our experience we have had to reduce the output volume on the player to very low. On the computer I recommend you adjust the mic in volume control to the lowest setting also. Keep an eye on the audio meter levels in the software you choose to record digitally, you will be able to see if the audio in is too much for your sound card. Remember this is taped audio, it will not be as crisp or clear as digital.

Suggested software for recording audio on your computer:

Audacity: Open source, free audio recording software. Allows for audio editing and some effects like noise reduction.

Wavepad: From everyones favourite audio software company NCH Swift Sound. Wavepad comes in a free limited functionality version and a paid full featured package.

This has to be one of the most common questions we get in the Dictate Australia office. Do you want the good news or the bad news? I will start with the bad news:

At the time of writing this blog NO you can not play .ds2 (also known as DSS Pro, DSS stands for Digital Speech Standard) files in Express Scribe from NCH. I don’t envisage this changing in the near future either, the codec for the .ds2 file format is proprietary unlike .mp3 which is a free for all. Companies like Olympus and Philips spent good money developing this high quality, small size digital audio format and rightly don’t want to give that IP away to just anybody. Of course I am sure that if you want to buy a licence to process these files then you probably can but why would NCH spend large amounts of cash to add an extra audio file format to their massively popular free transcription software, Express Scribe. Hat’s off to NCH, Express Scribe is amazing software for $0 and I have long said that they should charge for it – alot of people would happily pay.

Now that you are feeling demoralised, depressed and the fear of actually having to spend some money is looming largely over you here comes the good news, there are ways around this. This solution varies greatly depending on which operating system the transcriber has, the operating system the person who owns the digital voice recorder which is generating the .ds2 audio file has and the software which came with the digital voice recorder. For example the Olympus DS-2400 comes with DSS Player Standard (for Windows) whereas the Olympus DS-3400 and DS-5000 come with DSS Player Pro (for Windows), the Pro and the Standard software have different functionality.

I have tried to cover all scenarios in an earlier blog post titled:

Options For Playing .ds2 (DSS Pro) Audio Files if you use Express Scribe or Older Olympus Transcription Kits

If after reading that earlier post you are still not sure of your best option please feel free to comment with your question or concern and we will happily help you out.

The cat is finally out of the bag as Nuance, owners of the MacSpeech brand of voice recognition for Intel Mac, announced the latest version of the Dictate family. Dragon Dictate, formerly known as MacSpeech Dictate, is the new name and with it comes more enhancements and features. In this blog post we will look at:

• What’s New In Dragon Dictate 2.0 for Mac
• What Are Your Upgrade Options From MacSpeech Dictate to Dragon Dictate
• Where Can You Buy The Software In Australia

Dictate Australia has been with MacSpeech Dictate since day one, we are big fans and have loved to see this product grow from strength to strength. Now at version 2.0 the influence of Nuance is clear for all to see as the product lines of their famous NaturallySpeaking brand for Windows and Dictate for Mac merge closer and closer together. We have been beta testing the new Dragon Dictate for a few weeks and love the new look and feel, it feels polished.

I have always been honest and up-front with any customer I have spoken to over the years when asked “…just how good is  MacSpeech Dictate?”. I have lauded the accuracy of the Dragon speech recognition engine on the Mac but you could always feel that there was alot of catching up to do with the feature packed and more mature Windows equivalent. Nuance, since their takeover of MacSpeech earlier this year, are acknowledging the importance of the Mac by showing their dedication and support to the Dictate product and with Dragon Dictate 2.0 we now have a world class speech recognition software for the Apple Mac.

So what’s new in 2.0 other than the new name;

• Dragon 11 Engine – The very latest Dragon speech recognition engine used Dragon NaturallySpeaking 11 for Windows – very fast and accurate voice recognition
• Proof Reading Added – making full use of the Macs text-to-speech functionality Dragon Dictate will now read back to you your transcripts, helping speed up the proof reading process.
• Mouse Grid – My favourite, makes browsing the web easy by zooming into a point on the screen quickly using a mouse grid.
• Mouse Movement – Easily fly your mouse pointer around the screen using just your voice.
• Mouse Click – Again, using your voice you can click, double click and triple click.
• Multiple Audio Sources – Use more than one mic? No longer a problem you can have multiple audio source now for your trained profile.
• Easier Editing – A range of new commands to help edit documents by voice much easier.

Dragon Dictate is available to buy now from the MacSpeech Australia website and available in four configurations:

• AU$219.95 – Download only, BYO mic.
• AU$219.95 – Boxed product, BYO mic. **
• AU$249.95 – Boxed product with standard headset and mic. **
• AU$349.95 – Boxed product with wireless bluetooth headset and mic. **

** boxed products available October 2010 in Australia, pre orders being taken now.

There is also good news if you currently own MacSpeech Dictate. Dragon Dictate is available as an upgrade from any version of MacSpeech Dictate. Here are the upgrade options in Australia:

Upgrade to Dragon Dictate for Mac if you have MacSpeech Dictate v1.5 and upwards

You have two upgrade options (your v1.5+ software must be registered before you upgrade):

1. You can upgrade the software only via download (be prepared its a big download, between 1Gb – 2Gb) for only AU$69. If you prefer the boxed upgrade that will be available in October. Click here for the Dragon Dictate Australia upgrade site.
2. You can upgrade the software and pickup a new Plantronics Calisto bluetooth headset for wireless dictation for AU$179. This will be a boxed product and available from October onwards. Pre orders are being taken now. Click here for the Dragon Dictate Australia upgrade site.

Your existing MacSpeech Dictate v1.5 profile(s) can also be upgraded, make sure you back them up first before you upgrade.

Upgrade to Dragon Dictate for Mac if you have MacSpeech Dictate v1.0 to v1.3

You will need to email MacSpeech Sales with your serial number and current version and they will give you upgrade instructions.

Dragon Naturally Speaking 11 HOME, PREMIUM and PROFESSIONAL are available to buy online in Australia from Dictate Australia.

Above is a screen shot of multiple word selection in Dragon NaturallySpeaking 11. The green boxes highlighting the number or each word matched have been slightly increased in size to make them easier to view in this blog post. Multiple match text during formatting and editing, one of the new features in version 11 of Dragon NaturallySpeaking from Nuance. Below is a video example of multi text match in use, once we get a copy of Dragon NaturallySpeaking 11 in the office we will produce and Australian video of this feature, until then we have to rely on our friends from the US

Dragon NaturallySpeaking 11 HOME, PREMIUM and PROFESSIONAL are available to buy online in Australia from Dictate Australia.

Dragon NaturallySpeaking 11 HOME and PREMIUM editions can be pre-ordered from Dictate Australia, will be available in Australia early September 2010.

]]> http://idictate.com.au/2010/08/dragon-naturallyspeaking-11-screen-shot-home-premium-professional-voice-speech-recognition-australia-dns11/feed/ 0 http://idictate.com.au/2010/08/nuance-dragon-naturallyspeaking-version-11-home-premium-professional-australia/ http://idictate.com.au/2010/08/nuance-dragon-naturallyspeaking-version-11-home-premium-professional-australia/#comments Mon, 02 Aug 2010 11:22:02 +0000 Dave http://idictate.com.au/?p=651

Barely a year goes by without a major release for Dragon NaturallySpeaking, not surprising with the huge advances in technology being made especially in the voice recognition world. The latest version of Dragon NaturallySpeaking, the leading speech recognition software in the Windows world has now ticked over from version 10.1 to version 11. With the new release comes the usual claim of faster, more accurate and easier to use: exactly what is expected of any major upgrade. Also thrown into the mix is support for Microsoft’s latest Office 2010 along with much needed improvements to the UI which has been kicking around in its existing look and feel for some time, the UI improvements should make DNS11 even easier to navigate and use.

The product names for the NaturallySpeaking family have also had a revamp, gone are the Standard, Preferred and Professional editions, now we have Dragon NaturallySpeaking 11 Home (was Standard), Dragon NaturallySpeaking 11 Premium (was Preferred) and Professional which remains as is. These new versions will appear in Australia towards the end of August or early September, pre-orders are being taken now by most certified Dragon resellers, including us, Dictate Australia.

I currently own an older version of Dragon NaturallySpeaking, can I upgrade to Version 11?

This depends on the version of Dragon you currently own. If you currently run Dragon NaturallySpeaking Standard then you are out of luck. But, if you own version 9, 9.5, 10 or 10.1 Preferred or Professional then yes, you can get an upgrade package to version 11.

• You can upgrade from Dragon NaturallySpeaking Preferred version 9, 9.5, 10, 10.1 to Dragon NaturallySpeaking 11 Premium
• You can upgrade from Dragon NaturallySpeaking Professional version 9, 9.5, 10, 10.1 to Dragon NaturallySpeaking 11 Professional
• You can upgrade from Dragon NaturallySpeaking Preferred version 9, 9.5, 10, 10.1 to Dragon NaturallySpeaking 11 Professional

What digital voice recorder comes with the Dragon NaturallySpeaking 11 Premium Mobile edition?

Packaged in the Premium Mobile edition is the Philips Digital Voice Tracer (DVT) 662. This is a good little recorder which is both Mac and Windows compatible. It records in either .mp3 or .wav (PCM) audio formats and has 2Gb of built in memory. The 2Gb gives you 23 hours of .mp3 recording in the highest quality recording mode and just over 6 hours of recording in the high quality PCM .wav recording mode. This recorder is excellent for recording your voice notes for Dragon NaturallySpeaking but will also be good for recording interviews and small meetings.

What is the bluetooth headset in with the Dragon NaturallySpeaking 11 Premium Wireless edition?

The wireless edition comes with the Plantronics Calisto bluetooth headset. This is the over-the-ear typical bluetooth style headpiece and gives you freedom from wires whilst dictating to your PC. Plantronics are leaders in the headset world.

I use a couple of PCs, one in the office and one at home is there a multi install licence for Dragon NaturallySpeaking 11?

Yes, with Dragon NaturallySpeaking 11 Premium you have the choice of a standard single install licence, two install licence and five install licence packs.

How much does the new Dragon NaturallySpeaking 11 cost?

To celebrate the launch of Dragon NaturallySpeaking 11 in Australia, Nuance have a promotion which lasts until the end of September. I will write a new post with the pricing post-September when the information becomes available. The initial pricing is as follows:

• Dragon NaturallySpeaking 11 HOME – $99.95 incl. GST
• Dragon NaturallySpeaking 11 PREMIUM – $249.95 incl. GST
• Dragon NaturallySpeaking 11 PREMIUM (2 install) – $299.00 incl. GST
• Dragon NaturallySpeaking 11 PREMIUM (5 install) – $699.00 incl. GST
• Dragon NaturallySpeaking 11 PREMIUM Wireless – $299.00 incl. GST
• Dragon NaturallySpeaking 11 PREMIUM Mobile – $299.00 incl. GST
• Dragon NaturallySpeaking 11 PROFESSIONAL – $649.00 incl. GST
• Dragon NaturallySpeaking 11 PROFESSIONAL Wireless – $769.00 incl. GST

And the cost of the upgrade packages:

• Upgrade from DNS Preferred 9/9.5/10/10.1 to DNS11 PREMIUM – $99.00 incl. GST
• Upgrade from DNS Preferred 9/9.5/10/10.1 to DNS11 PROFESSIONAL – $369.00 incl. GST
• Upgrade from DNS Professional 9/9.5/10/10.1 to DNS11 PROFESSIONAL – $269.00 incl. GST

At Dictate Australia we plan to list all versions of Naturally Speaking version 11 as it becomes available in Australia.

Official Nuance Dragon NaturallySpeaking 11 press release.

Two of the Olympus digital voice recorders certified for use with MacSpeech Scribe are the Olympus DS-3400 and DS-5000, both from the Professional series of digital dictaphones from Olympus, these are serious digital dictaphones. They both come with DSS Player Version 7 Plus for Mac which simplifies the task of getting the audio off the recorder. The software lets you also setup users on the recorder, set noise cancelation levels, playback and edit your recorded dictation and direct record using your digital dictaphone as a high quality mic.

Out of the box both the DS-3400 and DS-5000 will record in DSS Pro digital audio format, these files have a suffix of .ds2 – files of this format can not be loaded into MacSpeech Scribe so some file conversion needs to take place, this is where DSS Player Version 7 Plus can help. On a Mac it is not possible to set the DS-3400/DS-5000 to record in .aif format by default.

For file conversion you have two options. 1. you can manually convert each file 2. you can set DSS Player Plus to automatically convert audio every time your DS-3400/DS-5000 is connected. Both are very simple:

Manually Convert DS-3400/DS-5000 Audio To .aif Format

To manually convert .ds2 audio files to .aif on a Mac using DSS Player Version 7 Plus simply right-click on the .ds2 file you want to convert and select Convert to AIFF File, your converted file will be placed in the same download folder tray as the original file. If you want to save the .aif file to an alternative location simply highlight the audio file to be converted and click the Convert to AIFF File icon .

Automatically Convert DS-3400/DS-5000 Audio When The Recorder Is Docked

If you prefer to convert every audio file during download to your Mac when your digital dictaphone is connected then open the DSS Player Preferences and click the Download tab. Here you can tick “Convert to AIFF file during download” which will have the desired affect. Your .aif files will appear in the download tray folder configured and are then ready to be loaded into MacSpeech Scribe.

At the recent MacWorld 2010 Expo in San Francisco, the place for companies developing technologies for the Apple Mac and iPhone to show off their ideas, MacSpeech announced the launch of their new software product MacSpeech Scribe.

MacSpeech Scribe will do what alot of existing MacSpeech Dictate customers have been asking for, transcribe from a digital recording of their voice. Now you no longer have to be in front of your MacBook or iMac to dictate audio to be transcribed. Using one of the certified MacSpeech Scribe digital voice recorders you can record your thoughts anywhere. Then at a time convenient to you have MacSpeech Scribe transcribe the audio for you.

This is similar concept to the Philips LFH0667 (formerly LFH0660/10) which was a cut down version of Dragon NaturallySpeaking 10 for Windows which would only take audio from a digital recording.

MacSpeech Scribe is a stand alone product and is not an add-on to MacSpeech Dictate. If you already own MacSpeech Dictate and have created and trained a profile for your voice that profile can not be imported into MacSpeech Scribe, you will have to start from scratch with a new MacSpeech Scribe profile.

Only a small number of digital voice recorders have been certified by MacSpeech to work with MacSpeech Scribe. These are the iPhone, iPod Touch (2nd Gen up with a mic) and a few Olympus digital voice recorders. Of the Olympus recorders on the certified list only the DS-3400 and DS-5000 are currently available in Australia. MacSpeech Scribe can take audio in .aif, .aiff, .mp4, .m4a, .m4v and .wav format so in theory a huge number of other voice recorders will be compatible (although not certified). Remember, its all about the audio quality, so just because the $20 USB recorder you bought off eBay records in one of the supported audio formats the quality of that recording may leave you disappointed – stick with Olympus and you won’t go wrong.

MacSpeech Scribe is available now in Australia for RRP $199 incl. GST from Dictate Australia.

In a recent press release from Philips Dictation Australia yet another innovative product has been added to their product line. This one though is a little different to the norm, this really is something different and something that I am sure will be very popular is the LFH2370 Philips Media Player Typing Set.

The innovation with this product is the clever thumb controller that sits under your keyboard which allows the control of audio playback through Windows Media Player 11, iTunes and WinAmp on Windows machines and iTunes and QuickTime on a Mac. Previously people typing notes from audio played back through media player type software had to constantly switch from their word processor to stop/start/rewind audio adding a huge amount of time to the transcription process. With this little device it will make typing notes from audio a much easier, less time consuming experience.

Using the two buttons on the USB thumb control the audio can be controlled in the following ways:

• Playback : To start continuous playback, press and release the right key. The status LED glows green during playback.
• Pause : Press the right key again to pause audio playback.
• Fast Forward : Press and hold the right key during playback. When “forwarding” reaches the desired position release the key.
• Fast Rewind : Press and hold the left key while playback is paused. When rewinding reaches the desired position release the key.
• Backspace : Double click the left key to backspace the audio by three seconds.

The media player typing set LFH2370 comes with the USB thumb control, stereo headset and Philips Media Player control software and is RRP $200.00 incl. GST.

The media payer typing set is also available as part of the Philips Writers Set, known as LFH087 which comprises the media player typing set and Philips Digital Voice Tracer 682 digital voice recorder.

Download sample .dss and .ds2 audio files at the end of this blog post …

#UPDATE# As of Express Scribe version 5.30+, the Windows version can now 

play .ds2 files from Olympus and Philips - click here for more details

This is a hot topic in the transcription world currently. The new DSS Pro (.ds2) audio format now in use by default on all the Olympus digital dictaphones: DS-2400, DS-3400, DS-5000 and DS-5000iD. It is a hot topic for a couple of reasons, often a transcriber can not play the new .ds2 audio files because:

1. Transcriptionist has an older Olympus transcription kit (AS-2300 or AS-4000)
2. Transcriptionist uses free Express Scribe software

There are a number of ways to get around this glitch and the options depend on what you have already and what operating system you use. I will try to cover all possible solutions, if I miss one please let me know and I will update this post. What I will say right from the outset is that these solutions are work arounds for typists who choose not to stay up-to-date with the latest software. By purchasing an Olympus AS-5000 transcription kit (or just the DSS Player Pro transcription module software AS-5002 if you already own an RS-28 Olympus foot pedal) all these issues will go away. The latest DSS Player Pro transcription module is fully compatible with the DSS Pro (.ds2) audio files.

So let me try and cover all options for those who do not have the latest DSS Player Pro transcription module.

Dictation with Olympus DS-3400/DS-5000/DS-5000iD Mac or Windows User – Typist with Olympus AS-4000 transcription kit on Windows

The AS-4000 transcription kit comprised a foot pedal, headset and DSS Player Pro version 4 transcription module software. Using the DSS Player Pro version 5 software which comes with the DS-3400/DS-5000/DS-5000iD the DSS Player Pro version 4 transcription module can be updated, free of charge, to DSS Player Pro version 5 transcription module. Thereby giving you a transcription kit compatible with the new .ds2 audio files. However, you must have an RS-28 transcription foot pedal, the older RS-26 transcription foot pedal will not function with DSS Player Pro version 5 transcription module. The upgrade will generate a new licence key specifically for the DSS Player Pro version 5 transcription module. You must write this licence key down and keep it safe. I suggest write it on a post-it note and keep it with the DSS Player Pro version 4 software CD and licence key.

Dictation with Olympus DS-3400/DS-5000/DS-5000iD Mac User – Typist with Olympus AS-2300/AS-4000 transcription kit on Mac

As you will likely already know, the functionality of the DSS Player Version 7 Plus on the Mac lacks some of the functionality of the DSS Player Pro v5 software for Windows. One key feature missing is the ability to set Classic Mode on your Pro Series recorder through the Mac software, this can only be done using the Windows dictation module. Therefore you will either need a Windows machine to install the DSS Player Pro v5 dictation module to change the default recording mode on your dictaphone or if you run Windows on your Mac using virtualisation software (VMWare Fusion, Parrallels, VirtualBox) you can set it using your Windows virtual machine.

If you do not have a Windows machine available your options are: 1. Upgrade your transcription kit to an AS-5000 or 2. Auto convert on download all dictation recorded on your DS-3400/DS-5000/DS-5000iD to .aif format which can be transcribed by older Olympus transcription kits on Mac. On your Mac select Preferences and then click the Download tab. Then tick “Convert to AIFF file during download”, see below.

Dictation with Olympus DS-2400 – Typist with Olympus AS-2300 transcription kit on Windows

The AS-2300 transcription kit comprised a foot pedal, headset and DSS Player Standard version 4 transcription module software. Using the DSS Player Standard version 5 software which comes with the DS-2400 the DSS Player Standard version 4 transcription module can be updated, free of charge, to DSS Player Standard version 5 transcription module. Thereby giving you a transcription kit compatible with the new .ds2 audio files. However, you must have an RS-28 transcription foot pedal, the older RS-26 transcription foot pedal will not function with DSS Player Standard version 5 transcription module. The upgrade will generate a new licence key specifically for the DSS Player Standard version 5 transcription module. You must write this licence key down and keep it safe. I suggest write it on a post-it note and keep it with the DSS Player Standard version 4 software CD and licence key.

Dictation with Olympus DS-3400/DS-5000/DS-500iD on Windows – Typist with Express Scribe on Windows

For this combination we have a few options:

• Set the recorder (DS-3400/DS-5000/DS-5000iD) to record in .dss format (known as Classic mode) by default instead of .ds2
• Convert the audio from .ds2 to .dss before sending to the typist
• Typist purchases the DSS Player Pro version 5 dictation module (AS-5001)
• Typist purchases the DSS Player Pro version 5 transcription kit (AS-5000)

Set the recorder (DS-3400/DS-5000/DS-5000iD) to record in Classic Mode by default

Using the DSS Player Pro version 5 dictation module it is possible to set the DS-3400/DS-5000/DS-5000iD to record by default in the .dss audio format, this is know as “classic mode”. This is set in the dictation module software itself and the setting uploaded to the recorder. View ourvideo demonstrating how to set Classic Mode.

Convert the audio from .ds2 to .dss before sending to the typist

With the files from the recorder loaded into the DSS Player Pro dictation module it is possible to convert the file format from .ds2 to .dss by simply right-clicking on the file and selecting “Convert Dictation..” and then select the audio format you want to convert to, the choice includes .dss

Typist purchases the DSS Player Pro version 5 dictation module (AS-5001)

This is the cheapest option for the transcription typist. The dictation module software is the same software that comes with the DS-3300/DS-5000/DS-5000iD, this can be installed on a Windows PC and can be used when receiving a .ds2 file simply for audio file conversion to .dss. If you are an independent or outsourced transcription business this is a cost effective solution as the AS-5001 (DSS Player Pro dictation module) is only RRP $160.00 incl. GST. By using the DSS Player Pro version 5 dictation module you can continue to use Express Scribe. Do not be tempted to ask to borrow the software CD that comes with the recorder, the licence is a single user licence and would have been used and registered when the person using the recorder would have installed their software.

Typist purchases the DSS Player Pro version 5 transcription kit (AS-5000)

This is for the serious transcriptionist. The AS-5000 kit comes with all you would need, Olympus RS-28 foot pedal, transcription headset and DSS Player Pro version 5 transcription module. This is the perfect accompaniment to the DS-3400/DS-5000/DS-5000iD recorders and can be set to automatically receive and load transcription from these recorders. All the features available in the dictation module are passed to the transcription module like prioritisation and audio notes. The RRP for the AS-5000 kit in Australia is $525.00 incl. GST – note this kit will accept audio from ALL Olympus digital voice recorders.

Dictation with Olympus DS-2400 – Typist with Express Scribe on Windows

It is not possible to set the DS-2400 to record in “classic mode” like the Pro series dictaphones. So this leaves the transcriptionist with only a couple of options.

• Typist purchases the DSS Player Pro version 5 dictation module (AS-5001)
• Typist purchases the DSS Player Standard version 5 transcription kit (AS-2400)

Typist purchases the DSS Player Pro version 5 dictation module (AS-5001)

As just covered above, this is the cheapest option for the transcription typist. The dictation module software is the same software that comes with the Pro series recorders DS-3300/DS-5000/DS-5000iD and can be installed on a Windows PC for audio file conversion from .ds2 to .dss. If you are an independent or outsourced transcription business this is a cost effective solution as the AS-5001 only RRP $160.00 incl. GST. By using the DSS Player Pro version 5 dictation module you can continue to use Express Scribe.

Typist purchases the DSS Player Standard version 5 transcription kit (AS-2400)

The AS-2400 transcription kit consists of a RS28 USB foot control, headset and DSS Player Standard transcription module. This software is capable of playing .ds2 audio files from the DS-2400 recorder. It can also play audio from the Pro Series recorders (DS-3400, DS-5000, DS-5000iD) however some of the audio functionality is lost when playing through the Standard transcription module.

Dictation with Olympus DS-3400/DS-5000/DS-5000iD Mac User – Typist with Express Scribe on Windows

This is were we can take advantage of the generosity of Olympus. With each of the Pro Series recorders comes a single use licence for DSS Player Pro v5 dictation module for Windows and DSS Player Plus v7 for Mac. If the person doing the dictation has a Mac they will use the Mac licence. Meaning their Windows dictation module goes unused. The person dictating therefore has the option of giving this software (and therefore the unused Windows licence key) to his Windows based typist for him or her to use to convert the .ds2 audio from the person dictating to .dss format. The dictation module on Windows has the ability to convert .ds2 to .dss. On a Mac .ds2 can only be converted to .aif files, although .aif is a format that can be used by Express Scribe there is a large file size difference between a .ds2 file and a .aif file, this may cause a problem if emailing the file.

The surprise exclusion from the three new supported European languages (French, Italian and German) was Spanish, especially as the customer base for Spanish speakers would be huge. In their press release MacSpeech have acknowledged Spanish speakers, Andrew Taylor head of MacSpeech said “ .. we did not forget those who speak Spanish; when there is applicable news, rest assured we will announce it.” so read into that what you will, coming in the near future I would guess.

MacSpeech Dictate International is available now for purchase in the US and it is expected into Australia in a couple of weeks. It will be available as a stand alone package or for people who already own MacSpeech Dictate v1.5+ a cross grade licence will be available. For Australian English speakers you should still be looking at the standard MacSpeech Dictate v1.5+ version currently available as International will not support Australian English.

Click here for the full MacSpeech International press release.

Released mid 2009 in Australia in a joint venture between Philips Dictation and Nuance was the Philips Dragon NaturallySpeaking Voice Recorder Edition (LFH0660/10) at an incredibly cheap price of RRP AU$259.00 incl. GST. At that price it certainly makes you sit up and pay attention, after all the package contains Dragon NaturallySpeaking v10 and a very competent Philips Digital VoiceTracer 660.

Not much to say about the Philips DVT 660, a great little recorder, perfect for single speaker audio. The 660 records in MP3 format and like all recorders has multiple recording modes (tip: always use the highest quality recording mode, SHQ on the DVT 660). This is a note taker not a dictaphone so you are not able to rewind/review your audio just simply record and stop, although you can pause during recordings. The recorder has 1Gb of in-built flash memory, can be powered by two AAA batteries or by USB and can record on the highest quality audio setting for 17.5 hours.Included in the box is version 10 of Dragon NaturallySpeaking (Windows only) which uses the latest Dragon speech recognition engine, this is a drastically cut down version of the software so does not include features that you would see in the Standard or Preferred edition, hence the cut down price. The recognition engine though is the same so no skimping on the quality of the speech recognition.

The aim of the  Digital Voice Recorder Edition is to allow people to dictate into their digital voice recorder for later transcription by the Dragon NaturallySpeaking software. The user does not need be in the office and in front of their computer while dictating, therefore gives them the freedom to record dictation whenever and wherever they want, which of course is very convenient. Because the software is a cut down version you can not directly talk to the software using a headset and mic as you can with the Standard or Preferred versions, the software will only transcribe audio from a digital recording. Now this does not have to be a recording made on the 660, any recording in the audio format .mp3, .wav or .dss can be used. The software can be configured for multiple user profiles (or speakers) so if you have a number of people in the office all with a digital voice recorder that records in a compatible audio format they could all use one installed copy of the software, once they have trained their profile to their voice.

Installation of the software is quick and easy and you are guided through each step of the install with clear and precise instructions, normal with any Dragon NaturallySpeaking install. When installation is complete you are presented with a selection of eight transcripts, any one of which you are required to read for your initial voice training. To do this read your preferred transcript and record your voice using the Philips VoiceTracer 660. This must be recorded into one single digital audio file and not split over multiple files. You have the option to display the transcripts on the screen or print them.

The selection of eight voice training transcripts to read are:

• 3001 – The Final Odyssey (Harder Reading – Science Fiction)
• Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (Reading for Teens – Fantasy)
• Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (Reading for Teens – Adventure)
• Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator (Reading for Teens – Adventure)
• Dave Barry in Cyberspace (Medium Reading – Humour)
• Dogberts Top Secret Management Handbook (Harder Reading – Humour)
• Success is a Journey (Medium Reading – Business Philosophy)
• The Captain of Battery Park (Reading for Teens – Adventure)

I suggest you print one then take yourself away somewhere comfortable to sit and read the transcript while recording your voice with the digital voice recorder.

Tips when recording your first voice training transcript:

• Speak in your normal voice but make sure your speak clearly.
• Speak at your normal speech rate, do not rush or speak too slowly.
• Make sure the digital voice recorder is set to SHQ recording mode.
• Take some time to understand how the voice recorder works before you begin. You can pause during the recording of reading the transcript, work out how to do this before your start.
• Record the audio somewhere quiet, not at a cafe or in a busy office with phones ringing and people talking around you.
• Have a glass of water handy and take some sips if and when your pause recording, helps keep your audio clear.
• Do not dictate punctuation.

I was interrupted a couple of times in my office while recording my voice training transcript hence the tip for learning how to pause the recording. Training the software to recognise your voice and more importantly the way you speak is key to the success of this software and ultimatly your user experience with it. Be warned the selection of transcripts can take some time. For my voice training I selected “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” which took just over twenty minutes to record (with a couple of interruptions).

Once you have completed the recording of your voice training audio connect the digital voice recorder to your PC via USB. Then select the location of the audio file which by default is in Folder A on the voice recorder unless your specifically selected another folder prior to recording. By default the software looks for a file called in.wav, simply browse to the voice recorder and select the recording you just made:

Dragon NaturallySpeaking will transfer a copy of the audio from the recorder to a temporary folder on your PC where it will verify the audio. Verification checks the audio quality and clarity of your recording as well as the signal to noise ratio. If all is good Dragon NaturallySpeaking will identify which one of the eight transcripts you chose to read, as you can see from the image below “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” was identified, click next and the real work begins. Dragon will process your audio against the transcript and work out how you speak and how you sound.

Verification of the audio can take up to an hour, for me it only took around 20 minutes until the process was complete. Nearly finished, hang in there…. Finally you have the option of having Dragon NaturallySpeaking analyse your writing style, the software can look at your email (Microsoft Outlook, Outlook Express or Lotus Notes) and your documents (Microsoft Word, Text and Rich Text files) and adapt to your writing style. This helps Dragon NaturallySpeaking produce documents in your style of writing, this part can be skipped.

That completes the voice training and initial setup for Dragon NaturallySpeaking Digital Voice Recorder Edition. It is recommended that when you have time in the future you work your way through the other seven voice training transcripts, that helps Dragon fully analyse the way you speak and enunciate your words.

You are now free to record dictation to your Philips DVT 660 and request Dragon to transcribe the audio for you. You will need to include punctuation as you dictate, “new paragraph”, “new line”, “full stop” and so on otherwise your transcript will be one long sentence in one long paragraph. I found this out when I decided to get Dragon to transcribe my voice training transcript, below is a screen shot of Dragon NaturallySpeaking in action transcribing my training dictation:

You will still need to proof your transcribed audio however the whole exercise will still be alot quicker than typing the audio yourself.

Remember, this software only works for one person dictation. You can not record an interview or meeting and have Dragon transcribe it for you. You should not even attempt this as other voices will change your voice profile and affect the accuracy of transcription. For multi speaker audio you need your own on-site transcriptionist or outsource your digital audio to Australia’s leading online transcription service – The Transcription People.

So to sum up, I was actually very impressed by the ease of use of the software and the transcription accuracy. I am very used to using Dragon NaturallySpeaking Preferred using a headset and mic so just recording into a voice recorder put me a little out of my comfort zone but for people who are used to talking into a voice recorder they will be very comfortable with the whole process. There is minimal effort to proof your completed transcription and the speed of transcription will easily beat the fastest typist.

Pros:

• Cost effective, very cheap for excellent software and a quality voice recorder.
• Easy to use software and digital voice recorder.
• Fast, accurate transcription for single speaker dictation.
• Software can have multiple user profiles so anyone with a voice recorder can have their dictation transcribed.

Cons:

• Document has to be proofed post transcription and not in real time as with Standard or Preferred Editions.
• Voice training audio can take up to twenty minutes to record.