iDictate – Digital Voice Blog

With the release of the new Olympus DS-7000 and DS-3500 digital dictaphones in Australia and around the world recently one of the most common questions we get from people and businesses upgrading is “will the new digital voice recorders work with older transcription kits”? mainly the Olympus AS-5000 kit but also the older AS-4000 digital transcription kit.

As always the answer is yes and no. There are some minor points to consider depending on which transcription kits you plan to use with your Olympus DS-7000 if you don’t have the latest Olympus transcription kit the AS-7000.

Using the Olympus DS-7000 with Olympus AS-5000 DSS Player Pro R5 Transcription Module

The AS-5000 transcription kit running DSS Player Pro R5 is fully compatible with all the audio files that the DS-7000 and DS-3500 produce, which are .ds2 (DSS Pro) by default, .dss (DSS) and .wma except if you encrypt your .ds2 audio files with 256bit encryption. The AS-5000 kit is unable to decrypt 256bit and can only decrypt 128bit encrypted .ds2 audio files.

If you currently do not encrypt your audio files then the DS-7000 will be fully compatible with the AS-5000 transcription kit. If you do encrypt, your options are to simply encrypt in 128bit mode or purchase the upgrade to the AS-5000 DSS Player Pro R5 software using the AS-7004 which will convert your DSS Player Pro R5 transcription module to ODMS (Olympus Dictation Management System) R6 Transcription module. The AS-7004 upgrade is AU$59 incl. GST in Australia, you will require one per install.

Using the Olympus DS-7000 with Olympus AS-4000 DSS Player Pro R4 Transcription Module

Using the Olympus DS-7000 or DS-3500 with the much older AS-4000 digital transcription kit running DSS Player Pro R4 software you will have very similar issues to those who purchased the Olympus DS-5000 digital dictaphones over the last couple of years. The AS-4000 kit is unable to play back .ds2 (DSS Pro) audio files so with the DS-7000/DS-3500 like the DS-5000/DS-3400 you will need to set your digital dictaphone to either run in classic mode (which sets the dictaphone to record by default in .dss instead of .ds2) or convert your audio from .ds2 to .dss prior to sending to your typist using your ODMS R6 dictation module software supplied with the DS-7000 and DS-3500.

This post is only applicable in Australia. Here is a freebie from Olympus, take it while you can as these things are rare. From 1st march 2012 until 31st May 2012 if you buy an Olympus DS-5000/AS-5000 bundle then you are eligible for a free gift. The bundle is available from us for $999 incl. GST delivered.

Why bundle? Well many people looking to upgrade from analogue tape to digital will generally purchase both a transcription kit and a voice recorder in one go. If you have been thinking of moving to digital dictation now would be a great time especially as you can pick up a free digital camera or free WS series voice recorder as a part of your bundle. More

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Transcription like most things these days has gone digital. Gone are the days of loading and listening to poor quality analogue tapes now we just load and listen to crystal clear digital audio which arrives via email, on a shared network drive or downloaded from a cloud. Regardless of whether you are an experienced micro cassette transcriptionist or someone who is new to transcription the equipment you will need is the same. Transcribing voice to text for digitally recorded audio letters, notes, interviews, focus groups, meetings etc is a highly skilled job, below are the key tools you will need to make this task easier: More

Olympus voice are an innovative bunch, they don’t tend to sit on their hands doing not a lot, they keep refining and evolving their range of digital voice recorders. It is not uncommon to see digital voice recorder models come and go in the space of a single year. As such we often find customers coming back after years of use to replace their digital note taker or dictaphone only to find that their old model voice recorder has been replaced by a newer model.

In an attempt to make finding the current equivalent voice recorder to replace your old trusty Olympus digital voice recorder a little easier I have compiled a list of old models and their latest equivalents. This list covers PCM music recorders, interview/meeting/focus group recorders, budget recorders, the Pro range of digital dictaphones and finally Olympus digital transcription kits. More

No, is the short answer. Voice or speech recognition software will only successfully work with one spoken voice and that spoken voice, for best results, needs to have trained the software to understand their voice and style of speaking known as creating a voice profile. Most people who use voice recognition software typically pop on a headset and mic and chat away to their Windows PC or Mac and watch as their voice is magically (or using the Dragon voice recognition engine if you don’t believe in magic) converted to text.

Voice recognition is currently going through a spike in popularity, especially since the release of the iPhone 4S running iOS5 with Siri, which has raised awareness of just how good voice recognition technology has evolved over the last couple of years, Nuance being the company leading the way in this technology on Mac, Windows and now inside iOS5 working closely with Apple.

Because of this everyone now has an iPhone which is capable of recording audio and most who need to capture important meetings or interviews also have a high quality digital voice recorder. Dragon NaturallySpeaking Premium and Professional edition on Windows and MacSpeech Scribe on the Mac can take recorded audio and transcribe it, that is only for that single trained person who is speaking. So it is understandable that the leap is often made that if it can transcribe one voice it can transcribe many, not so. The technology is not there yet and in my opinion won’t be for quite some time.

More

##UPDATE## As of June 2011 this offer has now ended in Australia

I know fancy title for what is essentially a giveaway if you buy a bundle of the best digital dictaphone and transcription kit on the market the Olympus DS-5000 digital dictaphone (or DS-5000iD) and AS-5000 digital transcrpition kit. And why not, its alot of money to buy this gear so you should be rewarded and thats exactly what Olympus are prepared to do by giving away … drum roll please … a 14 mega pixel Olympus FE4030 digital camera.

In yet another move to send the competition scrambling for ideas the partnership between Olympus Voice and Olympus Imaging is cemented with this deal. To qualify all you need do is buy one DS-5000 and one AS-5000 in one transaction, that’s it. Oh and of course make sure you are buying from an Olympus Pro dealer in Australia who is participating in this promo, please check first though to make sure they have the camera stock so as not to be disappointed. At the time of writing, we Dictate Australia, have quite a few cameras to give away with 5000 bundles. No need to buy online we can invoice you.

The Olympus FE4030 is a stunning little point and shoot from Olympus, with a 14 megapixel sensor and powerful 4x optical zoom lens with 26mm wide angle, you’ll get your great shot every time. Get creative with the FE 4030′s selection of Magic Filters.  With Pop, Pinhole, Sketch and Fisheye effects, transform your photos into works of art, all at the touch of a button.  And when its time to upload your shots to your computer, you’ll be charging the battery at the same time, with USB and In-camera charging! I love the filters they can transform ordinary photos into works of art.

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. More