iDictate – Digital Voice Blog

NCH Software recently outed a new release of the worlds most popular free transcription software for Windows, Express Scribe, which is finally compatible with DSS Pro audio file formats, better known as .ds2 files. Not only that but NCH claims that Express Scribe is compatible with both Phillips DSS Pro and Olympus DSS Pro audio files (yes there is a difference even though DSS Pro is supposed to be a standard).

From Olympus the DSS Pro (.ds2) audio files are created on their Pro range of digital dictaphones (DS-5000, DS-3400 and DS-2400) and has caused some issues for many small outsource transcription businesses who were aggrieved to actually spend money and buy the appropriate software to either play or convert these audio files to load into pre version 5.30 Express Scribe. How to convert .ds2 audio files to play in Express Scribe has been covered in an earlier blog post of ours (one of our most popular posts) – click here

Great move by NCH although it did take some time to get there, the rejoicing from the transcription world will be huge. Easily one of the best if not the best transcription software out there, Express Scribe continues to dominate the transcription world and rightly so. Come on NCH, let us pay for this software

As yet .ds2 can only be played by Express Scribe on Windows. The Mac version (as of version 5.32) remains without .ds2 support.

Click here to keep an eye on Express Scribe versions – both Mac and Windows

Click here to download a sample Olympus .ds2 audio file to test your Express Scribe

We get alot of hits on our blog from all over the world. Many hits are people searching for answers to specific questions. So we thought we would start a post and update as we go with questions we see pop up from day to day. This post will get longer over time so make good use of your browsers search function (here’s a tip, click Ctrl-f):

Do you have a question you would like answered? Leave a comment and we may include it in the list.

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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

“Help” is a comment we have had a few times since the mac daddy of the Olympus digital voice recorder range, the DS-5000 and DS-5000iD was launched late 2008. This new Olympus digital dicataphone, which replaced the sturdy DS-4000, uses the latest DSS (Digital Speech Standard) audio technology known as DSS Pro which produces digital audio files with the extension .ds2

The previous audio format used by its predecessor the Olympus DS-4000 produced audio files with the extension .dss, this audio format was shared between a few of the leading digital voice manufacturers like Olympus and Philips and had been around for a while. Third party voice developers like the Australian NCH company had developed software which could easily play that audio format on a PC and so they and others created software which could use that format. Of note was their highly popular free digital transcription software called Express Scribe.

What we have found lately is the users of the DS-5000 recorders who are utilising the smaller outsource transcription companies are having issues as Express Scribe and other free transcription software is not able to play the DSS Pro .ds2 audio files. Of course for the larger Australian outsource transcription businesses like our sister company The Transcription People this is not an issue.

No need to panic, there is a way around this. Although the DS-5000 by default records in DSS Pro it can be changed to record in the older DSS .dss format, this is called Classic Mode. Setting the DS-5000 to Classic Mode is done via the DSS Pro Dictation Module software and not on the recorder itself. I spent plenty of time trawling through the onboard menus on my DS-5000iD before I did the sensible thing and read the manual!

If you are using a smaller outsource transcription business or your in house typing team uses the older Olympus transcription kits then I would suggest you switch your DS-5000 to classic mode until such time as they have updated their software to the DSS Pro transcription module or purchased a new Olympus AS-5000 digital transcription kit.