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.

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.

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.

Primarily because of key reason 1 above this makes it very popular with the army of Virtual Assistants (VAs) around the world who like to include transcription in their portfolio of services offered. Sure on its own Scribe works really well and for some, especially those with no transcription experience, having no footpedal is not a big deal. But for the serious transcriptionist or for people converting from analogue transcription kits (ahh those trusty Pearlcorders), a good reliable foot pedal is a must.

If you are an Express Scribe user on Apple Mac then i’m afraid the following information is not for you. The Philips USB foot controls are only compatible with the Windows version of Express Scribe.

This is where the Philips USB transcription foot controls come in. Having recently gone through a make over they have been transformed from the older ugly square brick look of foot pedal (like the LFH6212 to the left) into a more ergonomic, sleek modern look with a couple of layout options in the Philips 2310 (LFH2310/00) and Philips 2320 (LFH2320/00) models. 

Both the Philips 2310 and 2320 come with three foot pedals. The middle pedal is long, thin and along the top on the 2310 model whereas the 2320′s middle pedal takes up a larger middle area. The pedals are supplied with a Philips driver disk however this is not required, they are pure plug and play pedals and can be setup in around one minute. 

Once your USB foot pedal has been connected and recognised by your computer fire up Express Scribe and find your way to the Control tab inside Playback Settings. Tick the ‘Use foot pedal playback control‘ and leave the default Port and Number of pedals settings as ‘GamePort 1 or USBGame 1‘ and ‘3-Pedals‘.

With Express Scribe you can configure any pedal combination. Lets say you like the left pedal to be ‘play’, the right pedal to be ‘rewind’ and the middle pedal to be ‘forward’, easy. Simply click on the ‘Foot Pedal Control Setup Wizard‘ and you are asked which pedal you prefer for each audio function, rewind/play/forward. Finally the tick box ‘Quick tap on play pedal locks play on‘ lets you decide if you want to just tap the play pedal to start audio playback or if you prefer to hold the pedal down for audio playback. Using the combination of Express Scribe and the Philips USB Foot Controls you have full, easy configuration of your foot pedal set up.

Sure, the price of the Philips pedals (RRP AU$179) are quite a bit more than the pedals sold by NCH via the AltoEdge website like the VEC, but in my opinion you do get what you pay for. Coming from Philips who is a big player in the digital dictation and transcription world, their USB foot pedal is solid and responsive. As they come from Philips Dictation Australia they are also covered by an Australian warranty.

Our sister company, The Transcription People use and recommend the Philips 2310 and 2320 USB foot controls for transcription with Express Scribe.

For more information about the Philips USB transcription foot controls please visit the Dictate Australia website.

One thing most people who buy a digital voice recorder have in common is the need to listen to the audio while typing up notes or a verbatum account of the audio. For those who are not in the know, this usually involves playing the audio back through Windows Media Player or QuickTime flicking quickly to Word to type a few words then flicking back to the audio player to stop and rewind so you can hear the last sentence or two again. This in itself will very quickly become tedious and a truely painful experience.

This is where transcription software can and does help. Both Olympus and Philips have their professional transcription kits for people who do this kind of thing day in and day out, but for your average person who has an occassional need to transcribe some audio you need to look at Express Scribe from NCH Swift Sound.

Express Scribe from NCH

NCH is an Aussie company based down in Canberra. They have been around for a fair few years and I have watched them grow over time from quite a small outfit to the giant in the digital audio software world, not just in Australia but all over the World.

What do I like about Express Scribe? It’s price and it’s functionality. The price can’t be argued with its $0. It’s functionality is certainly not lacking. Included in the software is variable playback speed, auto file loading from network or email and background noise reduction or extra volume boost for those not so well recorded audio files.

Express Scribe is available for both Windows and Mac. The Mac version supports alot less audio file formats than the Windows version which covers just about anything you can throw at it, except at the time of writing this post, the new DSS Pro (.ds2) audio format.

So how does it work? You take your audio file (from a digital voice recorder, from your email, downloaded from the web etc) and load it into Scribe (much like putting a tape in the palyer in the old days). Once loaded and ready to play you flip to your Word document and using the configured playback keys (or USB foot control) you play/stop/rewind your audio while typing your notes from it without leaving the Word document. Trust me, this saves a mountain of time.

Express Scribe does have an area where you can type called the Typepad but in my opinion better to type directly into Word or whatever word processing software you use to get the benefits of spell checker real time.

Setting playback control. With Express Scribe you have the option to use any keys on the keyboard for stop/play/rewind (and a load of other audio manipulation functions) or a USB foot pedal like the cheap and nasty VEC’s or the more classy three pedal Philips 2310/2320 and four pedal 2330. By default Express Scribe comes pre-configured with a number of F (function keys) to perform various tasks like stop/play/rewind. You can either go with these presets or you can set your own. In this screen shot you will see I have set my arrow/cursor keys to take on the stop/play/rewind function. Just about any keys and any key combinations can be used.

Express Scribe - Setting Playback Control Keys

Selecting audio file types. As I mentioned above the Windows version of Scribe can take a multitude of varying audio file formats, here is the latest list from the NCH website:

Express Scribe on Windows:-

wav, mp3, dct (encrypted dictation), ra and rm (RealAudio), sri (VoiceIt), dss (Olympus, Lanier and Grundig), au, aif, msv, dvf, mp2, vox, compressed wav (including PCM, uLaw, ALaw, ADPCM, CELP, SBC, Windows Media, DSP TrueSpeech, GSM 6.10), Philips Digital Recorder format, Sanyo Digital Recorder format and more.  Please note that DSP TrueSpeech is not currently supported on Vista.

Express Scribe on Intel Mac:-

wav, mp3, aiff and dct file formats.

Windows people be warned, although the software can take all those formats they are not “on” by default. You will need to check the tick box list of audio files to make sure the file type you want to transcribe is ticked. Obviously the more common audio formats are on by default but many are not. Settings -> File Types is where you will find the audio file list.

Sony DVF files. To play audio files from Sony digital voice recorders which produce .dvf files you will need to download and install an additional plugin from Sony. This is quick and easy to do and I recommend a reboot after install. The Sony plugin can be downloaded from here.

You can download the Windows version of Express Scribe from us here at Dictate Australia. We don’t get a commission or anything for the download, remember it’s free software, I just got tired of sending people daily to the NCH website so I had them brand a version for Dictate. Click the NCH logo and box to be taken to the download page.

A word of caution when installing. As this is free software NCH try to take install time as an opportunity to dump other software onto your PC. Personally I am not a fan of this and prefer the in application advertising method which is much less intrusive. Nonetheless, a tip for you. During the install process you will be given the opportunity to install other “recommended” software which can be selected via tick boxes. Do not tick any of the boxes, you only need Express Scribe and nothing else.