Here's the idea: I'd like to write a list of questions to send to my grandparents along with a copy of text for training Dragon (if necessary).  I'd like to have them sit down and respond to the questions (e.g. tell me what you remember about the first time that you met Grandma, first date, wedding day, the day that each of your children was born, etc.).  I want to take the recordings and have Dragon transcribe them so that I have an audio and a text version of their memories.

I don't expect them to be willing to hold a recorder or to wear a headset mic, so it probably needs to be something that will be accurate from a nearby table, or a lapel mic that can simply clip to their shirt.

I won't be present with Dragon, so I do need a digital recorder of some sort.  I don't anticipate using the recorder very frequently after this project is done so keeping costs down would be a plus.

Any recommendations?

Thanks,

Rob

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DNS 11.5 Legal, Legal Vocabulary | KB 2011 | Dell Latitude E4310, Intel Core i5 @ 2.4 GHz, 8 GB RAM | Windows 7 64-bit| Sennheiser ME3 + Andrea USB pod, VXi Blueparrott Expressway

You wouldn't even need to use a digital recorder, an audio recording software such as Audacity on a notebook or something and any decent microphone placed before them will do, if you manage to show them how to use it.


Rüdiger


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Well, it's past the point where we can make any changes in the code, but we can still make changes to the Easter Egg!

Therein lies the problem .  I'm looking for something that will be as simple for them as possible.  That's why I was thinking of a standalone recorder.

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DNS 11.5 Legal, Legal Vocabulary | KB 2011 | Dell Latitude E4310, Intel Core i5 @ 2.4 GHz, 8 GB RAM | Windows 7 64-bit| Sennheiser ME3 + Andrea USB pod, VXi Blueparrott Expressway

I thought as much, but using a software like the one I mentioned may not be anymore difficult than using a digital recorder properly. Not considering the cost.

Rüdiger


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Well, it's past the point where we can make any changes in the code, but we can still make changes to the Easter Egg!

Perhaps it would work to have them use the "Dragon Recorder" app on an iPhone 4 that I have laying around?  Will that record well enough to produce an accurate transcription if it is on the table instead of being close to their mouth?

Or is there a decent lapel mic that I can pair with it?

I'm going to have to ship the entire thing around the country a couple of times, so sending an entire notebook probably won't be any cheaper.

Thanks!

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DNS 11.5 Legal, Legal Vocabulary | KB 2011 | Dell Latitude E4310, Intel Core i5 @ 2.4 GHz, 8 GB RAM | Windows 7 64-bit| Sennheiser ME3 + Andrea USB pod, VXi Blueparrott Expressway

I'm a great fan of the Olympus recorders (see my signature). For this task, you won't need anything like the sophisticated recorders in my signature.

 

If you are only planning on recording in mono and WMA or MP3 is adequate (only more expensive models support WAV), have a look at the Olympus VN-712PC. You won't find the facilities of a more expensive device such as those in the DM series (stereo, WAV support, rechargeable batteries, ability to act as a USB sound card), but you don't need those things for this task.

 

I'd pair the recorder with an Olympus ME-52W microphone (despite the picture, it comes with a tie clip, cable and foam windshield - which tends to fall off; I fixed this with a sliver of double sided tape).

 

 

I don't know what country you're in, but these two items can be bought new today from Amazon UK for just over £62, including tax and shipping.

 

You may well find Olympus recorders similar to the current VN series (or even the much more well appointed DM series) on eBay for relatively little - though be aware that some models use rechargeable battery packs that are not cheap to replace if missing. I wouldn't buy the microphone second-hand - it is so cheap as a new item that it is not worth the hassle of dealing with a potentially defective one.

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David Wood

Hardware: Olympus DS-7000 (for dictation) - Olympus AS-7000 (for manual transcription) - Olympus DM-670 with ME-30W microphones (for seminars and events)

Software: DNS 12.5 Legal UK - pcbyvoice SpeechStart+ - Olympus ODMS 6.2 (Dictation and Transcription Modules) - Olympus Sonority Plus 1.4.3

Thanks!

Any idea how good the accuracy of Dragon will be and what the sound quality will be like if I pair the Olympus VN-712PC and Olympus ME-52W microphone?  I will have to go in and correct the mistakes that Dragon makes, and I'd like to be able to send the audio recording & text transcript together.

I notice that you have different purposes for each of the devices that you have.  I didn't know that there was a difference between transcription and dictation.  I'd love to know the difference if you have the time to explain it.  Perhaps there's something I should be doing in my legal practice?

Thanks again,

Rob

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DNS 11.5 Legal, Legal Vocabulary | KB 2011 | Dell Latitude E4310, Intel Core i5 @ 2.4 GHz, 8 GB RAM | Windows 7 64-bit| Sennheiser ME3 + Andrea USB pod, VXi Blueparrott Expressway

 

I have used Dragon successfully with an ME-52W via an Andrea USB-SA sound card (first edition) or my DM-550 in USB composite mode. The accuracy is remarkably good for such a cheap microphone, I find. I have also fed DM-550 recordings in WMA mode made using an ME-52W to Dragon with decent results, but find this type of recorder unsuitable for dictation due to the lack of in-recorder editing.

 

As always, the quality of the dictation matters - not running words together and enunciating clearly without being artificial make a huge difference.

 

 

So far as the different devices go, the DS-7000 is a pure dictation device. It is DSS Pro only, mono, and has a slide switch with comprehensive in-recorder editing (so you can stop and start, move through the recording, play bits back, insert sections, delete sections and overwrite sections at will). The ODMS Dictation Module is supplied with the DS-7000 unless you find the slightly cheaper bundle that omits it. Amongst other things, ODMS Dictation Module is the only software that allows you to configure the DS-7000, also and it supports dictating directly to your computer using an Olympus foot pedal.

 

The DM-550 is used for 'real time' recordings when I don't need in-recorder editing, such as meetings and seminars. It is a stereo device supporting WMA, MP3 and WAV. I sometimes use its built-in microphones, but mainly use it with a variety of external microphones, depending on the task.

 

There's a little more detail on how I use my recorders in a previous post.

 

 

Most of my dictation is fed to Dragon for transcription and manual correction, often via ODMS for the workflow advantages. However, there's no way Dragon can successfully transcribe recordings with multiple speakers, also Dragon can make a mess of anything with a lot of legal citations (we don't currently have Legal edition of Dragon in the UK - there was a rather poor Legal add-on to Dragon 10 Professional and there will apparently be a Legal UK version of Dragon 12). The only way to handle this is using a foot pedal plus keyboard (or re-speaking to Dragon).

 

ODMS Dictation Module supports playback, but only under keyboard or mouse control. For foot pedal controlled playback, you need the ODMS Transcription Module. The AS-7000 is the ODMS Transcription Module bundled with the latest Olympus RS-31 foot pedal (a great improvement on earlier models such as the RS-28) and a headset that I detest (I use my own headphones instead).

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David Wood

Hardware: Olympus DS-7000 (for dictation) - Olympus AS-7000 (for manual transcription) - Olympus DM-670 with ME-30W microphones (for seminars and events)

Software: DNS 12.5 Legal UK - pcbyvoice SpeechStart+ - Olympus ODMS 6.2 (Dictation and Transcription Modules) - Olympus Sonority Plus 1.4.3

We weren’t completely clear about one aspect of your question. Were you going to have your grandparents read one of the trainings into the recorder so that you could create a digital recorder user profile to transcribe their recordings? If you plan on transcribing their recordings, you may not have very good luck with a lapel microphone because of the increased distance. We found lapel microphones to be reasonably accurate for making recordings but not as well suited for creating training files or recordings that need to be transcribed. If possible, we recommend dictating within 3 inches of the recorders built-in microphone or adding an inexpensive analog headset such as the KnowBrainer Hands-free.

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