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Questions on Microphones/Soundcards

1. I am interested in a bluetooth Mic for my tablet PC running Vista & DNS 9.5. I would go for the TalkPro BTX-150 GTX if is was compatible. Any idea if or when it might be? 

Answer:

The VXI Bluetooth Expressway is compatible with Dragon version 9.5 running on Vista. You must create a new user training profile. For the correct Bluetooth User profile make sure to:

  1. Select the Bluetooth Microphone as the Dictation Source.
  2. Click the Advanced button to the right of the Vocabulary field and in the Speech model drop down list choose Bluetooth 8 kHz.

If you need to add a highly compatible Bluetooth radio (USB thumb size dongle) to your system Click Here. You will need to download the new Vista drivers if you decide to go with this. The drivers are accessible from a link on the page for the UsB Bluetooth dongle.


2. How do I setup a new Bluetooth user training profile in Dragon NaturallySpeaking version 9?  

Answer:

The trick to setting up a Bluetooth user profile in Dragon NaturallySpeaking is that you need to do the following in the new user profile:

  1. Under Dictation Source select Bluetooth microphone.
  2. Click the advanced button next to the vocabulary drop-down-list.
  3. Next to Speech model select Bluetooth 8 kHz from the drop-down list.

3. How do I prevent echoes in my new improved Sennheiser ME3 Headset?  

Answer:

If your dictation environment is within a room where there are reverberations from nearby walls, it pays to make a small modification to the microphone housing. This will prevent echoes from distorting the words you speak which would make it difficult for the speech recognition software to interpret them.

WARNING: eMicrophones will not be responsible if you tear the foam windscreen while performing this minor modification. If you are careful, there is unlikely to be a problem.

1.     Gently remove the foam windscreen from the microphone housing

2.     Note the thin opening/slit that travels halfway around the microphone housing.

3.     Cut a piece of tape slightly wider than the opening.

4.     Cover the slit with the tape.

5.     Replace the foam wind screen. Make sure pull evenly and carefully as this is where the tearing is most likely to occur.

 

4. How does one check and setup the audio and microphone in Microsoft Vista and Windows 7?  

Answer:

Here are step by step directions for setting the sound up in Vista:

1. Right click the speaker icon in the lower right Taskbar.
2. Select Recording Devices
3. Highlight the audio device you wish to use.
4. Set as default
5. Click Properties button in lower right
6. Click the Levels tab
7. If slider is not already at 100%, bring it there.
8. Click Apply and or OK to close the Microphone properties box.
9. Click Apply or OK to close the Sound window.
10. Open the sound window again and do steps 1,2, and 3.
11. Speak into the microphone. If the bars next to the default device
show any green the microphone is ready for you to run the Dragon Audio
Setup Wizard or the Windows Speech Recognition microphone setup.

 

5. How does one setup the microphone and soundcard in Windows Vista and Windows 7??  

Answer:

Here are step by step directions for setting the sound up in Vista:

1. Right click the speaker icon in the lower right Taskbar.
2. Select Recording Devices
3. Highlight the audio device you wish to use.
4. Set as default
5. Click Properties button in lower right
6. Click the Levels tab
7. If slider is not already at 100%, bring it there.
8. Click Apply and or OK to close the Microphone properties box.
9. Click Apply or OK to close the Sound window.
10. Open the sound window again and do steps 1,2, and 3.
11. Speak into the microphone. If the bars next to the default device
show any green the microphone is ready for you to run the Dragon Audio
Setup Wizard or the Windows Speech Recognition microphone setup.

 

6. How do I make a test Sound Recorder recording in Microsoft Vista and Windows 7?  

Answer:

  1. Make sure you have an audio input device, such as a microphone. Microphones connect to your computer sound card or preferably via a USB input. USB sound input bypasses an unshielded computer sound card and assures you of good sound input.
  2. Right Click the speaker icon in the lower right Taskbar of the computer screen. Select Recording Devices. Make sure the correct Recording Device (sound card or USB) is selected as the Default. If it is not, highlight and click Default.
  3. Start Sound Recorder by clicking the Start button in the lower left of your screen. Next, click All Programs, click Accessories, and then click Sound Recorder.
  4. Click Start Recording. Speak clearly for about 5 seconds.
  5. To stop recording audio, click Stop Recording.
  6. Click the File name box, type a file name for the recorded sound, and then click Save to save the recorded sound as an audio file. We point the file to be saved on the Desktop so it is easily found.

Double click the file you saved and your Media Player will play it back. There should be no obvious electronic noise. If there is electronic noise:

  • If using a non USB microphone, purchase a USB sound pod.
  • If using a notebook computer, disconnect the power cord from the AC outlet and make another recording. Some charging units have reversed polarity and introduce electronic noise.

 

7. How close should the microphone element be to my mouth?  

Answer:

The laws of physics dictate that the closer your mouth is to microphone element, the greater the pressure from your voice will be on the microphone element to make it vibrate to the same pattern as your voice waves. The greater the pressure from your voice, the less chance of extraneous noise entering your microphone.

When someone asks how far a microphone element should be from the mouth, we routinely tell them 1 inch or less based on what was said above. However, there are so many factors that affect speech recognition, the best answer is try different distances. For example, things that can affect speech recognition accuracy as related to the distance from the microphone are:

1. The strength of your voice (some people have very soft voices, a disc jockey has a very powerful booming voice). A stronger voice will work well at a greater distance.

2. The time of day. One's voice is generally weaker at the beginning and end of the day.

3. The level of background noise. The more noise, the closer your mouth should be to the microphone.

4. The quality of reflections off nearby surfaces. The closer you are to hard surfaces, the greater the chance of an echo affect. That is the sound bouncing back into the microphone a fraction of a second after your spoken words enter the microphone. The good microphone will reject an echo. A bad microphone will cause the software to struggle to figure out what you say very much like an out of focus picture is difficult to look at.

In summary, keep the microphone as close to your mouth as possible for best results. Definitely perform the speech recognition enrollment training with the microphone as close as possible. After that experiment what works best for you in your environment.

8. Do I understand correctly that a USB sound pod will give me at least the same audio quality that I would receive from a direct USB connection?  

Answer:

There is no such thing as a direct USB connection. To get your voice into the computer in digital format you need:

  1. A microphone. ALL microphones are analog. They take our analog voice (sound waves/vibrations) from the air, and direct these sounnd waves to a diaphragm that vibrates in the same pattern as the sound waves. Two copper wires connected to the diaphragm capture the diaphragm vibration patterns and pass them down the cable as small analog electrical impulses.
  2. A sound card is then required to change the analog electrical impulses to a digital format of bits/bytes recognized by a computer. A sound card can sit inside a computer or outside. Sound cards sitting outside a computer generally connect to the computer via a USB cable. The advantage to a sound card sitting outside the computer is it does not pick up the electronic noise within the computer enclosure.

A USB microphone is just a regular Analog microphone with the USB sound card (usually called a pod) attached to the cable of the microphone. The separate USB sound pod you are receiving, has the advantage of making your microphone modular should you ever wish to try a different microphone.

9. What is the best way to train and use a handheld microphone like one of the Sennheisers?  

Answer:

Tips for best accuracy when using a handheld microphone:

    • Perform a new enrollment with a close talking distance of 1-2" and excellent enunciation.
    • Use it at the close distance for the first hour of use as you diligently make corrections.
    • Dictate directly into the head of the microphone (down the axis).
    • Make sure you do not turn your head while dictating.
    • We supply a 15' cable as a standard (5' is available for notebook users). If you want to walk around, just slip the microphone out of its holder.
    • Keep a fairly consistent mouth to microphone distance. If there is a lot of background noise, the microphone should be closer to your mouth so that the voice signal in the microphone is louder relative to the background noise. After training, you can increase the distance by performing an audio setup to account for the ambient background noise. Be advised, best accuracy is always going to be with the microphone close to your mouth.

10. What exactly is a USB sound pod?   

Answer:
A USB sound pod is an external sound card that converts your analog voice signal into a digital signal outside of the computer enclosure.  Some computers have         inferior unshielded sound cards, which allows static and interference to enter into your dictation.  A USB sound pod bypasses the sound card entirely and ensures pue audio input.

11. I hear people talk about USB microphones being Digital. I thought all microphones are analog?  

Answer:

All microphones are analog but this signal must be converted to digital for a computer to process it.  Some microphones connect directly to the computer's sound card, which converts the analog signal to digital.  Other microphones connect to a computer's USB port.  These usually have a small box on the cable which converts the analog signal to digital which is then input into the computer digitally through the USB port.