Dictating to Dragon NaturallySpeaking with voice recorders

Aliya writes and Andy answers:

I really appreciated your article on Dragon NaturallySpeaking and IBM ViaVoice.

I am debating on writing articles using voice recognition, and am contemplating on picking up a Rio Carbon 5g to dictate articles and book chapters, ideas, thoughts, etc., so that I can actually publish something.

Great, but the Rio digital recorder may not be the best choice. Use the ScanSoft hardware compatibility list to make sure that your voice recorder will work properly with your speech recognition software.

I am thinking about re-entering the voice recognition software realm again because I am unable to get my thoughts down on paper when I carve out time to do so. Instead I seem to do really well (profound things come out of my mouth!) when talking with others.

You know, I'm exactly the same way. Only nothing I say is profound.

Do you believe using an MP3 player to digitally record spoken voice will work well with DNS 8?

Yep. Dictating to a device and then using that device with Dragon NaturallySpeaking is a supported process. Here's related text, straight from the DNS help file:

Preparing to use a recorder

Before you can dictate using a portable recorder, you must:

1) Install the necessary recorder software, if any (consult the recorder manufacturer's documentation).

2) Create and train a user specifically adapted to the sound of your recorded voice.

Using a recorder

Once you have created a user, follow these steps whenever you want to use your recorder with Dragon NaturallySpeaking:

1) Dictate into your recorder.

2) Transcribe the recorded speech.

3) Correct transcription errors.

Would I have to train the computer by talking into the mp3 player and then playing it back to the machine?

That's the process, yes.

Can I dictate to my laptop and use the MP3 player too? Or are those two different voice profiles I would have to train?

Yes and yes. Not a big deal - when DNS starts, just pick the profile you want, and you're off. Minimum training time for each profile is 15-30 minutes, so there's a little bit of setup involved at first. But once you're past that, it's clear sailing.

Do you think I should buy the "Preferred" or "Pro" version?

First, check out the version comparison matrix, and decide which features are most relevant to the software you'll be using and the functionality you need.

Considering voice recorders, you want at least the "Preferred" edition, unless you also want to dictate to Microsoft Outlook, in which case you should get "Professional". But note that "Standard" does not support use with a digital recorder.