[MV] Re: Dictation Only VV?

[T. Patrick Henebry]

>Now I have a related question (since it looks like I'll be getting 
>ViaVoice Simply Dictation): What microphone should I get???  For the 
>USB mics, does it matter if it's plugged into a hub or directly into 
>the computer?  For non-USB mics, is the Griffin iMic a good way of 
>hooking them up?  Getting a USB mic would seem to be the simpler 
>choice, but is there any difference in quality of the mics?

Do not plug a USB microphone into a hub if you can avoid it. This has 
a tendency reduce signal quality and therefore recognition accuracy.

My preferred setup as an Andrea Electronics USB Pod (I haven't tried 
the Griffin iMic.) and a good analog microphone connected to it.  I 
have found this gives the best results on both Macs and PCs. My 
favorite microphone is the Andrea Electronics ANC-700.  The Andrea 
Electronics NC-7100 has a built in USB Pod but is not quite as 
accurate in my experience.  However, at only $50 the NC-7100 is worth 
considering if you have a quiet environment.  If you find the ANC-700 
to heavy try a VXI TalkPro Xpress.  This is what I am currently using 
so I can dictate into either iListen or ViaVoice.  When coupled with 
an Andrea Electronics USB Pod the VXI TalkPro Xpress is an excellent 
microphone, but I don't recommend it for travel as it is lightly 
constructed and will not fold flat.

  (Note to iListen users: Andrea Electronics microphones do not work 
well with iListen for some users.  According to MacSpeech tis is 
because they do not quite have enough gain.  If you're going to use 
both ViaVoice and iListen I suggest a VXI TalkPro Xpress connected to 
an Andrea Electronics USB Pod.)

Take it form somebody who has been using speech recognition for 
years, the right microphone is crucial to good results.  There are 
quality differences between microphones.  I get mine from 
eMicrphones. the owner Martin Markoe is well known in the speech 
recognition community.  Here are some URLs:

Andrea Electronics USB Pod
<http://www.emicrophones.com/microphones/prod_details.asp?prodID=003>

Andrea Electronics ANC-700
<http://www.emicrophones.com/microphones/prod_details.asp?prodID=006>

VXI TalkPro Xpress
<http://www.emicrophones.com/microphones/prod_details.asp?prodID=047>

Andrea Electronics NC-7100 (not quite as good as the other two 
microphones, but a good price and a built in USB Pod)
<http://www.emicrophones.com/microphones/prod_details.asp?prodID=020>
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T. Patrick Henebry