"Dictate Australia" - Digital Voice Recorders - Voice Recognition - Office Software

What Is The Latest Model Olympus Voice Recorder To Replace Your Discontinued Model?

2012-01-03T14:01:00.001+11:00

Olympus voice are constantly evolving their product range. As new technology becomes available and as memory prices continue to fall Olympus refresh their product lines.

Often we have customers who use their digital voice recorders for years and then decide to upgrade or replace their older model digital notetaker or dictaphone. It can be difficult to find the latest equivalent model to replace your older voice recorder.

In our latest blog post I have listed as many old discontinued Olympus digital voice recorder models and show their current model equivalent.

For example, if you have been using your Olympus DS-4000 digital dictaphone for years and it has finally given up or you have upgraded to Windows 7 - a quick look at my blog post will show you that the Olympus DS-5000 or DS-5000iD is the current replacement model.

Click the title above to go to our main blog.

Dragon Site Licences For Education [Australia] - What You Need For Your School or Uni

2011-12-30T14:22:00.000+11:00

Our focus at Dictate Australia in 2012 is to bring Dragon to schools, TAFEs and universities. Educational facilities across Australia can take advantage of some great discounted pricing from Nuance in order to get students using and creating using just their voice on Mac and Windows computers.

In our latest blog post we look at the site licence or volume licence model for education in Australia. How the licences are determined (by machine install rather than per use) and the benefits of taking out optional maintenance and support on Nuance Dragon products.

As always, click the title above to head to our main blog and the in depth post.

Speak To Tweet - Dragon Voice Recognition Updates Twitter

2011-12-05T08:39:00.000+11:00

In the latest round of software updates for Nuance's collection of voice recognition software for Windows (Dragon NaturallySpeaking) and Mac (Dragon Dictate) voice commands were added for status updates to Twitter (and Facebook) using just a voice command.

"Post to Twitter" is all you need to say to bring up a dialogue box ready for your speech recognised tweet.

Head to our main blog, click the title above, to see a quick how to video of my very first voice tweet.

Nuance Release Dragon Express - Voice Recognition For Poor Mac Users

2011-11-24T13:04:00.002+11:00

If I had a dollar for every time I had been asked for a free or a trial version of Dragon Dictate, the leading voice recognition software on the Mac from Nuance Communications, I would have easily a couple of hundred dollars by now. Still, it is a good question and one worth asking. With Dragon Dictate coming in at a couple of hundred dollars plus it is quite an outlay for something you might want to try.

Step up Dragon Express [app store link] - a brand new app available on the Mac app store which goes one step closer to helping make people feel a little more warm and fuzzy about speech recognition without spending too much hard earned. The Dragon Express app is US$49.99 (AU$51.99) - so still a fairly significant amount but just enough if you are really keen to see what voice recognition on the Mac can do.

For more info on Dragon Express and how it differs from the fully fledged Mac app Dragon Dictate 2.5 head to our main blog for a peruse. Click the title link above to be hyperlinked there.

Express Scribe for Mac - Pro & Free Versions Available

2011-11-12T16:53:00.000+11:00

NCH have just released the Pro version of their hugely popular Express Scribe transcription software for the Mac typists amongst us and yes there are plenty. There has been a free edition of Express Scribe for Mac for some time but NCH have re-jigged the Express Scribe brand attempting to cash in on what has been a hugely successful and popular free package over the years.

On Mac Express Scribe follows the same pattern now as Windows, a free edition with only a handful of popular audio formats supported. Perfect for those just getting into transcription typing to see how the software works and to train themselves with little (if you buy a footpedal) or no (if you just use hotkeys) expense.

The Pro version on the Mac supports just about every audio dictation format you can expect to receive except for the obvious ommision of the older Digital Speech Standard (.dss) files and .DVF audio files from Sony (these are supported in the Windows Pro version of Express Scribe).

For the full list of supported audio and video formats for both the free and Pro version of Express Scribe for Mac head to our main blog - click the title on this post above to be teleported there now.

Pro Olympus Voice Mac Users - DSS Player Plus v7 Upgrade For Lion

2011-11-11T11:08:00.000+11:00

Mac Pro voice users who currently use the professional digital dictation range from Olympus - DS-5000, DS-5000iD & DS-3400 - a new upgrade is available to the DSS Player Plus V7 Software for Mac.

The upgrade will take your software to version 7.2.8 and makes DSS Player Plus v7 compatible with OS X 10.7 a.k.a. Lion.

Prior to this release new installs of DSS Player Plus v7 on Lion failed to recognise the digital dictaphone when docked.

Download link and more info on our main blog - just click the title of this post above to go there now.

NCH Finally Have A Paid Model For Express Scribe - Limits The Free Edition

2011-11-07T13:14:00.001+11:00

NCH Software's move to finally make some money out of their hugely popular transcription software called Express Scribe is now just about complete as at version 5.40

Users of the free versions prior to this release certainly enjoyed some fantastic transcription software for nothing but an upgrade from older versions to 5.40 will see all that change.

NCH have limited the audio playback in the free edition to just .MP3, .WMA, .WAV, .AIF and .DCT audio file formats and all video formats have been removed totally from the free version of Express Scribe.

Buying the Pro version of Express Scribe will give you back all the audio and video formats that are commonly transcribed by transcription typists and at around AU$36 (US$32) you can't really grumble as at that price it is still a bit of a bargain.

Also, users of non Alto Edge USB foot pedals look out as support has also been removed for those devices in v5.40 Express Scribe free edition - if you have a Philips 2310 or 2320 it will no longer function until you buy the paid edition.

More details at our main blog including a full list of compatible video and audio formats and the Express Scribe version history - click the heading above to go straight there.

Found - The Best Free & Paid Digital Voice Recorder Apps for iPhone and iPad

2011-10-27T22:08:00.000+11:00

Need to record your notes or thoughts? Nodding off during meetings but need to listen to what is being said? Want a LiveScribe pen but can't justify the cost? Own an iPhone or iPad? Then do we have the apps you have been looking for.

Digital voice recorder apps are nothing new and judging by the huge number of them in the iTunes app store developers think it is something we all need. We have tried a few over the years, they all pretty much do what it says on the packet - records your voice. So to help you we have found what we think is the best free digital voice recorder app (which also doubles as a digital dictaphone) for the iPhone. And for those of you with dollars burning your virtual iTunes pocket we have our favourite universal digital voice recorder app.

Head to our main blog, click the title of this post above, to see who we rate as the #1 free and paid digital dictation apps for iPhone and iPad.

Using DragonNaturally Speaking To Transcribe Meetings, Can It Be Done?

2011-10-26T11:14:00.000+11:00

Using Dragon alone with a recording the answer is no. But if you add you, yes you, in between the recording and Dragon then it can, but not easily.

In our latest blog post we look at how digital recordings or videos can be converted from voice to text and the options that you have to do this. We look at using Dragon NaturallySpeaking or Dragon Dictate and a technique called voice writing or parroting to listen and speak what you hear into Dragon, not easy I tell you.

We also look at other options like transcribing the audio yourself and what software is available to help you. Or alternatively using an outsourced transcription service and what to look for in this service and how they should work.

Click on the blog title above to go to our main blog and the article in full.

Dragon Recorder - New iOS5 App From Nuance

2011-10-22T11:30:00.001+11:00

Pushing on with their love of all things iOS Nuance have just released another iOS app bringing their voice scentric portfolio to four apps.

Dragon Recorder is their new app and it is a voice recording app which can be used on iPhone, iPad and 4th Gen iPod touch. It is a fairly basic digital voice recording app and records your spoken voice in the .WAV audio format.

The idea behind this app is to raise awareness of the transcription from recorded voice functionality of the Premium and Professional edition for Dragon NaturallySpeaking on Windows and also for the dedicated recorded voice to text product on the Mac the legacy product from MacSpeech called Scribe.

More detail on our main blog - click the title above.

Planning To Use A Digital Voice Recorder or iPhone/iPad Recorder App With Dragon NaturallySpeaking?

2011-10-14T12:58:00.000+11:00

If the answer is YES then you may want to read this blog post before you go ahead and part with any cash.

With the Premium and Professional (not the Home) edition of Dragon NaturallySpeaking you have the ability to record your spoken voice on a digital voice recorder or on your iPhone or iPad and later play that into Dragon and have it transcribe what you said. This is very handy for busy people who can't always dictate in front of their PC.

This is known as deferred transcription and requires a high quality audio recording plus all the usual hard and fast rules when dictating to Dragon NaturallySpeaking i.e. very quiet background and clear diction.

Before you go ahead and buy a new digital voice recorder or download one of the many iPhone or iPad voice recorder apps you should check first how they rate with Nuance on their hardware compatibility website.

Head over to our main blog to read more and for the link to the Nuance compatibility website, just click on the title of this blog post to go straight there.

Buying A Pro Olympus Digital Dictation Recorder - Look For The Pro Dealer

2011-10-13T12:32:00.002+11:00

In Australia resellers of the Olympus Pro range of digital dictation voice recorders (DS-5000/DS-3400/DS-2400) and transcription kits (AS-5000/AS-2400) are selected by Olympus themselves. There are strict guidelines as to who can become an Olympus Pro Dictation reseller and currently there are just over thirty in Australia.

However, a number of websites are springing up selling the Pro range of Olympus recorders from companies who are not Pro resellers are are sourcing their stock from overseas, likely the US where the strong Australian dollar makes US purchases more favourable. So why should you buy from an official Olympus Australia Pro reseller? In our latest blog post we look at this question and list the Pro resellers in Australia. Click the blog title above to go direct to the article.

New Olympus DirectRec Series II In Australia

2011-10-04T23:44:00.001+11:00

Out with the old and in with the new.

Old being the Directrec series I USB hand held dictation mics (DR-1000 and DR-2000) and the new being the Directrec Series II USB hand held dictation mics (DR-2100, DR-2200, DR-2300).

This isn't your standard replace for the sake of replacing either. The Series II are worth taking some time to have a look at. They have been ergonomically re-designed so fits in your hand alot more comfy which is a big deal when you consider the mileage these USB connected mics get.

Often used as an alternative to the traditional tape or digital dictation recorders, the Directrec in conjunction with the Olympus DSS Player Pro R5 dictation module software gives you a powerful dictating tool in your hand which records directly to your PC. All the new DR series come with a slide switch for easy dictation functions such as rewind/review and insert/over write. Plus the DR-2200 and DR-2300 also have a trackball for control of your computers mouse from the hand held mic saving you time swapping between mouse and mic.

But the big news with these new hand helds is their mics. Vastly improved over the older DR series the high quality mics in the DR-2100/DR-2200/DR-2300 have been certified as highly accurate with Nuance's Dragon NaturallySpeaking.

The link with DNS is what is going to make these little units very popular in legal and medical practices all over the world.

Dictate Australia - Now Suppliers Of LiveScribe Echo SmartPens

2011-10-04T20:10:00.001+11:00

Yes we are back selling the LiveScribe range of Echo SmartPens - these handy little gadgets can record your meeting, lecture or conference while you hand write notes. Not only that, they will link the audio to what you write. Simply tap any location of your text in your hand written notes and the audio plays back from the moment it was written, yes that is technology magic at its best.

We sold the original LiveScribe Pulse SmartPens when they first arrived in Australia, now we are back selling the full range of their latest digital voice recorder pen, the Echo.

Available now on our new evolving website with free delivery across Australia. Click here to have a peek at the 2Gb, 4Gb and 8Gb pen packages.

LS-3 - Latest PCM Music Recorder From Olympus Australia

2011-09-18T16:36:00.000+10:00

With the discontinue of the LS-10 and LS-11 digital PCM music recorders earlier in 2011 there was an obvious gap in the Olympus Australia digital recorder range for music lovers.

That gap has now been fully filled by the awesome new Olympus LS-3 digital PCM music recorder. Just released into Australia the LS-3 comes with a couple of very cool new features.

First of which is the Tresmic microphone system. Secreted below the mic grills of the LS-3 are three seperate mics. The center mic is omnidirectional which enhances lower frequencies. Then two mics sits either side of the center mic which are high-performance directional mics. The center mic can be turned on or off, adjusting the frequency response.

The second very neat feature is a pre-record function. This is very clever, how many times have you gone to record something and not quite hit the record button in time? With pre-record on the LS-3 keeps a two second buffer of audio, as soon as you hit record the previous two seconds are then added to the recording making sure you never miss that moment again.

Complete with 4Gb of on board memory and a microSD expansion slot the LS-3 is available from Dictate Australia and has an RRP of $299 incl. GST

Express Scribe Now .ds2 Compatible

2011-09-13T14:27:00.000+10:00

As of version 5.30 Express Scribe (Windows) can now load and play DSS Pro audio files, better known as .ds2 files, from both Olympus and Philips recorders.

A point of great angst for nearly two years now with the fleet of transcriptionists worldwide who dedicate their lives to audio typing using Express Scribe, the handy free software from NCH that will play just about every audio format known to man has finally overcome its greatest hurdle, the .ds2 file.

Prior to this update typists who received a .ds2 audio file had a few options:

Ask the sender to convert to .dss or other compatible format
Upgrade their own transcription software to a paid Olympus kit
Buy software to convert the audio for them

So what are you waiting for, head over to http://www.nch.com.au/scribe and get the latest version and become .ds2 compatible. (Not yet Mac, just the Windows people).

Olypmus LS-20M Coming To Australia Any Day Now

2011-08-18T11:39:00.002+10:00

One device we have had our eye on for some months now is the Olympus LS-20M which has been hugely popular over in the US. Why are we getting excited about this unit? Well it marks the start of a cross over between Olympus Imaging and their impressive camera knowledge and Olympus Voice with their just as impressive voice recording skills.

Squish the two together and you come up with the LS-20M, HD 1080p video mixed with PCM audio and you are onto a winner.
Olympus Imaging quietly snuck this into the latest Australian Olympus reseller price list released this morning (18th August 2011) maybe thinking nobody would notice. Perfect timing too with Father Day coming, Christmas on the horizon and on a personal note my birthday next week !
The Olympus LS-20M has an RRP of $449 incl. GST in Australia.

Dropbox - The Easy Free Way To Transfer Large Audio Files

2011-08-05T14:39:00.001+10:00

Audio files, especially from the non professional high quality digital notetakers, are very large in size, too large to email. This is not a bad thing, the audio they are recording is after all very high quality, especially if you are using a PCM recorder generating uncompressed WAV files. So how do you easily get these audio files to colleagues or to an outsourced transcription service? The answer, Dropbox.

Dropbox has been around for a couple of years and has redefined the way we share and backup files. Dropbox uses a mix of both local storage (a directory or folder on your Mac or PC) and cloud storage, syncing whatever you drop in your Dropbox folder with the cloud.

Certain folders or even files can be shared with others making it an ideal tool for sharing your large audio files with select people. head over to our main blog to read more ... oh yeah, Dropbox is FREE for 2Gb of cloud storage.

Mac OS X 10.7 Lion - Not Friendly With MacSpeech Scribe

2011-07-28T12:47:00.001+10:00

Since the flurry of new releases in the last week from both Apple, with OS X 10.7 Lion and Nuance with Dragon Dictate 2.5, we have had a few phone calls and emails asking about some of the older MacSpeech products.

Not so much MacSpeech Dictate as most users seem to have upgraded to the Nuance offering of 2.0 but many are still using MacSpeech Scribe. Like most Apple users they are keen to get their hands on the latest and greatest anything from Apple.

Unfortunatly, in an update on the Nuance for Mac wesbite, the news is out that MacSpeech Scribe is not supported in OS X 10.7 Lion and users of this product will need to stay on 10.6 Snow Leopard if they want to continue using MacSpeech Scribe.

MacSpeech Scribe takes only recorded audio from a digital voice recorder and transcribes voice to text rather than speaking directly to your Mac.

Dragon Dictate for Mac - Free Update To 2.5 - Use iPhone As Remote Mic

2011-07-27T11:28:00.000+10:00

Nuance have been busy this week, first an update for the Windows crowd and yesterday a bump for the Mac crowd. If you are a registered user of Dragon Dictate 2.0 you will receive a free update to version 2.5 via check for updates.

Go grab the free Dragon Remote Mic from the iTunes app store and give your iPhone a go as a remote mic, its very cool and only takes the usual 5 minutes to voice train.

Also new in this release:

Microsoft Word 2011 for Mac support
Social media updates to Twitter and Facebook via voice command

Its Here Australia - Dragon NaturallySpeaking Free Upgrade to 11.5

2011-07-26T12:39:00.003+10:00

Finally, today I received a popup on my desktop to let me know that my free upgrade from Dragon NaturallySpeaking 11 to 11.5 is now available for download, you can imagine the excitement (if you can't picture an old bloke, standing, punching the air going "whoop whoop").

Here's a tip, if you have more than one Dragon NaturallySpeaking to upgrade choose the download option, its a near 500mb file so will save you time and bandwidth.

If you are a Premium or Professional user, while you are waiting for the upgrade to download head over to your local iTunes store and grab the Nuance Dragon Remote Mic app for your iPhone, I think we are all going to love using our iPhone's to dictate wirelessly.

Roarrrrrrr - Dragon Dictate & Lion, Compatible?

2011-07-15T17:17:00.003+10:00

Any second now Lion will be upon us and Apple fans around the world will be watching as the huge 3Gb+ download slowly makes its way to our Macs.

But what of Dragon Dictate from Nuance, will it still work under Lion? Head over to our main blog and take a look ... (click this blog post title to go straight there)

Olympus DM-3 vs Olympus DM-5

2011-07-07T14:52:00.002+10:00

Choosing a digital voice recorder can be a little frustrating sometimes, mainly due to the huge range of digital voice recorders all sporty a thousand features. Fortunatly there are people like me who know the best digital voice recorders, Olympus, inside out.

In our latest blog post we look at two of the higher range digital notetakers (perfect for interviews, meetings, focus groups), the Olympus DM-3 and the Olympus DM-5. To look at they appear to be the same, except for the colour, but there are a few features available on one and not the other. We detail the maximum recording times on both along with the features that the DM5 has that the DM3 doesn't to help you decide on the right model for you.

Latest Firmware v1.20 for Olympus DM-3 & DM-5

2011-07-03T15:52:00.003+10:00

The latest firmware for the Olympus DM3 and Olympus DM5 digital voice recorders is available now for download and install. The update (from version 1.10) adds some new functionality to the DM-3 and DM-5 recorders, the list of updates from the previous release are:

Support the functions of USB microphone or Speaker.
Supports the function to register the voice keywords for the schedule.
Supports the function to register the voice memos for the schedule.
Supports the playback for audio files from the schedule list display.
Improve the volume setting when the text file is spoken out.
Supports to directly connect the device to CD drive and import DAISY contents from CD (Only for DM-5)

Not sure which firmware version you have on your Olympus DM3 or DM5? Head over to our main blog where we explain how to find your current firmware version: click here

How To Update The Firmware: Olympus DM-3 / DM-5 Digital Voice Recorders

2011-07-02T17:18:00.004+10:00

A new feature that has started to creep into the higher end digital voice recorders of late from Olympus is the ability to update the onboard firmware. This gives the end user, you lot, the ability to keep your recorder up-to-date. Firmware updates fix any minor bugs but more often than not add functionality and improve the performance and ease of use of the recorder.

What is firmware? Firmware is the software which controls your digital voice recorder, think of it as the operating system for your recorder much like Windows is for your PC and OS X for your Mac.

For more details on the latest version of firmware for the Olympus DM-3 and DM-5 recorders, where to get the firmware and a step by step guide on how to install the firmware using a Windows or Mac computer head to our main blog (here's a tip, click on this blogs title and you will go straight there).

Dragon NaturallySpeaking 11.5 - An iPhone app, Twitter & Facebook Updates

2011-07-02T14:39:00.002+10:00

Nuance last month announced a bump to Dragon NaturallySpeaking from version 11 to version 11.5. Whats new? Well just the usual: it's faster, it's more accurate, it's more user friendly and oh yeah, there is an iPhone app.

What the? Yep, rumours of Nuance and Apple cosying up together have been rife over the last few months and with an iPhone app Nuance are tipping a nod to the Cupertino resident as well of course to acknowledging the huge percentage of Windows users who love their iPhones.

The Dragon Remote Mic app (available now on an iTunes store near you) will use your iPhone (or iPad) across wi-fi to provide a wireless mic into Dragon NaturallySpeaking.

Surging ahead also in this release is easy voice integration to post Facebook and Twitter updates without lifting a finger or in my case lifting my legs from off my desk as I recline back in a relaxed dictating posture.

The excitement of the Dragon Mic app being available now soon subsides when you jump into NaturallySpeaking to check for updates - there are none, yet. Should be out mid to end July 2011 so check for updates regularly.

The Dragon Remote mic app is only for Premium, Pro and Legal users. All registered version 11 usres (yes including you people using Home) will get the free upgrade to version 11.5 via download when it comes out.

Read more and see some Nuance videos on how to post to twitter and facebook and also how to configure the remote mic app with NaturallySpeaking 11.5 over on our main blog.

Olympus DM-450 & DM-550 Discontinued In Australia

2011-06-22T08:12:00.003+10:00

This week will see the end of the highly popular Olympus DM-450 and DM-550 recorders in Australia. They will be replaced by the new Olympus DM-3, the smaller brother of the already available DM-5.

The DM-450 in particular was the most popular digital voice recorder we had ever sold from the Olympus range and rightly so. It was a superb recorder in so many ways, superb audio pickup is a given with all Olympus recorders but the DM-450 was something special.

The first DM-3's will arrive in Australia at the end of this week (24th June, 2011) and we will get our hands on one straight away and run it through its paces. Blog review and photos will be posted soon after ... watch this space.

Dear Santa - Olympus LS-20M Please !

2011-06-01T13:47:00.002+10:00

About to launch in the US is the new Olympus LS-20M HD video camera and digital PCM recorder combo.

A new venture for Olympus taking their extensive imaging knowledge and combining it with their world class digital recording technology to come up with the beast known as the LS-20M.

Set to debut for a mere US$299 in June 2011 across America there are no plans as yet to see this device in Australia, but I have my fingers, toes and arms crossed hoping it will be here for Christmas. This will be the present from me, to me !!

Olympus Voice Announce DM-3 For Australia

2011-06-01T12:52:00.003+10:00

Olympus this week advised its Gold Aussie resellers to expect a new recorder in their notetaker range, the DM-3.

Expected in June/July 2011 the DM-3 will join the already available DM-5 in the top tier of digital notetakers for recording meetings, interviews, conferences and focus groups.

To make room for the large colour screen DM-3 we will see the end of the hugely popular DM-450 and DM-550 recorders, some of the best recorders ever to come out of Olympus in my opinion. The DM-3 along with the DM-5 raise the bar just that little bit more, great work Olympus.

Free Olympus Camera When You Buy A DS-5000 / AS-5000 Bundle

2011-04-29T10:09:00.002+10:00

In a first by Olympus Australia and I would guess the first of many we see a voice product linked with an imaging product. Testing the waters Olympus have started their first combined promo by offering a free Olympus FE-4030 digital camera if you buy a bundle of one Olympus DS-5000 (or DS-5000iD) Pro digital dictaphone and one Olympus AS-5000 Pro digital transcription kit.

This promo is only available from official Olympus Australia Pro dealers and only while stocks last so make sure you call ahead to check that camera stock is available.

Olympus DSS Player Pro R5.0.12 Is Released

2011-03-22T12:29:00.003+11:00

A small bug fix release appeared in my DSS Player Pro today bumping the release from version R5.0.11 to R.5.0.12

The new release addresses a couple of bugs and implements some additional functionality for administrators. The release is for Windows users of DSS Player Pro and applies to both the dictation and transcription modules.

For full details on the release notes and how to grab the latest version please click to our main blog.

Click - Olympus DSS Player Pro R5.0.12 Is Released

Where Is That Cable? - Olympus DS-5000 Replacement Parts

2011-02-21T11:02:00.003+11:00

By design the Olympus DS-5000 digital dictaphone is a portable device. Designed to be used in the office yes but also quite happy travelling with you on business or at home working out of hours or weekends. So it makes sense that when you rush to leave the office you grab your DS-5000 but forget a cable, the power, the dock, its case. Worse still, you do remember to take the cable, the dock, the power and the case but lose one on the way.

Well stress no more. In this blog post we look at all the parts included with the DS-5000 and detail what they are used for, their Olympus part number and what you can expect to pay (in Australian dollars).

So if you need an extra power supply or your rechargeable battery pack is growing old here you will find their details.

Australia Legal Vocab for Dragon NaturallySpeaking 11 Professionlal Released By Nuance

2011-02-20T15:35:00.002+11:00

Nuance Australia this week released the legal Australian edition vocabulary. Whats that then? Well a blob of legal terms specifically for the Australian legal market.

It is an add-on to Dragon NaturallySpeaking 11 Professional and will give legal users a much higher accuracy rate when dictating legal terms. The benefit is muss less time training your commonly used legal lingo.

Out now as a stand alone install if you have DNS 11 Pro already installed or you can buy a bundle of DNS 11 Pro plus the legal pack.

Olympus Imaging Australia Drop The Price On Popular Digital Notetakers

2011-02-09T13:57:00.002+11:00

Olympus Imaging in Sydney, Australia announced yesterday that the RRP on a large number of their digital voice recorders mainly from the budget and low end had been revised and for the consumer its in the right direction - down.

The VN series (VN-8500PC,VB-8600PC), WS series (WS-650S, WS-750M, WS-760M), super cheap DP-20 and the super expensive DM-5 all got slashed.

The biggest saving came from the super slick DM-5, Olympus' first full colour screen digital voice recorder where a massive $100 was wiped from the RRP bring it down from $599 incl. GST to $499 incl. GST.

For all the prices changes please visit our main blog - idictate.com.au

Using Dropbox with the Olympus DS-5000 On A Mac To Auto Send Files

2011-01-29T18:23:00.003+11:00

It is very rare to hear a Mac user complain but it does sometimes happen. One example of a whinging Mac user can be found when someone with an Olympus DS-5000 digital dictaphone who has switched from Windows to Mac realises that the Olympus software for the Mac is lacking an auto email function to get audio from their recorder to their typist or transcription service.

On a Mac the Olympus DSS Player Version 7 Plus software will convert your audio, will let you play your audio and you can even edit your audio but auto email it - no. So what can a Mac user do to save some time and automatically get their dictation across to their typist when their DS-5000 is docked - Dropbox.

Dropbox is an awesome free service which has been around for a while and automatically syncronises files in a special Dropbox folder on your Mac (or PC) with the cloud and with other computers linked to your Dropbox account and even your iPhone and iPad.

By using Dropbox in conjunction with the DSS Player Version 7 Plus software for Mac and by sharing a folder with your typist or transcription service you can easily share files with your transcription provider. Not only that, once they have completed transcription all they need do is drop the completed document in their Dropbox folder and it is instantly delivered back to you, securely.

For a closer look at using Dropbox with your Olympus DS-5000 as a transcription workflow solution on Mac head over to our main blog. To grab a copy of Dropbox for yourself - click here.

Olympus Microphones for Digital Voice Recorders

2011-01-19T12:20:00.004+11:00

All of the current Olympus digital voice recorder range come with excellent high quality microphones built in, so why would you need to buy an optional mic from the range that Olympus voice offer?

The answer to that can be found in our latest post on our main blog - idictate.com.au

Essentially these are specialist situation microphones. E.g. if you need to record a phone call then the Olympus TP-7, if you record audio out and about and suffer from background wind noise then one of the noise canceling mics, if you are a presenter and need to record your speech, lecture or presentation then the Olympus ME-15 tie pin mic.

We look at these Olympus microphones in more detail, compare them and have some close up pictures to show you exactly what they look like.

Olympus DM-5 - Morphing from Digital Voice Recorder to Multi Function Device

2010-12-27T13:09:00.003+11:00

The latest digital voice recorder from Olympus, the DM-5, has broken free of its voice recorder only genre and moved into a fully functional digital media device. Sure, like all Olympus recorders you get the best audio recording from the built in high quality stereo mics but with its monster 8Gb of internal memory it opens up the DM-5 to alot more uses.

Music player, file storage, image viewer, audio book player, text files proofreader and DAISY consortium file player the Olympus DM-5 breaks the voice recorder mould. With an emphasis on helping the vision impaired Olympus continue to make their devices as user friendly as possible with features like voice menu prompts.

The zoom mic is also a feature of this digital voice recorder, head over to our main blog for an extreme audio demo of the zoom mic in action recording passengers on a speeding train that could not be physically heard.

Compare Olympus DM-450 vs DM-550

2010-12-27T11:27:00.004+11:00

If you can have a favourite digital voice recorder then the Olympus DM-450 or DM-550 would have to be it. Packed full of features, looks good, easy to use, superb audio pickup and recording and Mac and Windows compatible you really can't ask for much more.

Easily one of our best selling units the DM-450 and DM-550 can do it all; record meetings, lectures, conferences and for the journalists if you don't have one of these units you are not serious about your sound bites. For the nature lovers, those who like to record bird song or frog call the DM-550 with its linear PCM recording will appeal to you and the creative musicians amongst us the DM-550 will capture every chord in glorious high quality PCM and with adjustable record levels.

So what are the subtle differences between the Olympus DM-450 and DM-550 other than the colour of the shell? Head over to our latest blog post where we review the recorders and showcase their features.

Going Digital - Compare The Olympus Dictaphones

2010-12-22T08:28:00.004+11:00

Olympus, the leaders in digital voice in Australia and most other parts of the world, have three digital dictaphones in their Pro and advanced range of digital voice recorders. Typically used by single speakers (people who dictate on their own) to record letters, notes etc these are popular in the medical and legal sectors.

Digital dictaphones differ from digital notetakers in that they can stop and start audio, emulating the old style tape recorders - whereas notetakers are designed to record with a defined start and stop, e.g. when recording interviews, meetings, lectures and focus groups.

In the Olympus range are three digital dictaphones - DS-2400, DS-3400 and DS-5000. In our latest blog post we compare these three in detail and explain the differences between each. We also offer some advice for people looking to upgrade from analogue tape dictaphones to digital.

In Australia these digital dictaphones are only available from authorised Olympus Pro dealers, look for this logo when shopping in Australia. Dictate Australia ( www.dictate.com.au ) is an Olympus Gold Pro Dealer.

Changing from analogue tape dictaphones to digital - some things you should know

2010-12-15T20:50:00.005+11:00

If you have been using a tape dictaphone recorder for a few years, maybe a micro cassette or even a mini cassette the thought of changing and going digital my worry you. After all, the trusty cassette has been around for years why would you ever need to go digital?

Well in our latest blog we look at the top three digital dictaphones from Olympus and some compelling reasons as to why digital is not just better but is way ahead of your trusty tape dictaphone. The fact that analogue tape is being phased out, not just by Olympus but also the other players in the voice market should be reason enough to go digital. Rather than wait until forced to do so when your analogue dictaphone and its moving parts finally give up and can not be replaced.

We look at the full range of professional digital dictaphones from the DS-2400 to the DS-3400 and up to the top of the range DS-5000 and its more secure partner the DS-5000iD. We look at the differences between the three, most people are interested to read that the recording quality is exactly the same with all three recorders, its the features that beef up the recorders as you move up the chain.

Quick Look At The Dragon Dictation iPhone iPad app

2010-11-04T13:11:00.003+11:00

Looking for a way to tweet, email or sms but just using your voice? Well, speech to text is available for the iPhone and iPad thanks to the Nuance Dictation app.

Not only is this a handy little app, I tend to dictate SMS while driving rather than attempt the illegal and type on the phone while driving, it is also an excellent introduction and demonstration of the power of Dragon speech recognition.

No training required, simply select your language from the current choice of five and start dictating. For more info and screen shots check our main blog.

Dragon Dictate for Mac - Volume Site Licence Available for Commercial, Government & Academic use in Australia

2010-11-02T10:39:00.004+11:00

For the first time voice recognition for the Mac is available to purchase on a site volume licence in Australia. This is great news, especially for the education/academic organisations looking to get a hold of speech recognition. Since MacSpeech has been transformed by the take over from Nuance the Dragon Dictate software continues to move in the right direction and is definitely a viable alternative for Mac users to Dragon NaturallySpeaking in the Windows space.

The minimum purchase for a site licence is only five installs and can be utilised by education, government and commercial users. There is also an option to buy support and maintenance for Dragon Dictate which although is email only is supported at the first level in Australia and backed up by Nuance in the USA.

Dragon Dictate for Mac - What Microphone Should I Use?

2010-10-28T17:09:00.004+11:00

In Australia there are five microphone options for Dragon Dictate, the latest voice recognition software for the Mac by Nuance. In our latest blog post we look at each of the available mics to give the Aussie consumer a clearer picture on what each microphone looks like to help you decide which is best for you.

The range has something for everyone. If you like on the head mics then there are two to choose from, the Plantronics .Audio 610 and the Parrot VXI. If you like bluetooth in the ear then the Plantronics Calisto is the mic for you. Don't need a headset? Then the MicFlex would appeal and finally if you want wireless but don't like in ear then the Revolabs xTag would be your option.

Please head to our main blog for a picture of each and let the speech recognition begin !

The Best Of The Budget Digital Voice Recorders

2010-10-04T14:16:00.002+11:00

Often overlooked are the budget voice recorders from the giants of the digital voice world, Olympus and Philips. This dis-service to the cheap recorders I have decided to address by giving them their own blog post. Over at our main blog I take a quick look at the bottom of the range digital voice recorders from Olympus and Philips;

From Philips the LFH0612 & LFH0632

From Olympus the VN-8500PC & VN-8600PC

Although all are bottom dwellers they are all still very good a recording digital audio. Cheap from Olympus and Philips does not mean nasty, it simply means a lack of features. But for the basic voice recording user an over abundance of features may not be required. The four recorders retail in Australia from $99 to $129, record in mp3 or wma and come with 1Gb or 2Gb of memory depending on the model.

Looking for a cheap digital voice recorder, have a read of this first!

Dragon Dictate For Mac - Simply, Speech To Text

2010-10-04T10:23:00.003+11:00

On our main blog I have just posted a short video of Dragon Dictate in action. Nothing flash, just the basic voice to text speech recognition that makes this software so useful.

The video shows me talking to my Mac using a Parrot VXI USB noise canceling headset and what I say is transcribed into a Dragon Pad edit session. In the video I just wanted to show that by talking normally, at your usual pace Dragon Dictate can accurately understand what is being said and can transcribe faster than you can type. Perfect for students writing large essays or anyone who needs to type large documents. Click the header link above and see Dragon Dictate in action.

To get accuracy this good I only had to spend around four minutes doing the basic voice training when I first created my voice profile. So setup time is minimal.

How To Convert Tape To Digital Audio Format

2010-09-27T09:34:00.003+10:00

Many people still record dictation or interviews/meetings using older style micro cassette or mini cassette dictaphones. However, most transcription typists now use software to playback audio while transcribing. Mainly because digital audio is becoming more popular and also for the simple fact that getting ahold of a tape transcription unit is almost impossible since most of the major dictation companies have discontinued or are phasing out their tape systems.

So what if you receive a tape in the mail and need to transcribe it using your digital transcription kit. Well there are ways to convert analogue (analog) tape to digital, all you need is the recorder which created the tape (so you can playback the audio), a cable to connect the player to your PC or Mac and some free audio editing software.

In our main blog we look at the tools to do this, have some tips on recording and have some suggestions for software to use whether you are a Mac or a PC.

Express Scribe and .ds2 Files Don't Mix - But There Are Ways Around This

2010-09-24T11:23:00.004+10:00

Since the launch of the latest professional Olympus digital dictaphones (Ds-2400, DS-3400 and DS-5000) which all record out of the box in .ds2 (DSS Pro) transcribing the default audio files is an issue for many small and micro transcription companies who use free transcription software.

Digital Speech Standard Pro or .ds2 audio files as they are more commonly known is the latest audio file format employed by the big boys in the digital dictation world, namely Olympus and Philips. The DSS standard was created by them along with other players like Grundig as a way to keep audio quality high and at the same time keep audio file sizes small. And what a great job they have done.

For many transcription businesses the popular free transcription software from NCH SwiftSound called Express Scribe is used. This is excellent software and a real bargain for free, but it currently can not playback .ds2 files and nor is it likely to in the near future. The reason is not because NCH can't be bothered to support the format, the reason is because there is a cost involved. DSS Pro is proprietary software meaning Olympus and Philips own the rights to the codec for the audio.

There are of course ways to convert .ds2 audio files to older and open audio formats to enable files to be loaded into and played by Express Scribe. However if you are serious about your transcription business you should consider investing in software from Olympus or Philips. It does not necessarily have to be their transcription kits either. In our main blog we look at the options available for users from both the Mac and Windows sides of the fence on how to transcribe .ds2 audio files.

MacSpeech Dictate becomes Dragon Dictate 2.0

2010-09-21T15:34:00.004+10:00

Something we have been hard at work on in the Dictate Australia office over the last few weeks has been testing the beta for the latest product from Nuance, new owners of MacSpeech, Dragon Dictate.

Now we can finally dare to mention the words Dragon Dictate as Nuance officially launch the new name for MacSpeech Dictate and start to ram home the Nuance look and feel on this voice recognition software for Intel Mac.

The Nuance influence is not just seen on the new box design which now makes Dictate look like the Windows Dragon NaturallySpeaking range but also in the flood of features and enhancements built into this latest and greatest version of the software.

Upgrades are available for all owners of MacSpeech Dictate from version 1.0 upto the last release version 1.5.9. If you tried MacSpeech Dictate at version 1.0 and gave up you really should take the plunge again and take up Nuance's generous upgrade offer.

Upgrades from MacSpeech Dictate and the full edition are available in Australia now as a download. Boxed copies will be here in October and pre-orders are being taken now through the MacSpeech Australia website.

For a full run down of upgrade options and some insight into whats new click through to our main blog.

Dictate Australia Become Windows & Mac Voice Recognition Experts

2010-09-13T20:05:00.003+10:00

Listen, listen carefully ... in the distance you might be able to catch the sound of trumpets !! That's us, Dictate Australia, blowing our own trumpets as we have proudly just become Certified Dragon NaturallySpeaking Certified Gold Resellers .. not silver or bronze - GOLD resellers.

Apologies for the excitement but we are quite proud. To become a Gold reseller we work closely with Nuance Australia and have to study and sit exams. This study gives us an insight into all aspects of Dragon NaturallySpeaking and gives us the skills to advise our customers of the best Dragon package or setup to suit their needs.

We are also claiming expertise in the Mac side of the voice recognition fence. We claim this title as we have been advocates for MacSpeech Dictate since day one. We were on board with version 1.0 in Australia and have followed the success of MacSPeech Dictate up to where it is today, sitting at version 1.5 with alot more goodies to come in the near future. How do we know that for sure? Well we are beta testers for MacSpeech Dictate so we can see into the future and the future is good.

If you have been considering a voice or speech recognition solution for your Windows or Mac platform please get in touch. There is no hard sell here, we will tell you what we know and will advise you on what we think is best for you.

New Olympus DM-5 Digital Voice Recorder Arrives In Australia

2010-09-06T11:35:00.004+10:00

Just perfectly timed by Olympus Imaging in Australia, the voice recorder every person who records interviews, meetings, focus groups, conferences or lecture speakers will be placing top of their Christmas list has just arrived in Australia, the new Olympus DM-5.

Why top of the Christmas list? This little recorder screams "features" louder than any other recorder in its class and like most recorders in the Olympus digital notetaker range is faster than ever leaving the competition behind. Have a look at the feature list for the DM-5:

Record in .mp3, .wma or PCM .wav
8Gb of in-built memory
MicroSD card for explanded memory (how much memory do you need?)
Voice activated recording
8Gb of memory, that's massive
Mac & Windows compatible
Daisy 2 compatible (audio books)
Audible.com compatible (audio books)
8Gb of memory, I just can't believe that
Voice guidance - talks you through menu options
Rechargeable batteries which last for 29 hours
Can be powered by USB or mains power
Comes with Olympus Sonority sound editing software for Mac & Windows
Massive 2.2 inch colour screen
And more, and more, and more

You may have noticed that I mentioned 8Gb of memory. That is way way more memory than would be required to record voice alone, even if you went away from civilisation for a month. Your digital voice recorder is now starting to also become your USB backup drive, your memory stick for your documents, notes, photos and movies and your device for audio book or music playback.

Something Olympus has been proud of over the last few years is the work they are doing to help vision impaired people. We have seen recorders for a while from Olympus with clearly defined by touch keys and more recently in the DM-450/DM-550 voice guidance. The DM-5 continues this path with all those features plus now also voice activation and selected voice commands. Daisy support is also included for a wider range of audio books which are Daisy compatible.

Available in Australia this week, the Olympus DM-5 will RRP for $599 incl. GST and as always is available from Dictate Australia - Olympus Gold Partner

New Olympus Voice Recorders For September - WS-650S, WS-750M, WS-760M & DM-5

2010-09-03T09:57:00.004+10:00

The Olympus ride continues with yet another spate of new voice recorders about to hit Australia. This time the WS gets another revamp and the DM series adds another friend. Say g'day to the WS-650S, WS-750M, WS-760M and the DM-5.

In the WS series we see these small super high quality recorders just get better and better. Audio recording quality was already stunning, the new recorders sport a new stereo mic location on the unit for even better audio pickup, yet more memory, high quality linear PCM recording and FM radio and FM radio recording. Also being added are micro SD slots for even more storage, if you need it.

As memory gets cheaper we are seeing the continued trend of throwing more into your digital voice recorder. This is not really required for recording voice but starts the transform the recorder into a multi use device by adding music/podcast/audio book playback and of course a USB mass storage device. With the additional space linear PCM recording which produces large size fbut very high quality .wav files is becoming more common.

Briefly:

WS-650S - 2Gb, no micro SD, no FM radio, no PCM, .mp3 & .wma recording - replaces WS-450S
WS-750M - 4Gb, micro SD, no FM radio, linear PCM recording, .mp3 & .wma recording, music/podcast/audio book playback - replaces WS-550M
WS-760M - 8Gb, micro SD, FM radio, linear PCM recording, .mp3 & .wma recording, music/podcast/audio book playback - replaces WS-560M

RRPs:

WS-650S - $169 incl. GST
WS-750M - $229 incl. GST
WS-760M - $269 incl. GST

All recorders should be widely available towards the end of September or early October 2010.

More information on the DM-5 to follow shortly.

Multiple Match Text Editing & Formatting - New In Dragon Naturally Speaking 11

2010-08-08T19:45:00.003+10:00

Dragon NaturallySpeaking 11 which is due to hit Australia in late August, early September 2010 is bristling with new features, enhancements and tweaks here and there to make us even more warm and fuzzy than we are already. Personally, I still quite can't believe that I am talking to a computer and it knows every word I am saying and I have been doing this for a few years.

One really neat feature in Dragon NaturallySpeaking 11 is the multi match text. In this version when you select a word for editing or formatting, if multiple words match your selection they are each given a number. You can then select the text you want to edit or format by its number. Single entries can be changed this way or all entries. This is a much quicker way of selecting text for editing and formatting than older versions of Dragon NaturallySpeaking.

Follow the main link for a screen shoot of the multiple text numbering from Dragon NaturallySpeaking 11 and a video demo from Nuance.

Dragon NaturallySpeaking 11 - The Latest & Greatest From Nuance

2010-08-02T21:24:00.004+10:00

In a press conference out of Nuance in Burlington Mass. a couple of days ago Nuance announced the arrival of NaturallySpeaking version 11. With speed and accuracy improvements comes a revamped UI with an emphasis on ease of use and compatibility with Microsoft Office 2010.

The product family names have also been changed slightly to protect the innocent. Gone is the Standard edition, now called Home. Gone is the Preferred edition, now called Premium. The Professional edition retains its name.

The Premium edition will come in three types; standard, wireless and mobile. The wireless edition includes a nice Plantronics Bluetooth headset for those who like to walk around while dictating. The mobile edition will include a Philips voice recorder for those who like to record themselves while out and about.

DNS11 is expected in Australia towards the end of August or early September.

Bargain Price Digital Voice Recorders And Dictaphones At The Dictate Australia eBay Store

2010-08-02T14:48:00.004+10:00

Some news for all Australian bargain hunters. We have just created an eBay store to fill with bargains. These will be ex-demo recorders which we have used, tested and evaluated in the office. Also listed will be recorders which are brand new but have been discontinued or superseded by newer models and the occasional new current range recorders at bargain prices.

This is a way for us to clear our desks of demo recorders and bring a smile to the Australian public who crave a digital voice recorder bargain ;-)

Our eBay Store can be found here: http://stores.ebay.com.au/digital-voice-recorders-australia

Olympus WS-550M Discontinued In Australia

2010-06-21T16:32:00.002+10:00

This month Olympus Imaging in Australia, the distributor for Olympus Voice products, discontinued the WS-550M digital notetaker. Also on the list to be removed from service are the two remaining PC connectable VN series recorders, the VN-5500PC and the VN-6800PC.

Sad to see the WS-550M go, it was a popular recorder sitting nicely between the 1Gb WS-450S and the 4GB WS-560M recorders.

Olympus To Discontinue Analogue Microcassette Recorders In Australia

2010-03-24T20:11:00.003+11:00

In an announcement from Olympus Australia today the old style analogue microcassette recorders are being given the flick and have been declared end of life and will be discontinued when all remaining stock has gone. Also scrapped from the product lists are the packs of 60 minute microcassettes themselves. So those rare people still using analogue dictaphones will soon have to hunt high and low for replacement tapes or they can just do the right thing and move to a digital voice recorder.

How To: Convert .ds2 .dss Files Using DSS Player Pro Version 7 Plus To AIF For MacSpeech Scribe

2010-02-14T20:49:00.003+11:00

Now that MacSpeech Scribe is available, a select few will have the luxury of owning a Professional digital dictaphone like the Olympus DS-3400 or DS-5000. Both these digital voice recorders are certified to be used with MacSpeech Scribe. Both recorders are supplied with DSS Player Version 7 Plus for Mac.

The software can be used to convert audio recorded in .ds2 (DSS Pro) audio format to AIFF ready to load into MacSpeech Scribe. Click here for our main blog site explaining how to do the file conversion.

MacSpeech Scribe - The Missing Link For Voice Recognition On Intel Mac

2010-02-14T10:35:00.003+11:00

For any Apple fan the annual MacWorld expo is always an interesting time of year with new gadgets and gizmos shown to the world to make our Mac, iPhone, iPod (and next year iPad) experience better than it already is.

This year the 2010 expo has significance for the digital voice world with MacSpeech launching their new software product MacSpeech Scribe, which for the first time, lets Mac users (with Snow Leopard) record their voice into a certified digital voice recorder for later playback into MacSpeech Scribe which will then transcribe the audio for you.

Using the Dragon voice recognition technology already in action in their MacSpeech Dictate product, MacSpeech Scribe accurately and very quickly transcribes single speaker audio.

More on our main blog site : idictate.com.au

New Olympus Voice Product Distributor for Australia & New Zealand

2009-12-17T09:50:00.003+11:00

This week Olympus Imaging took over the distribution of all Olympus voice products from Nationwide Dictating. Nationwide had been the sole distributor for the last sixteen years and had supported the voice community from their head office in Melbourne and small offices in Sydney and Brisbane.

Olympus Imaging have already started adding the voice products to their website - www.olympus.com.au and we will be seeing some new digital voice recorders in Australia soon, namely the amazing DM-450 and DM-550 recorders which have taken over from the now discontinued DS-55 and DS-65 models.

Also of note is the reduction in RRP for most of the recorders in the digital voice range. More details on this from at our main blog site: http://idictate.com.au

What recorder shall I take to the conference? - Olympus WS-450S, LiveScribe Pulse Smartpen or iProRecorder iPhone app

2009-09-18T10:03:00.002+10:00

I was fortunate enough to attend FlyingSoloLive at the Australian Technology Park in Sydney this week where I met and listened to some great Australian business people.

The day was made up of mainly keynote presentations listening the experiences of Australian business people, their thoughts and their advice.

I decided to take along three recording devices to see how they would cope with a day of recording and how good the audio quality really was. The devices were:

Olympus WS-450S digital voice recorder
LiveScribe Pulse SmartPen
iProRecorder - Voice recorder app for the iPhone

For the full review of how these performed with sample audio from each head to our main blog site: idictate.com.au

MacSpeech Dictate International Announced - Support for French, Italian and German Speakers

2009-09-15T21:50:00.004+10:00

Annouced out of the MacSpeech head office in the US today is a new Mac only voice recognition product called MacSpeech Dictate International. This adds to MacSpeech's current range of only English speaking (with various accents like Australian) speech recognition software and now adds support for French, Italian and German speakers.

More on our main blog site: http://idictate.com.au

Philips Dragon NaturallySpeaking DVR Digital Voice Recorder Edition

2009-09-14T23:06:00.002+10:00

New from Philips and Nuance is the Dragon NaturallySpeaking Digital Voice Recorder Edition, a bundle containing a cut down version of Dragon NaturallySpeaking version 10 and a Philips Digital Voice Tracer 660 digital voice recorder.

The is a very cheap entry into the voice recognition world and well worth a look, especially if you are someone who is used to recording dictation into a voice recorder for a secretary or transcriptionist to transcribe.

The Dragon software, although using the latest speech recognition technology on the Dragon voice recognition engine, is a cut down version in terms of features when compared to the basic Standard Edition or the more advanced Preferred Edition. Both of which come with a headset and mic and allow you to dictate directly to your PC. With the Voice Recorder Edition only dictation recorded on a digital voice recorder can be transcribed.

For the full review of Dragon NaturallySpeaking DVR Edition please visit our main blog site: http://idictate.com.au

New WS Series Digital Note Takers for Australia Announced by Olympus Voice

2009-08-11T21:57:00.003+10:00

Another change in the digital voice recorder range from Olympus Voice Australia is soon to be upon us. In a total revamp of their WS Series range of small, high quality digital note takers the old range is about to be discontinued and replaced with three new recorders. The recorders being, or have been already, discontinued are the:

WS-210S, WS-311M, WS-321M & WS-331M

These recorders which are very popular and used for a range of audio recording from single speaker note taking, interviews, small meetings and focus groups and conference and lecture recording will be replaced by:

WS-450S, WS-550M & WS-560M

The 'S' stands for Stereo, as in stereo recording and the 'M' stand for Music playback and stereo recording. The new models look similar to and operate in the same way as their predecessors with the big chances in these units coming with the memory increases (1Gb, 2Gb and 4Gb respectively) and the addition of a restractable USB connector.

No official release date as yet but they are expected before the end of August 09 in Australia. Also no indication of pricing as I write this blog post.

For a full round up of the new recorders please head to our main blog site: idictate.com.au

Review of the Olympus WS-210S Digital Voice Recorder

2009-07-25T16:30:00.002+10:00

The little WS-210S digital voice recorder from Olympus Australia is our top selling digital voice recorder. Used by all kinds of people from students recording lectures, market researchers recording focus groups, journalists recording sound bites and interviews through to amateur family historians recording their relatives voices and stories to keep for generations, the WS-210S is a true all round voice recorder.

Head over to our main blog site for a full review on this digital voice recorder: iDictate Blog

More Recorders Discontinued By Olympus Australia - WS-311M & WS-321M

2009-07-11T16:24:00.002+10:00

In another surpise from Olympus Voice Australia, keeping the tradition of not telling anyone that its coming, they discontinued two more voice recorder models yesterday (10th July, 2009), they were the popular WS-311M digital notetaker and the next one up in the range the WS-321M. Both recorders were exactly the same in function and ability, the only difference came with their memory 512Mb for the WS-311M and 1Gb for the WS-321M and their colour. This now leaves just the WS-331M, with its massive 2Gb of memory from the original line up of three recorders.

When you think about it makes sense to drop these two. The WS-311M was very very close in spec and size to the WS-210S recorder, the WS-210S was quite a bit cheaper so maybe a pricing decision casued the WS-311Ms demise. Also the WS-321M, this was really an unneccary recorder, most people either went for the WS-311M or if they needed more memory would jump to the WS-331M so this recorder never really sold well.

In the WS series this now only leaves the WS-110 mono digital voice recorder (great for single speaker and one-on-one interviews), WS-210S stereo digital notetake (interviews, larger meetings, conferences and lectures) and the WS-331M (same as WS-321M but with added class in the piano black).

Olympus Australia Launch New DS-2400 Digital Dictaphone

2009-07-07T20:57:00.002+10:00

Olympus Voice Australia today announced that the trusty DS-2300 digital dictaphone has today been discontinued and replaced by the new Olympus DS-2400, available from today in Australia.

The release of the DS-2400 completes the Olympus Australia revamp of their digital dictaphone range after the release of the DS-3400 and DS-5000 ealrier this year ending the life of the DS-3300 and DS-4000.

The DS-2400 is your classic entry level digital dictphone, easy to use, fully featured with amazing audio clarity. The DS-2400 records only in the new DSS Pro digital audio format which produces .ds2 audio files.

Available from today from Dictate Australia

MacSpeech Announce MacSpeech Dictate Legal Version - Voice Recognition for Intel Mac

2009-07-02T09:34:00.003+10:00

They say good news always comes in threes and for the good folk over at MacSpeech they have just made their third big announcement in recent weeks.

First we had the upgrade to version 1.5, a major upgrade which introduced a new state of the art voice recognition engine, aswell as some enhancements and bug fixes.

Next we had the launch of MacSpeech Dictate Medical version.

Today we get the news that MacSpeech Dictate Legal is available, boasting a legal dictionary with 30,000 legal words and terms. Enough to keep any legal Mac person happy.

News of when MacSpeech Dictate Legal will be available in Australia is yet to be confirmed but I would guess within two weeks. Once Australian pricing and availability is known I will update this blog.

MacSpeech Dictate Medical Version - Australian Pricing And Bundles

2009-06-27T21:46:00.003+10:00

With the announcement last week of a new medical version of MacSpeech Dictate we have been waiting for pricing, availability and bundle details for us here in Australia. Those details have just been released by the Australian distributor.

We can expect to get two bundles of MacSpeech Dictate Medical with a choice of either the Parrott VXI TalkPro USB headset and mic or the Revolabs xTag wireless mic.

Stock of MacSpeech Dictate Medical is expected in Australia next week so will be shipping nationally in early July. We at Dictate Australia have sold the very first copy of MacSpeech Dictate Medical which will head off to a doctor in Victoria very shortly.

For a run down on the Australian pricing and upgrade pricing for people with standard MacSpeech Dictate (both version 1.3 and 1.5) click on this entries heading above or head direct to idictate.com.au

MacSpeech Dictate Announce Medical Version - Voice Recognition For Mac

2009-06-20T10:01:00.003+10:00

Hot on the heals of their latest (paid) upgrade to version 1.5 MacSpeech have just announced (Friday 19th June, 2009) a Medical version of their voice recognition software for Intel Macs, called ... wait for it ... MacSpeech Dictate Medical !

It will be available as a stand alone package or if you already own MacSpeech Dictate a cross grade licence will be available.

No details yet on availability or pricing in Australia, as soon as we know we will update.

Olympus DS30 & DS-40 Discontinued in Australia

2009-06-13T19:50:00.005+10:00

Some news out of Olympus Australia this week is that the popular large meeting and focus group digital voice recorder the DS-30 has been discontinued. The next model up the DS-40 will also suffer the same fate in the next week or two.

My suspicion is that both these models will be replaced by a single new recorder, the Olympus DS-55 which is yet to be seen in Australia and as yet no pricing is available for this model.

As the DS-50 was recently dumped and replaced by the DS-65 it looks to me that it is not likely that we will see the DS-75 model available across Europe. This make sense, the three model choice of the DS-30, DS-40 and DS-50 was a bit of overkill where two models would do.

As soon as we receive news on the DS-55, its availability and Australian pricing we will update the blog with the info. In the mean time, feast your eyes on this stunning silver model and wipe a tear for the legendary DS-30.

Spotted - New Olympus DS-3400 In Australia

2009-06-04T16:56:00.002+10:00

The latest recorder from Olympus Australia has just arrived in the country with an expected release nationally next week. The DS-3400 fits with the new digital dictaphone image Olympus are adopting, the sleek black and chrome look, this digital voice recorder looks stunning.

News on pricing for the new DS-3400, which seems to be replacing the DS-3300 phased out earlier this year, is not available yet. As soon as it is I will update this post.

The recorder will come with a removeable 1Gb SD card and the DSS Dictation Pro v5 software supporting the new .ds2 (DSS Player Pro) audio format.

Olympus DS-50 Discontinued In Australia - Replaced By New DS-65

2009-05-28T11:16:00.002+10:00

News filtered through to the Dictate Australia office today that the classy Olympus DS-50 digital voice recorder, commonly used for larger meetings, focus groups, podcasting etc has been dicontinued in Australia and has been replaced by a new model, the Olympus DS-65.

From the outside the DS-65 looks the same as the DS-50, except it is blue. The differences are internally. The DS-65 has double the memory of the DS-50 and now supports Audible files (.aa) so you can listen to your audio books aswell as music when you are on the move.

The doubling of the memory means the recorders can now save a whopping 33 hours plus on the highest quality audio mode.

Review: Express Scribe Compatible Philips USB Foot Control - 2310 - 2320

2009-05-21T22:20:00.003+10:00

For years now transcriptionists around the world have been using Express Scribe, the free software from NCH Swift Sound. Able to take just about any audio format you throw at it (on Windows) Scribe is the software of choice for many transcription typists.

For those who come from an analogue transcription typing background or those who spend hours transcription typing they will prefer to use Scribe with a transcription foot control. Connected via USB the foot pedal allows the typist to control the audio playback via pedals on the foot control.

Some of the best USB foot controls which are Express Scribe compatible are the 2310 and 2320 from Philips Dictation. With no software required, these plug and play foot controls can be connected and working with Express Scribe in under a minute.

With a great ergonomic look and feel the Philips pedals do come in a little higher in price than the cheaper two pedal USB foot controls like the VEC. But you get what you pay for and with a big name in the digital dictation and transcription world like Philips Dictation you know that it will be a pedal you can use day in and day out for years to come.

MacSpeech Dictate Announce Paid Upgrade To Version 1.5 - What Does This Mean For Australian Users

2009-05-15T20:47:00.002+10:00

In a press release out today from MacSpeech they have anounced a new upgrade available for their popular voice recognition software for Mac, MacSpeech Dictate.

This however is the first paid upgrade, all previous upgrades have been free. This has caused some consternation from US MacSpeech users in the US on both twitter and the MacSpeech forum.

What does this mean for Australian user for MacSpeech Dictate? Click on the blog title above for a run down of whats in the upgrade and common questions Aussie MacSpeech users have.

Philips Dictation Australia Price Rise For The Popular DVT Digiital Voice Tracers

2009-05-14T21:27:00.003+10:00

We have heard that a price rise is on the way for the Philips range Digital Voice Tracers (DVT). It will be effective from 1st June, 2009.

Philips blames the increase on the state of the Australian dollar against the Euro, the dictation arm of Philips is run out of Vienna. To be fair, they have held off as long as they could, Olympus jumped back in February with an across the board price rise.

On average the DVTs will go up by around 25% on their current pricing. Even with the increase these voice recorders are still excellent value. The are rich in features (and a couple of gimicks), easy to use, look great and record very well.

Olympus Australia Announce, Kind Of, The DS-3400

2009-05-06T16:37:00.003+10:00

Yes it hasn't actually been announced by Olympus Voice Australia more snuk in (sp?), it appeared on their "whats new" page of the website - www.olympusvoice.com.au

This came as a bit of a surprise, I know that the DS-2400 is in the pipeline for Australia but I had not heard anything about the DS-3400.

It has the same look as the DS-5000, sleek and black and uses the DSS Pro technology to record .ds2 audio files. It will be compatibe with the AS-5000 transcription kit but it is unknown as yet if like the DS-5000 it can be set to classic mode or not.

No official release dates from Olympus and no pricing, so we are all in the dark on this one for the moment. As soon as there is news I will blog it and will update the DS-3400 page on the Dictate Australia website.

Dragon NaturallySpeaking 10 - Digital Voice Recorder Edition from Philips

2009-04-28T22:25:00.004+10:00

Philips Dictation recently announced that they have joined forces with Nuance, the people behind Dragon NaturallySpeaking to create the Digital Voice Recorder edition of the software.

This bundles the Philips DVT (Digital Voice Tracer) 660 model with a cut down version of the Dragon NaturallySpeaking voice recognition software for Windows at a very low price of $209 incl. GST.

Philips Dictation Australia expects the bundle to be available any day now.

Dragon NaturallySpeaking : Here is a tip for you - faster transcription

2009-04-25T20:24:00.002+10:00

On some machines you may find that Dragon NaturallySpeaking is a little slow to dump out your spoken dictation into Microsoft Word. This could be caused by a few things, maybe an older PC, maybe lack of RAM etc.

One way to speed up your transcribed single speaker dictation a tip is to let Dragon transcribe into Notepad or Wordpad. The overhead of Word trying to spell check as you talk is then taken away giving you faster smoother transcription. When you are done just copy the text and dump it into Word and it will then happily spell check your document for you.

Handy hints from Dictate Australia - www.dictate.com.au

Digital Dictaphone or Digital Notetaker - What Is The Difference?

2009-04-21T22:33:00.003+10:00

In the world of digital voice recorders, typically the recorders can be grouped into two seperate types. We have the digital dictaphones and the digital notetakers.

Most people on the look our for a digital voice recorder are often confused by or unsure of what this really means and which type of digital voice recorder they need.

In simple terms, the general functionality of each is listed here:

Digital Notetaker

Used to record multiple speaker audio: lectures, interviews, meetings etc.
Audio is recorded in one session with minimal or no interruptions.

Digital Dictaphone

Used to record one or single speaker audio: letters, notes etc.
Audio can be recorded in multiple sessions, because of interuptions or stopping and starting dictation.

The digital dictaphones generally try to emulate the older analogue tape dictaphones and usually have a slider switch or rocker switch to initiate what we call the rewind/review functionality. Audio the has been recorded can be rewind for a few seconds and the last few dictated words can be heard. Dictation then continues on from that point untli the user presses a button to indicate the end of the dictation, causing an audio file to be created.

Digital notetakers are very simple and basic to use, press one button to start recording, press another to stop. It is that simple. Most notetakers can pause recording and then resume but it is not possible to rewind and hear what was just said and continue recording in the same audio file. It is possible to listen from the beginning of the file and fast forward through though.

Using Free Software To Help When Typing Up Notes From Digitally Recorded Interviews, Meetings or Focus Groups

2009-04-10T22:23:00.004+10:00

You have just spent an hour or so digitally recording an interview, team meeting or focus group now you have to head back to your desk and type up notes from that meeting. How do you do it?

Most people would play back the audio in Windows Media Player of QuickTime and flick from their audio player back and forth to their word processor typing the small snippets of information they hear before they have to head back to stop and rewind the audio for a couple of sentences. Anyone who has done this will know it is very painful and takes forever.

There is a solution and it's free. It is Express Scribe from Australian company NCH Swift Sound. Using Express Scribe the audio playback is totally controlled from within your word processing application like Word. Simply by using any pre-configured keys on the keyboard (or by using a USB foot control) you can easily stop/rewind/play the audio without leaving the document you are writing, saving alot of time.

Just because of free does not mean it is feature poor. Far from it, Express Scribe has an impressive array of features like:

Auto file loading from email or network drives
Audio file noise suppressing/noice boost for poorly recorded audio
Variable audio playback speed

Express Scribe is available for both the Windows and Intel Mac platforms. Give it a try and save yourself a few painful hours at the keyboard.

Record Phone Conversations With The Olympus TP-7 Telephone Pickup Mic

2009-04-05T15:26:00.004+10:00

Ever need to record telephone conversations? Maybe you record interviews by phone or hold meetings by phone that you need to record for later transcription or note taking.

Olympus have a nifty microphone compatible with all their digital voice recorders called the TP-7 telephone pickup mic. The microphone end fits in your ear much like an iPod earbud and is held in place by the phone against your ear. The in ear mic records clearly the audio from the phones speaker and your voice.

As it fits in your ear it can be used with any telephone - mobile, desk phone and even pay phones.

LiveScribe Pulse SmartPen - Digital Voice Recorder In A 2Gb Pen

2009-04-03T09:49:00.005+11:00

Here at Dictate Australia our attention was recently drawn, thanks to Twitter, to the LiveScribe Pulse SmartPen. This incredible gadget which is both Mac and Windows compatible is basically a computer in a pen.

Using the LiveScribe Dot Paper you hand write your notes while recording the audio from around you, being a lecture, conference or meeting. The audio is linked to the words you are writing so by simply touching on a word in your notes the audio is instantly replayed.

We have just received our first SmartPen in the office and will be working on video demos on both Mac and Windows in the coming weeks.

Australian Dragon NaturallySpeaking Users, Update Available - Standard & Preferred - Version 10.1

2009-03-31T13:21:00.004+11:00

Nuance have issued an update to version 10 of Dragon NaturallySpeaking Standard and Preferred editions.

The update is a huge download, just over 1Gb, and now brings support for 64-bit Windows Vista operating systems as well as the usual bug fixes and enhancements.

The upgrade is available free of charge for existing DNS10 licence holders via:

http://www.nuance.com/vista/naturallyspeaking/Dragon10.1/

For the Professional version an upgrade will be available late April 2009.

How To: Update The Philips Digital Voice Tracer DVT Firmware

2009-03-30T22:12:00.002+11:00

The latest digital voice tracer notetakers from Philips (DVT models 600, 620, 660, 860 & 880) can be updated via a firmware download on the Philips Dictation website. The firmware updates will address bug fixes and may in the future provide additional functionality to the recorders.

The firmware update is relatively simple on either Windows or Mac.

Review of the Philips 880 Digital Voice Tracer

2009-03-30T19:53:00.003+11:00

Philips Australia have recently re-vamped their Digital Voice Tracer range of cheap digital note takers. The top of the line DVT is the 880 which boasts PCM recording to .wav files and high quality recording to MP3. With a wealth of goodies in the box and a lean Australian price tag we take a look as this new recorder from Philips in our review.

MacSpeech Dictate Announce Upgrade To Version 1.3

2009-02-25T12:45:00.003+11:00

In a press release from MacSpeech in the US they today announced that MacSpeech Dictate is now on version 1.3, an upgrade freely available to registered uses of Dictate via the Check For Updates feature.

So whats new in 1.3?

New "Cache Document" command which instructs Dictate to read any document, even those now created by Dictate. This allows easier/better/smarter navigation within a document. Sounds good, will give that a try very soon.

Also added is the "Cache Selection" command, again another way to get around the old problem of cursor positioning within a document.

And two more commands to add to your headspace, "Press The Key" and "Press The Key Combo" allowing keyboard entries and key combinations to be input by voice.

Aswell as this new command is the usual bug fixes, a new Help Book system and some additional indicators to show the Mic status.

This is just a quick post as the release has just come out. In the next few days I will give them a try and as usual post to my YouTube channel.

Excellent work from the guys at MacSpeech. The frequency of the updates is increasing and we are starting to see more and more functionality coming through and small niggly bugs being hit on the head. Early adopters have a large smile on their face now and new users will be impressed with the power of this software.

To read the press release click here.

Olympus Voice Australia Increase Digital Voice Recorder Costs Today

2009-01-31T11:58:00.006+11:00

Today we see some changes in the pricing and product line across the board from Olympus Voice Australia. Nearly all recorders get an increase in RRP (recommended retail price) with the exception of the VN-3100PC (which has gone down in price) and the DS-3300 which remains the same, we expect the DS-3300 to be dropped off the product line in the near future.

Two new digital notetakers have been added, the VN-3500PC and VN-5500PC which should be available in Australia towards the end of February. We anticipate that when these two arrive we can say goodbye to the VN-3100PC.

We also say goodbye to the VN-2100PC, not my favourite recorder so not too upset by that departure. The AS-4000 transcription kit has also now been discontinued after a long and distinguished career, this follows on from the Olympus DS-4000 discontinued late last year.

Other minor changes to the product lists include a replacement cable (KP21), power supply (A513) and carry case (CS119) for the Olympus DS-5000 and DS-5000iD.

The Olympus A513 power adapter can also be used with the Olympus LS-10 so good to see an alternative power option for this specialised digital PCM recorder.

Philips Introduce LFH9162 In Ear Telephone Pickup Mic

2009-01-28T16:25:00.004+11:00

Philips Dictation Australia today announced the launch of a new telephone pickup microphone called the LFH9162. Similar to the Olympus TP-7 this clever mic fits in your ear and is held in place by the telephone you are talking on, recording to your digital voice recorder your phone conversation.

I have long been a fan of this style of telephone recording mic as it can be used with either the office phone or your mobile if you are out of the office.

The LFH9162 simply plugs into the mic socket of any compatible Philips digital voice recorder. Available in Australia any day now the expected price of the LFH9162 will be around $66 incl. GST.

In the box along with your pickup mic you will get a 3.5mm to 2.5mm adapter plug, spare ear cushion and a carrying pouch.

For the techs out there here are the tech specs:

Type: Electret condenser microphone
Directionality: non-directional
Frequency response: 50-20,000 Hz
Sensitivity: -34 dB at 1 kHz
Output impedance: 2.2KΩ
Power supply: Plug-in-power system (1.5V – 10V)
Cord length: 1.0 m
Output plug type: 3.5 mm monaural mini plug
Weight: 16 g
Color: Black / Silver

Olympus Australia Price Rise For The LS-10 PCM Recorder

2009-01-28T13:54:00.004+11:00

Olympus Voice Australia have announced that there will be some price rises effective February 1st, 2009 across most of their digital voice recorder range.

One recorder, the LS-10 was slipped a price increase ahead of this deadline. Effective immediately in Australia the LS-10's RRP (recommended retail price) has shot up from $695 to $895. This is likely to its stunning perfromance and the fact that it has quickly become a leading contender in the digital PCM (pulse-code modulation) market.

For full specs on the LS-10 click here.

Olympus LS-10 PCM Recorder Back In Stock In Australia

2009-01-16T20:33:00.002+11:00

Good news for all you Aussies who were keen to grab an LS-10 over the Christmas period and were dissapointed that Olympus Australia had none available, they now have a small number back in stock so grab one while you can.

We saw huge interest in this recorder over Christmas from people keen to get one to record their musical talents but also interestingly enough quite a few people keen to record bird and frog sounds. I think I have mentioned before that we have sold quite a few LS-10's to the Australian Goverment to record frogs so this PCM recorder is popular with a diverse range of people.

Grab one soon before the 2009 Olympus price rises kick in.

New Office Productivity Software Coming To Dictate In 2009

2008-12-29T16:56:00.008+11:00

Early in 2009 we will be expanding our portfolio of software that we offer on through our website, we will be adding three new office productivity titles:

OmniPage 16 - The Worlds #1 OCR (Optical Character Recognition) Software

OmniPage Professional 16 allows business professionals to achieve new levels of productivity by eliminating the manual reproduction of documents. Precision OCR analysis, layout detection, Logical Form Recognition™ (LFR) technology, and advanced security features quickly turn office documents and forms into over 30 different PC applications for editing, searching and sharing.
Custom workflows handle large volumes of documents with a click of the mouse or the push of a button on your scanner or All-in-One device. Robust tools enable you to print to PDF, turn text documents into audio books and add digital signatures to your electronic documents.

--oOo--

PaperPort 11 - The Professional Choice to Scan, Organise & Share All Your Documents

Millions of people –including officeworkers, lawyers,doctors, insurance and real estate agents – rely on ScanSoft®PaperPort® Professional to save time and money by transforming paper documents into searchable digital documents. It’s the one program that enhances Microsoft® Windows® with powerful scanning capabilities and enables you to visually manage paper and PDF, plus over 150 document and photoformats. The unique document desktop allows you to view, browse and assemble documents with drag-and-drop ease. PaperPort Professional combines the efficiency of document management, the convenience of superbly-scanned documents and the power of creating PDF files, to bring a new level of operational proficiency to your organisation. It’s the most productive way for everyone in your office to scan, organise, find, merge, repurpose, print, share and email anything!

--oOo--

PDF Converter 5 - The only complete PDF solution designed specifically for business users, delivers everything you need to create, convert, and edit PDF files

PDF Converter Professional delivers on the promise of "Better PDF for Business" by combining the power of PDF creation, the flexibility of PDF editing, and the versatility of PDF conversion into one easy-to-use, affordable application. It provides all the critical business features you need without the cumbersome and costly print and pre-press functionality found in more expensive solutions.

More information on all the above software as well as some demo and tutorial videos coming soon.

As with all voice recorders, voice recognition software and office productivity software we sell here at Dictate Australia we use them all daily so have in depth knowledge to advise you on the right product or software for your needs.

We are Windows and Mac friendly :-)

Olympus DSS Pro Latest Release Supports RS24 & RS26 Footswitch with AS-5000 Transcription Kit

2008-12-27T20:59:00.005+11:00

Olympus have released an update to the DSS Player Pro software now moving up to version 5.0.4.0. This latest release fixes a problem for many of the converts to the DS-5000 recorders whereby older style Olympus foot controls, i.e. the RS24 and RS26, would not work via USB with the DSS Player Pro transcription module. This release fixes that issue as well as a couple of other minor bug fixes.

The update is available automatically via the softwares auto update function.

For those of you considering upgrading your DS-4000 to a new DS-5000 then this is great news as you will have worry free compatibility with your typists older AS-4000 transcription kit. Simply use the DSS Player Pro software that comes with your DS-5000 or DS-5000iD to upgrade your old AS-4000 kit to an AS-5000 for free.

Contact us for more info: sales@dictate.com.au

How To Set Classic Mode On Olympus DS-5000 & DS-5000iD

2008-12-22T15:30:00.005+11:00

Here is our latest YouTube video which shows how to set the Olympus DS-5000 or DS-5000iD digital dictaphone into "classic mode". This mode sets the dictaphone to record audio in the older .dss audio format instead of the default .ds2 or DSS Pro audio format. The benefit being that the older .dss format is compatible with most older transcription kits like the discontinued AS-4000 and the AS-2300 and also the popular free transcription software Express Scribe.

As you can see Classic Mode is set in the Dictation Module softwaree and not on the recorder itself.

Pop In For A Demo Of Dragon, MacSpeech or Olympus Digital Voice Recorders

2008-12-12T10:46:00.003+11:00

Dictate Australia Pty Ltd recently moved into new offices in Erina on the New South Wales Central Coast, we share our offices with our sister company The Transcription People.

We are now in a position to demo the Dragon NaturallySpeaking voice recognition software, MacSpeech Dictate voice recognition software for Mac and some of the Olympus digital voice recorders like the WS-311M, DS-30 and the new DS-5000iD.

If you are on or near the Central Coast please send us an email and we can arrange a time for you to come in and see just how good voice recognition is or how easy the Olympus range of digital voice recorders are to use.

My Transcriptionist Can't Play Audio From My New Olympus DS-5000 - Help !

2008-12-09T09:06:00.009+11:00

Don't Panic ! The new Olympus DS-5000 and Olympus DS-5000iD digital dictaphone by default records in the new .ds2 or DSS Pro audio format designed to work beautifully with the Olympus AS-5000 transcription kit. But what happens if you send your audio to your outsourced typist and they are unable to play the audio?

The chances are your typist either has an Olympus AS-4000 digital transcription kit, now discontinued, or they are using other transcription software like Express Scribe from NCH Swift Sound. Both of these are not able to play the .ds2 audio format. There are however a couple of options:

If your typist has an AS-4000 kit they can upgrade their software to DSS Player Pro as used by the AS-5000 kit. They can do this for free if you hand over your software install disk that came with your DS-5000 as that allows a free upgrade for one licenced copy of DSS Player software. Alternatively they can purchase a software upgrade, look for Olympus product code AS5002.
If your typist does not transcribe using the Olympus software then you are able to configure the DS-5000 to record in "classic mode" which will save audio in the older .dss file format used previously by the DS-4000 recorders. Click here to see our YouTube video on how to change your DS-5000 or DS-5000iD recorder to "classic mode".

If you use one of the larger transcription services in Australia like our sister company The Transcription People they will have no problems using the DSS Pro .ds2 file format.

If you have any questions on "classic mode" or the Olympus DS-5000 please contact us, we are always happy to help: mailto://sales@dictate.com.au or click the Live Chat button on our website http://www.dictate.com.au/

MacSpeech Dictate - Version 1.2 Quick Look At Whats New Video

2008-10-24T23:49:00.004+11:00

Now that the new version of MacSpeech Dictate, version 1.2, has been out for a few days we are now starting to get our teeth into the new functionality and features introduced in this release.

Spelling mode has finally arrived. This gives the user the ability to spell out words, acronyms, abbreviations or anything that MacSpeech Dictate is not able to interpret. This will be a great addition to the features of MacSpeech Dictate.

Phrase training has also been introduced. This is a very smart feature, as MacSpeech Dictate analyzes what you are saying, possible matching phrases appear in a "Recognition" window. If the spoken phrase required is not the one transcribed by Dictate the Recognition window will show a list of alternate phrases. The user simply needs to "pick" the corresponding number next to the required phrase and Dictate will insert that phrase instead. This has two major benefits, 1. it increases the speed of transcription as time is not wasted amending the dictation and 2. this process actually helps improve the accuracy of Dictate over time as it learns from your speech and dictation patterns.

These two new features can be seen briefly in our lastest MacSpeech Dictate YouTube video below.

MacSpeech Dictate - Upgrade To Version 1.2 Available

2008-10-21T11:15:00.003+11:00

It's here, the next free upgrade to MacSpeech Dictate for registered users to version 1.2 became available today. The upgrade includes bug fixes and some new functionality including the long awaited Spelling Mode, can't wait to play with that one.

I will be using with the new features soon and will post some new YouTube videos to show you how to make the most of them.

The official MacSpeech press release in version 1.2 can he found here:

http://www.macspeech.com/article_info.php?articles_id=306

Global Financial Crisis Hits Australian Pricing Of MacSpeech Dictate

2008-10-16T20:50:00.004+11:00

We have today started to see the effects of the global financial crisis with an increase in the RRP for MacSpeech Dictate rising due to the cost of the US dollar against the Australian dollar.

The RRP has been raised to $329 incl. GST for the version which ships with the Plantronics DSP-400 headset and mic.

The RRP has been raised to $469 incl. GST for the version which ships with the Parrott VXI Pro headset and mic.

This is unfortunate as the cost may tip some people over the edge when making their decision to invest in the amazing voice recognition software for the Mac, time will tell.

For any advice or questions on MacSpeech Dictate in Australia please email us at sales@dictate.com.au or use the Live Chat option on our website.

FAQ: Is My AS-4000 Transcription Kit Compatible With The New Olympus DS-5000?

2008-09-22T19:32:00.004+10:00

Since the launch of the shiny new black Olympus DS-5000 digital dictaphone by Olympus Australia back on the 1st September one of the most common questions we have received is from existing DS-4000 users and relates to their transcription kit.

Many users want to know if the DS-5000 is compatible with the AS-4000 transcription kit, which the answer is NO. They then get a little stressed when they think they may have to fork out some more dollars for the AS-5000 transcription kit. This is where I can give them some good news, the smart folks at Olympus have included an AS-4000 upgrade in with the DS-5000 software.

To upgrade users need simply run the DS-5000 install disk on the computer with the AS-4000 software installed. The software will pickup that the older transcription software is installed and you then have the chance to upgrade. During the upgrade process a new licence key number will be generated. YOU MUST WRITE THIS LICENCE NUMBER DOWN AND KEEP IT SAFE. It will be required when the upgraded transcription software is installed.

The existing AS-4000 foot control will still work with the AS-5000 software as will any audio from older recorders so if you have a few DS-4000's in the office your transcriptionist will be able to continue transcribing the audio from these recorders as well as the DS-5000.

So, if you have a DS-4000/AS-4000 set already and want a DS-5000 you only need to buy the recorder and not both the recorder and the transcription kit.

New Olympus DS-5000 DS2 Audio Format Not Express Scribe Compatible

2008-09-03T23:04:00.003+10:00

The Olympus DS-4000 replacement, the DS-5000 and DS-5000iD record in a newer format of the DSS (Digital Speech Standard) audio format known as .DS2 or DSS Pro. Initial testing with the popular Express Scribe transcription software used by many transcription businesses including our own, The Transcription People shows that the new .DS2 format is not compatible with Scribe, this we believe is due to tighter licencing controls of the DSS audio standard.

There is the option on the DS-5000 and DS-5000iD to record in "Classic DSS" however selecting this reduces not only the audio quality of the recording, QP record mode can not be selected only SP, but also limits some of the additional functionality of the unit. Verbal comments can not be recorded and index marks are limited to 16 for each file.

As soon as we receive our test unit we will test if "Classic DSS" will produce the older style .DSS files which can be loaded into Express Scribe.