Dragon NaturallySpeaking Hardware reviews

[Tom Hamilton]

Samson Airline 77 https://www.knowbrainer.com/storefront/index.cfm?fuseaction=product.display&Product_ID=83 Review



Pros:

1. This is the most accurate microphone we have ever tested (wired or wireless) bar none. When testing microphones we typically use several testers reading 300 words several times. This is what you would call ideal laboratory conditions and not real-world stop and go free-form dictation, (compiling your thoughts) which typically drops any microphones accuracy, depending on the end user, by 2 or more percentage points. Our previous most accurate microphone was the Revolabs xTag wireless lapel which came in at an impressive 99% accuracy but the Samson Airline 77 has taken over the 1st place position coming in with 100% average accuracy (that’s no typo). Although accuracy typically drops around 2% in real-world usage with nearly all microphones’ the Samson Airline’s accuracy only dropped about 1% in real-world free-form usage which loosely translates into 50% less corrections; making this microphone the only choice for accuracy critical, noisy environmental and efficiency situations.


2. theBoom “O”, theBoom V4, Sennheiser ME3 and KnowBrainer Hands-free are equally impressive in noise cancellation but the Samson Airline 77 bested them all and took over the 1st place position. TheBoom and Senneheiser microphones will do better with a quick sharp sound, like a gunshot (wouldn't you like to see our testing facilities), but the Samson Airline incorporates a noise gate that will adjust the noise input level of the microphone within a second which means that this microphone is ideally suited to loud environments such as a manufacturing plant or an East Los Angeles EMR room.



3. The Revolabs xTag https://www.knowbrainer.com/storefront/index.cfm?fuseaction=product.display&Product_ID=83 microphone previously held the #1 duration position with its 8 hour self-contained rechargeable battery but the Samson Airline can run 14 hours on a single alkaline AAA battery and longer on a lithium battery. You should be able to get about 12 hours out of a AAA NiMH battery. We will be optionally bundling 4 AAA 1000 times rechargeable NiMH batteries and a rapid AAA, AA and 9 volt charger with this microphone.



4. The best manufacturer microphone warranty we've seen is Parrott and Senneheiser’s two-year warranties. Most microphone manufacturers include a one-year warranty but Samson includes a 3 year warranty which, considering all of the electronics involved, small toggle switches etc., is extremely impressive.



5. Interference free UHF 300+ feet transmissions. This industrial-strength professional grade microphone has the longest range of any wireless microphone we sell other than the Hybrid Plantronics CS55 wireless telephone/microphone which also includes a 300 range.



6. Most other UHF wireless systems such as the Nady Encore II, Senneheiser and Shure include a clumsy belt pack with a wire running from your headset down your back. The Samson Airline 77 includes a small wireless micro-technology transmitter on the back of the headset making it notably more user-friendly. Belt pack free transmitters also eliminate the possibility of snagging the headset wire.



7. The disadvantage of typical wireless microphones like the Plantronics CS50-USB is that if you forget or don't manage to place the headset properly back into the charging cradle, you'll have to wait an hour+ before you can use it. If you accidentally forget to recharge your Samson battery, you can always rob a pen light flashlight or digital recorder for a universal AAA battery.



Cons:



1. Locating the transmitter pack on the back of the headset can take a little getting used to because it may rub against your shirt collar. You probably won’t experience this problem with collarless shirts and blouses.



2. Although we like the single AAA battery powered approach, we would've preferred that the unit automatically charge itself from a charging cradle when not in use. You either have to dispose of your AAA battery or purchase a separate charger which additionally requires changing out the battery once per day.



Bottom Line:

Our favorite microphone is still the Revolabs xTag wireless lapel because you can't beat the comfort, price and convenience of a lapel microphone but if you require the highest possible accuracy/efficiency, serious noise cancellation and/or longer battery life, the Samson Airline 77 is the only way to go. Most of our staff prefer the xTag microphone but I personally chosen to go with the Samson Airline 77 because every second I have to spend correcting my dictation is time lost that I could be spending testing or developing the next big thing ;-)

One of the biggest problems end-users have with NaturallySpeaking is maintaining a steady volume level. When you run the Audio Setup Wizard you preset your volume input level but unfortunately most people read at a lower volume level then when utilizing real-world stop and go free-form dictation. End-users also have a tendency to raise their voice when they become frustrated with NatuallySpeaking, Windows and other everyday situations. The built-in noise gate goes a long way leveling out these types of problems. No other microphone, we know of, includes this capability and that's why I made the Samson Airline 77 my personal microphone of choice.

KnowBrainer, Inc. Support Staff – Tom Hamilton
Now Providing FREE (1st 5 min.) Tech Support 615-884-4558
A Nuance Gold Certified Endorsed Vendor
ALWAYS Ask If Your Speech Recognition Vendor Is Nuance Certified

[Tom Hamilton]

Samson Q7 Review

We found the Samson Q7 https://www.knowbrainer.com/ShopOnline/index.cfm/product/100/samson-q7-microphone.cfm?CFID=994454 to be as accurate as the over-priced Senneheiser MD431 II and at about 5 times the price, so we won't be able to recommend the Senneheiser desktop mic but the MD431 edged out the Q7 in noise cancellation. An even bigger surprise was that the Buddy Desktop http://www.knowbrainer.com/ShopOnline/index.cfm/product/98/buddy-desktop-mic.cfm USB microphone tied with the Samson Q7 in accuracy. At this point we decided to focus on comparing the Q7 to the Buddy Desktop since they're both desktop microphones. If you add a USB soundcard to the Q7, it will cost about the same as the Buddy Desktop which includes an integrated USB soundcard that begs the question: If both microphones are about the same price and feature the same accuracy, why carry both items. Read on...

Although both the Buddy Desktop and Q7 were dead even in accuracy, the Buddy Desktop has the advantage of being significantly smaller (low-profile), having a mute switch and includes a built-in USB soundcard. By contrast, the Q7 is a performing microphone which makes it a little more difficult to position because of the angle but the Q7 has its own advantages. We found absolutely no drop-off in accuracy when using the Q7 in a moderately quiet environment from 8 inches away but the big surprise was that you could actually maintain relatively high accuracy with the Q7 from as far away as 4 feet (that's no typo). The microphone even worked from as far away as 5 feet but dropped off at that point. By comparison, the Buddy Desktop works best, in a moderately quiet environment, from about 6 inches away and can be quite effective, in a very quiet environment, up to 14 inches but we don't recommend pushing the envelope quite that far. Another Q7 advantage is that it can optionally be goose neck mounted for specialized situations such as a powered wheelchair or bed rail.

In a desktop computer situation with plenty of space we would recommend the Samson Q7 because you can lean back in your chair and still get relatively high accuracy. We find it vastly preferable to any Voice Array microphone which we never recommend. In a small space situation or perhaps a notebook computer workstation situation, we would recommend the Buddy Desktop.

Note #1: The Q7 works best with 1/2 duplex pods such as those made by Andrea and VXI https://www.knowbrainer.com/storefront/index.cfm?fuseaction=product.display&Product_ID=45 . We do not recommend any Full Duplex USB Pods at this time.
Note #2: This microphone is not recommended for soft (quite) voices

KnowBrainer, Inc. Support Staff – Tom Hamilton
Now Providing FREE (1st 5 min.) Tech Support 615-884-4558
A Nuance Gold Certified Endorsed Vendor
ALWAYS Ask If Your Speech Recognition Vendor Is Nuance Certified

[Tom Hamilton]

Samson Zoom H2 Review


PROS:

What we really like about this 24 bit recorder is the fact that it is only $200 as compared to professional 12 bit dictation “only” $500 recorders. We also like the fact that it doubles as a decent USB voice array microphone with as much as a 3 foot range and a choice between a 120° mic spread and 90°. We recommend using the front 90° spread on 1 or 2 monitors and the 120° mic spread on 3 or more monitors. 24 bit recording is impressive. Price wise you can’t beat the H2 for recording conferences, lectures or concerts. This unit even includes a number of professional features like Time Stamp, 512 Mb internal memory (can accommodate 4 Gb SD cards), low-cut filters and can even simultaneously record with all 4 microphones (surround sound) for round table conference discussions and auto-level mic input control.

CONS:

NaturallySpeaking cannot transcribe 24 bit recordings so you can only utilize the MP3 settings which only produce mediocre transcription quality (about equivalent to low-end consumer quality digital recorders). The H2 doesn’t include playback or editing software like most other digital recorders. The membrane buttons lack the tactile feel of a dedicated push button and there is no dedicated slider switch control functionality like double speed play back (cue/review) or seamless punch in because this recorder isn’t designed for transcription use. Note that the H2 is also more than twice the size of a traditional transcription recorder.

Although the H2 doubles as a good voice array microphone system (surpassing other dedicated voice array systems like the high priced $345 Acoustic Magic’s USB Voice Tracker or Andrea Electronics $80 USB Superbeam) it isn’t quite as good as the Samson Q7 http://www.knowbrainer.com/ShopOnline/index.cfm/product/100_7/samson-q7-microphone.cfm or Buddy Desktop http://www.knowbrainer.com/ShopOnline/index.cfm/product/98/buddy-desktop-mic.cfm which are roughly the same price.

One feature which we particularly dislike is if you wish to use the H2 primarily as a desktop USB microphone you have to go through 9 menu selections to activate the USB microphone output because the H2 doesn’t remember your changes when you power down the unit.

CONCLUSION:

If you are looking for an inexpensive digital recorder for serious or even semi-serious work, we cannot recommend the H2 unless you are echo dictating. Note that unlike other digital recorders, the H2 doesn’t include playback/editing software because it is designed for another purpose.
If you are looking for the perfect desktop microphone, the H2 is decent but not our 1st choice unless you are on a $200 budget. However, if you are on a $200 budget and need a 24 bit digital recorder for conferences, lectures and even concerts that will double as a USB voice array microphone for speech recognition, the Zoom H2 is a great choice


KnowBrainer, Inc. Support Staff – Tom Hamilton
Now Providing FREE (1st 5 min.) Tech Support 615-884-4558
A Nuance Gold Certified Endorsed Vendor
ALWAYS Ask If Your Speech Recognition Vendor Is Nuance Certified

[Tom Hamilton]

Shure PG14/PG30 vs Hybrid Samson Airline 77 wireless microphone

Hybrid Samson Airline 77 Advantages:

1. More industrial strength unit featuring dial volume input control as opposed to the 3 basic settings on the Shure

2. Separate Audio and RF meters plus squelch control

3. 300 foot range as compared to 250 foot range

4. 14 hour battery life with a single AAA battery as opposed to 8 hour battery life with the Shure 9 volt battery

5. 3 year warranty as opposed to Shure 2 year warranty

6. Slightly more noise canceling

7. Slightly more accurate

8. Completely belt pack free micro-transmitter as opposed to the dated belt pack transmitter on the Shure


Shure PG14/PG30 Advantages:

1. Up to 10 end-user selectable channels as opposed to only having 1 out of 6 factory preset channels on the Airline 77

2. Headset is lighter and more comfortable to wear

3. Includes an even more comfortable lapel microphone option ********************

We noted that Nuance denoted highest 5 Dragon rating

KnowBrainer, Inc. Support Staff – Tom Hamilton
Now Providing FREE (1st 5 min.) Tech Support 615-884-4558
A Nuance Gold Certified Endorsed Vendor
ALWAYS Ask If Your Speech Recognition Vendor Is Nuance Certified

[Tom Hamilton]

Senneheiser BW 900 Test Results for January 1, 2008



We have been using the new Hybrid Senneheiser BW 900 http://www.knowbrainer.com/ShopOnline/index.cfm/product/93_23/hybrid-sennheiser-bw-900-wireless-microphone.cfm?CFID=999182 wireless microphone for the last 30 days. Several of us have collaborated on testing this microphone and we are in agreement over the following:


We found the BW 900 to be exceptionally good with NaturallySpeaking after adding the proprietary PC Switch/Cabling device that we use to convert the Plantronics CS55 and Plantronics CS70N microphones into speech recognition mics. This microphone exhibits exceptionally high accuracy and noise cancellation. From an accuracy point of view we found the BW 900 equivalent to the Hybrid Plantronics CS55 and Hybrid Plantronics CS70N (available around January 4). The BW 900 surpasses the CS55 in noise cancellation and is equivalent CS70N which falls just below the Hybrid Samson Airline 77.


One of our favorite aspects of the BW 900 is the auto-level control. Auto-level control is commonly used on digital and analog recorders but we've never seen it incorporated into a microphone. Many end users, including ourselves, tend to run the Audio Setup Wizard at a slightly lower volume level than we should because we are reading. When free-form dictating we tend get a little excited (especially when writing reviews); not to mention occasionally frustrated, which results in raising our voice. Raising your voice on a typical microphone will have drastic effects on NaturallySpeaking's accuracy but the BW 900s built-in auto-level control catches volume increases and decreases seemingly instantly which translates directly into higher accuracy. The only other microphone we've tested with a similar feature is the Samson Airline 77 which can handle even more drastic volume changes but it incorporates a noise gate which is better but can take up to 2 seconds to register. The BW 900 auto-level control can't handle extreme volume input changes but it is literally instantaneous. When you factor in slight volume changes that go on throughout the day, we consider this invaluable.


Additional perks include the best Bluetooth microphone we've ever used with a cell phone. It seems like we have tested every Bluetooth cell phone microphone on the market and there have always been pairing issues and dropped connections. We gave up on using Bluetooth cell phone microphones until the BW 900. It's easy to pair, has no problem establishing a connection and is very easy to change the volume level on those hard to hear calls when driving our Jeep Wrangler, which is about as noisy as a dune buggy. This microphone is also good in the wind where even a slight breeze will render most other Bluetooth microphones useless.


The BW 900 works exceptionally well with standard landline telephones as well as cell phones and although you can add an optional hydraulic telephone handset lifter, you may not find it practical for use with dictation because every time you turn on your microphone, the lifter will pick up your telephone headset. We like the hydraulic lifter so we just unplug it while dictating into NaturallySpeaking.


Unfortunately not all the news is good. The BW 900 has a 300 foot range but the included rechargeable battery only lasts about 4.5 hours and takes up to 3 hours to acquire a full charge. Fortunately the unit is capable of simultaneously charging a 2nd battery in the base station. If you plan on using this microphone half as much as much as we do, it would be highly advisable to purchase a 2nd inexpensive battery and even if your battery goes dead while you are on the phone, you can change it out without losing the connection. Changing the battery couldn't be easier. It's just slides in and out.


The Achilles heel of the BW 900 is the headset itself. Like other Bluetooth headsets, it basically clips to your ear with a clever hinged speaker that pinches the interior of your ear canal against the back of the headset which rests on the back of your ear. We are not saying that it's overwhelmingly uncomfortable but because this microphone is clearly designed to handle all your cell phone and landline needs along with your speech recognition requirements, you could easily be wearing it continuously throughout the workday and in today's workplace, you could even wind up wearing it through lunch and dinner too. The speaker includes 3 spacers and although the medium-sized spacer is the default ring, we suspect everyone will be a little more comfortable using the smallest ring which is how we will be shipping our units.


Final thoughts: Although the Senneheiser BW 900 isn't quite as accurate or noise canceling at the Samson Airline 77, it is far more universal in that it doubles as a wireless very accurate very noise canceling Bluetooth cellphone headset, landline headset and speech recognition microphone. We would like to see the Bluetooth portion of the microphone work for speech recognition software but it currently doesn't fulfill this need. That is why we will be including our pc switching device. Senneheiser will hopefully work on this issue but in the meantime we will try to find a Bluetooth dongle to support tablet computers. Our PC switch works fine on desktop computers and notebooks which are typically used in one place but is not well-suited for mobile professionals or tablet computers. To help take care of our customers who need more portability, we'll be including a free KnowBrainer Hands-free microphone with every BW 900 we sell.

KnowBrainer, Inc. Support Staff – Tom Hamilton
Now Providing FREE (1st 5 min.) Tech Support 615-884-4558
A Nuance Gold Certified Endorsed Vendor
ALWAYS Ask If Your Speech Recognition Vendor Is Nuance Certified

[Tom Hamilton]

Senneheiser BW 900 Update

When we did our Sennheiser BW 900 Review back in January we found the Sennheiser to be an exceptional microphone. The BW 900 mic was exactly the type of high quality offering you would expect from the Sennheiser Company. As mentioned in the review the Achilles heel of the mic is the uncomfortable Bluetooth headset.

The uncomfortable Bluetooth headset can now be modified with a Sennheiser single sided headband and is no longer a problem. Click on this link to see a picture of the modified headset. Hybrid Sennheiser BW 900 http://www.knowbrainer.com/ShopOnline/index.cfm/product/93_23/hybrid-sennheiser-bw-900-wireless-microphone.cfm?CFID=999182
Note: We still offer the KnowBrainer Hands-free microphone https://www.knowbrainer.com/storefront/index.cfm?fuseaction=product.display&Product_ID=30 at no charge with every wireless microphone purchase to use as a back up incase you forget to charge your battery etc.

[Tom Hamilton]

Plantronics CS70N Test Results for January 1, 2008



I have been using the new Hybrid Plantronics CS70N http://www.knowbrainer.com/ShopOnline/images/KB/hardware/KB0600104.gif microphone for the last couple of weeks. Several of us have collaborated on testing this microphone and we are in agreement over the following: We found the CS70N to be exceptionally good with NaturallySpeaking after adding the specialized PC Switch/Cabling device that we use to convert the Hybrid Plantronics CS55 https://www.knowbrainer.com/storefront/index.cfm?fuseaction=product.display&Product_ID=31 and the Hybrid Senneheiser BW 900 microphones into speech recognition mics. This microphone exhibits exceptionally high accuracy and noise cancellation. From an accuracy point of view we found the CS70N equivalent to the CS55 and BW 900. From a noise cancelation point of view the CS70N falls just shy of the Hybrid Samson Airline 77 but doubles as a wireless telephone headset; like the CS55. Unfortunately the optional hydraulic telephone handset lifter, isn’t practical for use with dictation because every time you turn on the microphone, the lifter will pick up your telephone headset so we recommend against purchasing the lifter. Bottom Line: Although we found the unique headset to be very comfortable it may not be for everyone because the headset isn’t worn in a traditional headset manner. It is worn around your ear, like the Plantronics Voyager 510 (which we don’t recommend for speech recognition usage). The CS70N also inserts the headset speaker slightly into your ear cannel. We found this microphone to be very comfortable and it works great with most land line phones. If you want a more traditional headset we recommend the CS55 but if you don’t want to mess your hair (ladies) and you need excellent noise cancellation (which is the CS55’s Achilles Heal) the CS70N would be our recommendation.

KnowBrainer, Inc. Support Staff – Tom Hamilton
Now Providing FREE (1st 5 min.) Tech Support 615-884-4558
A Nuance Gold Certified Endorsed Vendor
ALWAYS Ask If Your Speech Recognition Vendor Is Nuance Certified

[Tom Hamilton]

Andrea PureAudio USB-SA Pod (With DNS)A Review



Andrea Electronics asked us to test their new CD quality PureAudio USB-SA Pod external soundcard http://www.knowbrainer.com/ShopOnline/index.cfm/product/110_22/andrea-pureaudio-usb-sa-usb-pod.cfm a few months ago but they didn't get around to posting their advertising until today which prevented us from adding this marvelous new USB soundcard to our website. There are 3 things that we particularly like about the PureAudio USB-SA

1. CD quality sound in and out
2. It's about the size of the flash drive
3. At $45 it is one of the lowest price full-duplex USB Pods on the Internet

You can read the rest of our review and on the KnowBrainer Microphone/Soundcard Forum http://knowbrainer.com/PubForum/index.cfm?page=viewForumTopic&topicId=4821

KnowBrainer, Inc. Support Staff – Tom Hamilton
A Nuance Gold Certified Endorsed Vendor