Speech Recognition Software for Mac...HELP!

[|MP|Nomad]

Hello everyone,

I need everyone's help (who know's about this)

I HAVE to get a speech recognition software for my learning disability and I am debating whether to get IBM's Via Voice for Mac (either for OS 9 or OS X) or Dragon Naturally Speaking (DNS) (Preferred Edition) for PC.  PLEASE DO NOT ASK ME ABOUT MY DISABILITY I DONT HAVE TIME TO GIVE DETAILS, JUST PLEASE KNOW THAT I AM WRITING THIS OUT OF DESPERATION IN NEED OF HELP.

PLease for all those mac lovers out there do not bitch at me about even thinking of the PC one, b/c I need serious poster's here.

I have heard alot of bad things about Via Voice (ie. its learning curve is much more difficult vs that of DNS, however this was someone's comparison with the PC version of Via Voice and not Mac's).  I have also heard that if I was to get the Via Voice for mac, that it would be better to get the OS 9 version since its been out longer and OS X may have some more bugs to work out b/c its newer.

I NEED to hear from people that HAVE used Via Voice for Mac (or PC) or know others that have.  I NEED  feedback whether I should get it or not.

Now I have heard WONDERFUL things about DNS (which is only for PC) vs. Via Voice (for either platforms).  I heard that it is more accurate, faster, etc.  I even called ScanSoft (maker of DNS and distributors of via voice for PC & Mac) themselves and asked them who they thougth was better and I believe they gave me a sincere response and said DNS all the way. I know they are the makers of it and their opinion is biased b/c they have invested interest, but when I asked other University students with WORSE Learning Disabilites compared to mine, who use DNS DAILY and have used Via Voice for PC (not Mac though, keep in mind) what they think, they agreed 100% that DNS is a much better product.  HOWEVER, I HAVE NOT HEARD FROM ANYONE WHO HAS EVER USED IBM VIA VOICE FOR MAC (either OS 9 or X).

Can anyone, PLEASE, who has used it, give me their feedback and tell me if they think that I should get it (Via Voice for Mac, either OS 9 or OS X) and give reasons (SPECIFICS-STATS) why.

Thank You very much for your Attention.

Nomad

[|MP|Buccaneer]

Don't forget iListen and ListenDo, which I've read work well with viavoice for Mac besides as stand alone apps.  iListen will import and transcribe from your digital recorder too.

http://www.macspeech.com/default.html

[|MP|Nomad]

Hey Bucc,
thanks for the post (as always )

If you remember I told you I have the Olympus Digital Voice Recorder DSS-330.  Well I have been posting the same questions on the apple website discussions fourms and have been getting some really good information.  One person sent this about iListen and my DSS-330 http://www.macspeech.com/edits/technotes/Olympus330.html so now I know it works.  

Now my only problem whether I should get PC or Mac is this:

I must say that some of the softwares, like Kurzweil and Insipration I will be purchasing soon. They are available on PC too. With respect to Kurzweil, the Mac version is not as good as the PC version, simply because the Mac version is missing so many important features that the PC has.

Actually, if you have an email address (OR ANYONE) I can send you what Kurzweil sent me, which was, a comparison list between Mac vs. PC for Kurzweil 3000.

What Kurzweil does is that its an OCR Software, so you can scan text in and have the software read it back to you. However, with the Mac version it can only do that, read it back, whereas the PC version will read it back but you can also EDIT the scanned text and add a your OWN notes to it and a VOICE note and you can directly from within the software launch the INTERNET to find info you want and import it in the body of the scanned text, a great feature that the Mac's version does not have.

Also, with the mac version of Kurzweil it only works on 1 compatible scanner currently for either OS X and OS 9 (depsite what the kurzweil site says, since I recently contaced them by phone), this is the Epson Perfection 2400 (which is listed in the apple site under people with disabilites). In the PC version of Kurzweil there are hundreds of Scanners that are very fast and accurate. What Kurzweil does is rate different scanners by slow, average, fast and very fast, in terms of how fast it can scan a page.

Now I know what you might be thinking there is OmniPage Pro X for Mac OS X. To be quite honest with you I dont know how good it is or if it even has as THOSE features in it as Kurzweil does. And, unfortunately, on the Scansoft site, they dont mention which scanners are compatible and they do NOT rate them, which is something Kurzweil does exceptionally.

Any thoughts on OminPage Pro X?

There is also another OCR software for mac OS X that I never heard of, someone who repied to me at the apple forum gave me this link. http://www.irislink.com/opt/uk/products/readiris/mac/index.html

THOUGHTS PLEASE
 

[|MP|Nomad]

I Just thought of something.

SInce I am having all these problems trying to figure out whether to get a Mac or PC laptop, can I not just install VPC (emulator) in the Mac and have all my problems taken care of? In other words I can just purchase all the PC softwares, like Dragon, Kurzweil for PC, XP OS, etc.

Will there be problems trying to use speech recognition software? or any OCR software? etc

If so, would I then need even more RAM?

Thought?

[BTs_Lee.Harvey]

Just remeber.... emutaion is not like having the real thing.. yes you can run those programs but the proformance will not be as good unless you get a g5 dp.....

[|MP|Buccaneer]

Harvey, you can't run Virtual PC on a G5, yet (who knows when).

And since the fastest laptop nomad can get with that program is a 2GHz celron, a 1GHz G4 emulating isn't going to be a huge difference.

OmniPage Pro X is one of the best OCR programs out there (both PC and Mac).  The thing that it doesn't have that Kurzweil does is when it reads, it changes the text colors to help you read along.  

[BTs_Mysterio]

To expand upon what Bucc said about VPC:

I'm betting MS will find a way to delay that G5 release asa long as they can. They claim they are on our side with their so called "mac division", but thats just where Bill Gates sends the rejects of MS. Well...now I can go laugh cause....cause I can.

[|MP|Nomad]

I thank Bucc and Myst for their advice but I was really hoping that more people would answer.  

[|MP|Nomad]

Well Bucc and others, Its official, I am getting a Mac with iListen and some other software.  When I get them I will let you know how they.  Thanks for all yer help bucc.

[Ace]

I thank Bucc and Myst for their advice but I was really hoping that more people would answer.  

You asked for the help of people who know about this stuff, which isn't many. For once, the peanut gallery did not butt in where it was asked not to.

[BFG]

NOMAD! NOMAD! STOP STOP STOP!

Damn i wish i had seen your post earlier.

I have been / hell i am in much the same situation as you. let me enlighten you ;0)

im 2nd year uni student. I (lol) am a 'disabled student' - or rather im one of many many people who suffer from Dyslexia (or rather displexica )
I won't ask u cos thats cool. anyway. I used to have a mac and was bought a copy of Dragons speach recognition software as i injured my wrist and couldn't type - a problem as sinse the age of 14 or so i have typed every bit of work under the sun.

I used the DNS briefly, but gave up eventually. I found it took days to get the software used to my voice, the training period seemed immense. However this was several years ago and the situation mights well have inprved a lot!

I also use a Olympus DM1 recorder for lectures ect... I have yet to find software that will allow me to download my files, or upload music to it (it is a mp3 player as well! )... i might have a look at ilisten though as that sounds good

Bucc, conflicting with common knowledge but omnipage isn't actually the best around. The best bit of OCR is actually called Kurzwell. Its a education app that scans in text and reads it back to you. now the speach thing is shit but the OCR is much more accurate than Omnipage. honest. only problem is it is currently OS9 only
Also, if you are dyslexic mate i would higly recommend 'inspiration' - its a wonder for helping to visually plan and write essays. I wouldn't have got through my A-levels without it.

I can't right now but if you want any more info or advice feel free to email me - modbfg@blueyonder.co.uk

[|MP|Nomad]

Hi BFG,
thanks for the reply, I really appreciate your honesty and I give props to you for coming on here and admitting to your disability.

Just some info that will interest you since its touches on the things that you mentioned.

Firstly, about Kurzweil.  It is available now for OS X, its kurzweil 3000 version 2.  For PC they are at v. 7 right now, so we are a little behind.  However, I must say that I have heard great things about K3 for mac.  There are some differences b/w the PC and Mac version.  After contacting Kurzweil directly via phone and numerous emails, I have learned that the Mac version of K3 doesn't allow you to edit scanned text to add your own notes therefore, I have to disagree that K3 is the best OCR program, at least for MAC, however, I think what you are referring to is for PC and I can't comment on the PC version since I have only used it once, although it did seem very accurate.  And I also cannot comment on Omnipage, since I have never used it.  My brother has Omnipage version 8 for OS 9 and it was fairly accurate with some minor, but fixable mistakes.
It also doesn't allow you to add your own Voice recorded notes (which I dont really care for, but its an extra feature) and it also doesn't allow you to launch Internet Explorer through kurzweil, whereas the PC version does.
Through Kurzweil listserve, they referred me to this great forum (called Closing The Gap) that I have just joined that discusses alot of Assistive Tech software for Mac, and one app. they are currently discussing for the rest of this week (Nov. 3 - Nov. 7) with a Kurzweil consultant is K3 v2 for Mac.  Here's the link http://www.closingthegap.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi.

Next, I'll talk about Inspiration.  I will be purchasing Inspiration 7.5 for OS X, which is compatible for both OS 9 & X.  I already have Inpsration 6, which is only for OS 9, although I was given this software and never learned to use, except for now, tomorrow will be my first lesson through my Assistive Technology Lab.  I'll let you know how I like it.

Lastly, about VRS, like iListen 1.6 for OS X (and OS 9) or DNS, here are my views.  After lengthy conversations with Macspeech www.macspeech.com (makers of iListen), who btw don't have 1-800 # and so I had to incurr and pretty hefty long-distance phone charge, I have learned quite a bit from the "horses mouth".  I spoke to Patrick, and I asked him which VRS he thinks is best and he said to me that it depends what it is you're using it for.  He said that if you are disabled and don't have use of your arms, then DNS is much better and more accurate since DNS allows you to totally 100% operate your entire computer without pressing a single keystroke, where as iListen is not that evolved yet.  However, he did say that for an abled bodied student such as myself, this is not necessary and so if I am only interested in accuracy and speed of dictation (which I am) then iListen can actually be just as good as DNS, if not better, since he used both.  Now, I know his opinion is biased but I also did some research on the apple discussion-support forum and found some good feedback from someone who does already use iListen.  Here's the Link http://discusssearch.info.apple.com/WebX?128@59.ZMDJanOMkXW.8@.599a84f9.

The DSS-330 from Olympus allows me to download my compressed audio files in .dss format to my laptop, where through the DSS software that came with the unit allows me to convert from .dss to .aiff format.

I hope this info helps.  Keep in touch and give feedback please.  

[|MP|Nomad]

After contacting Kurzweil directly via phone and numerous emails, I have learned that the Mac version of K3 doesn't allow you to edit scanned text to add your own notes therefore, I have to disagree that K3 is the best OCR program, at least for MAC, however, I think what you are referring to is for PC and I can't comment on the PC version since I have only used it once, although it did seem very accurate.  And I also cannot comment on Omnipage, since I have never used it.  My brother has Omnipage version 8 for OS 9 and it was fairly accurate with some minor, but fixable mistakes.

Well for those who are interested:

I have just contacted Kurzweil Education systems and they have corrected my previous comment about how K3 for Mac doesn't allow you to edit scanned text.  This is not true, it can!! If I scan a TEXT document, it is 100% editable and you can manipulate it all you want even export it to any word processor you like, ie. Word, etc.    

Now, this means that I don't need to spend extra $$ for Omnipage, besides if I feel I need Omnipage in the future I will get it.

Hope this info was helpful.  

[BFG]

indeed nomad.

In fact you can just copy and past the text into your chosen word editor be it microsoft office, appleworks, text, absolutly anything in fact.!

ps. ty for email. will write when i have a second!