Digital Voice Recorder with Voice-To-Text Compatibility

[Suhit Gupta]

Hi,
I am looking to buy a digital voice recorder and am looking for suggestions. I need to take it into a class and record a professor's lecture. However, I do not have time to transcribe the lecture by hand myself so I was hoping to have the device do the voice to text conversion automatically. I guess I could use Dragon Naturally Speaking or IBM ViaVoice to do the voice to text but then I would have to buy those separately.

On Amazon, there is the Sony ICD-ST10 (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/flex-sign-in/ref=cm_rate_rev_pagepos2/103-2974362-1441453) which claims to be able to do this but neither the reviews nor the manual for the device show how I can actually do the voice to text. Any suggestions on a device?

Suhit

[Suhit Gupta]

BTW, it should be able to record up to 3 hours (more would be better) at a stretch, and if it had a rechargeable Li-ion battery, that would be even better. Plus, these are for a medical class so accuracy is kinda important in the voice to text conversion.

Suhit

[Raven]

I'm not sure if such a device has ever been successful. You can try here (http://www.transcriptiongear.com/) and see if they have anything that suits you.

But wouldn't it be easier to just record onto the iRiver or a pocketpc and then use some free or cheap voice recognition software to transcribe on your desktop?

[Suhit Gupta]

Ok, so truthfully, this is not for me but for my apartment mate, and so I don't really want to give up my iRiver for the rest of the semester. I definitely need a separate device and I think it would be cheaper to buy a digital voice recorder than a PDA.

Suiht

[Raven]

Boy, that was quite a story you spun there :lol: ever thought of writing biographies :wink:

Any luck with the stuff being sold at Transcriptiongear.com?

[Suhit Gupta]

Not that much of a story :oops:, I am going to end up buying it, and would end up transcribing it, i.e. all the technical work, it is just that it is for my apartmentmate's classes, not mine. ;-)

BTW, which product in particular were you referring to on Transcriptiongear.com, they seem to be selling a bunch and I was hoping to get one that someone has actually tested.

Suhit

[Raven]

You know what, I haven't given the devices on the site a real good look. Now that I've scoured the whole site, I can't find a single device that does both, record and transcribe on the fly. Maybe I'm missing something... :(

Does such a device even exist? Searched google high and low, no luck there. If it does, I doubt it'd be priced less than $300. 8O Most of them are bundled with voice recognition software.

Personally, I've never had any luck in voice recognition. I used Dragon Naturally Speaking 6. Too many errors to correct. That too after hours of training. I shudder to think of the results from a strange voice recording in a large room with the mic metres away from the speaker and maybe lots of background noise.

[Suhit Gupta]

You know what, I haven't given the devices on the site a real good look. Now that I've scoured the whole site, I can't find a single device that does both, record and transcribe on the fly. Maybe I'm missing something... :(
Yep, this is why I asked if you would recommend something in particular from this site.

Anyways, I hope something like this exists. Although I would tend to disagree with you about the voice recognition software. The quality has improved so much now with the extensive research in the field of Natural Language Processing that I find them to be almost 99% accurate without too much training.

Suhit

[igroknful]

I have a Sony BCD-ICD150 that records for 32 hours and came with Dragon Naturally Speaking that's supposed to do just what you want. I haven't gotten around to trying it out.

Rhonda

[Suhit Gupta]

Any chance I could ask you for a huge favor, and try out your Sony. I am just looking to see if it is a viable option. I mean, if you could say two sentences and then run the file through Dragon, and let me know if it actually works, then I would really appreciate it :).

Thanks
Suhit

[JTWise]

But isn't the main problem here with training? I just started using the Microsoft Speech (L&H) function on my Tablet PC and recognition is pretty good under ideal conditions and with training. Wouldn't you have to have the professor do a speech training in order for it to recognize the voice and transcribe.

I'm not saying it can't be done. Beleive me, I would love to find a way to record my 2+ hour management meetings (8 participants) since we don't have anyone taking notes. I just don't think the technology is there yet.

Maybe I will try to record a portion of our next meeting and push it through a speech-to-text. Any recomendations on an external Mic to use on my Tablet PC?