Dragon Speech sound card question....

[Arcadian]

Hi I use Dragon Speech a lot finding it very useful also it's been working really great for ages. However had two power cuts an hour or so ago and it's now saying volume is too low after doing their check microphone test.

Had this reply from their forum as to what might be the problem but being a non-techie haven't a clue what it means as I've not had a sound card problem before. Could someone possibly give me some pointers please.... ?

Thanks !

If you're using an analog microphone with an integrated soundcard, it may be gremlins. The most common integrated soundcard is RealTek and success with this soundcard is spotty at best. We only recommend USB soundcards which can be purchased for as little as $20. If you're using a USB microphone than the Windows operating system may have simply lost the USB connection. Try plugging your USB soundcard into a different USB port; preferably a direct USB port and not a splitter.

 

[Bongo]

I use Dragon naturally speaking all the time myself, what they are asking is does your laptop have a built in sound card or a add-on sound card (most laptops have a built in sound card).

And they also want to know does your microphone plug-in to the USB port or does it plug-in to a round hole on the side of the laptop?

I use a USB soundcard with my microphone and it works perfectly.

Jerry

 

[Arcadian]

Great thank you for your reply !

Struggling to follow but the only mike I use is the tiny hole immediately above the centre of the screen....

As for the sound card presumably in-built though I've no idea what it does or where it is as it's never happened before

 

[Bongo]

What version of Dragon are you using, I think the newest version 13 will let you use the built-in laptop microphone.

Jerry

 

[Arcadian]

I think it's 12.5 but don't know where to check to make sure....

Edit: Ok found it by placing the cursor over the icon at the bottom of screen....12.5

 

[Bongo]

Right click on the taskbar Dragon icon go to Help > About NaturallySpeaking.

 

[Arcadian]

Unfortunately no change as volume was still too low, now it's crashed altogether and won't open at all probably caused by the power cuts. Not to worry but pity about all the valuable lost user profile data.

Was thinking about getting the latest version anyway, any do's and dont's.... ?

 

[Bongo]

I also have 12.5, I tried 13 but it would never start so I got my money back it may work for you I don't know.

If it was me I would buy a microphone and a USB soundcard instead of upgrading. Here is what I use VXI TalkPro USB2 Headset

 

[Arcadian]

I also have 12.5, I tried 13 but it would never start so I got my money back it may work for you I don't know.

If it was me I would buy a microphone and a USB soundcard instead of upgrading. Here is what I use VXI TalkPro USB2 Headset

I've since read a few reviews of 13 on Amazon mostly good but some that were downright scathing so I'd left it at that as I didn't fancy coughing up another £60 - £70 for a lot of potential hassle. Then last night I suddenly remembered I'd still got the original invoice and details of my old 12.5 on the hard drive from over 2 years ago, so told them all that had happened and for £19.95 they're sending a new 12.5 replacement card due in the post next week.

I then uninstalled the old file in case it messed the new download up, which luckily at the end finally asked if I wanted to keep my old User Profile so obviously yes which had up until then been a real worry, so all in all I'm pretty happy with the ways things turned out.

As for a mike and USB soundcard I think I'll wait and see as I've since found an old headset to try once everything is installed, but want to see if the tiny mike hole above the screen works as well as it did previously as I found it much easier and more spontaneous to put down ideas the moment they surfaced with the minimum of outside distractions.

For what it's worth I've always dictated to the laptop mike from about 2 feet away and slightly beneath it with the lid half closed so as to trap as much sound as possible, whereas before I had the lid fully open with poor results in any seated position and really works a treat once you've found and then stay with the best location !

Have you ever tried the laptop mike on its own....?

Can't wait for it to arrive !

 

[Bongo]

Have you ever tried the laptop mike on its own....?

No I haven't, I've had this headset for 4 or 5 years now.