Voice recognition tools De persoon die dit onderwerp heeft geplaatst: kevin furber
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I would like to know which is the best voice recognition software. I used to use Dragon naturally speaking about ten years ago and it was fantastic, but I just looked at the prices and unless I'm mistaken the price has gone up a lot. I remember paying about 100 or maximum 150 euros for this software, now it seems to be much more expensive. Are there any good cheaper alternatives?
| | | | Michael Beijer 
Verenigd Koninkrijk
Local time: 22:32
Lid
Nederlands naar Engels
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| kevin furber
Frankrijk
Local time: 23:32
Frans naar Engels
ONDERWERPSTARTER | What do you means by Geeky? Can I use Talon with CAT tools? | Jan 23 |
Thanks for your reply. It's very interesting that you have Dragon but prefer to use Talon. When you say geeky, do you mean it has a lot of complex functions?
I remember Dragon being relatively easy to understand and it took only two or three hours to get going. I'm tempted by Talon if it is cheaper, but I don't want to suffer too much getting going with speech recognition again.
When I was using Dragon, I used it seamlessly with the Déjà Vu CAT tool and sometimes a little less eas... See more Thanks for your reply. It's very interesting that you have Dragon but prefer to use Talon. When you say geeky, do you mean it has a lot of complex functions?
I remember Dragon being relatively easy to understand and it took only two or three hours to get going. I'm tempted by Talon if it is cheaper, but I don't want to suffer too much getting going with speech recognition again.
When I was using Dragon, I used it seamlessly with the Déjà Vu CAT tool and sometimes a little less easily with Trados. Does Talon function with CAT tools? ▲ Collapse
| | | | Birte Mirbach
Duitsland
Local time: 23:32
Engels naar Duits
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| Windows speech recognition | Jan 23 |
The newer Windows versions already have speech recognition on board, and as far as I know the same applies to mac computers. So I would try that first before spending a lot of money. At least for German texts it works quite okay.
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kevin furber
Frankrijk
Local time: 23:32
Frans naar Engels
ONDERWERPSTARTER | Which versons of Windows have speech recognition. | Jan 23 |
Hi Birte, thanks for this brilliant idea.
It did cross my mind to have a look for this function. My windows must be quite old now though. Where can I find the speech recognition function? I just looked in Accessories and can't find anything.
| | | | Tom in London
Verenigd Koninkrijk
Local time: 22:32
Lid 2008
Italiaans naar Engels
The MacOS comes with a built-in speech recognition tool that I use all the time, not only for translation but within numerous other applications as well. It isn't perfect but then, none of them are. After you've been using it for a while, it learns. And of course there are no bugs because it is completely integrated into the operating system (and is included in the price)
[Edited at 2025-01-23 14:17 GMT]
| | | | Dan Lucas
Verenigd Koninkrijk
Local time: 22:32
Lid 2014
Japans naar Engels
kevin furber wrote:
When I was using Dragon, I used it seamlessly with the Déjà Vu CAT tool and sometimes a little less easily with Trados. Does Talon function with CAT tools?
None of the advanced functionality in Dragon (editing commands and so on) ever worked within Trados, as far as I know. So simple dictation was fine, but even a minor mistake would require you to type. Of course, you can use DragonPad, although I found it slow and cumbersome. Maybe DragonPad is what you used before?
Like Michael I have moved to Talon, partly because Dragon doesn't seem to be actively developed any more, and partly because Talon is simply more powerful and extensible. It does take some getting used to, so I suspect from your comments above that you would not find it an easy journey.
If you can justify the expense, and you really need voice recognition, I would stick with Dragon.
If you can't justify the expense, and you really need voice recognition, I would try Talon.
If you can't justify the expense, and you don't really need voice recognition, I would forget about it.
I tried Windows voice recognition last year when I was having problems with Dragon, and it isn't close to either Talon or Dragon for professional work. Maybe it depends what you're using it for.
Regards,
Dan
| | | | kevin furber
Frankrijk
Local time: 23:32
Frans naar Engels
ONDERWERPSTARTER | Dragon with Déjà VY CAT tool / Price and version of Dragon | Jan 23 |
Thanks Dan for your very helpful post. I agree regarding Trados that it only works for basic dictation, however with my main CAT tool, Déjà Vu, which is a very old version, Dragon worked really well in the past. I like the way you put the problem in perspective.
Can I justify the expense of Dragon? The answer could be yes but I'm getting various prices online Dragon Home 15 seems to sell for 179 euros. Is this version any good? I can't remember which version I had previously unfortunate... See more Thanks Dan for your very helpful post. I agree regarding Trados that it only works for basic dictation, however with my main CAT tool, Déjà Vu, which is a very old version, Dragon worked really well in the past. I like the way you put the problem in perspective.
Can I justify the expense of Dragon? The answer could be yes but I'm getting various prices online Dragon Home 15 seems to sell for 179 euros. Is this version any good? I can't remember which version I had previously unfortunately.
This question of price was a major part of my original post. How much is Dragon now?
I agree with you I would be better with Dragon than Talon as I'm not very geeky. I like software to be easy to use and polished. 179 euros would be well worth it for me. But I saw another price of the professional version of 999 euros which is too pricey for me. What's the difference between the versions of Dragon. ▲ Collapse
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Dan Lucas
Verenigd Koninkrijk
Local time: 22:32
Lid 2014
Japans naar Engels
kevin furber wrote:
179 euros would be well worth it for me. But I saw another price of the professional version of 999 euros which is too pricey for me. What's the difference between the versions of Dragon.
Gently, I think price and version differences are things you can research yourself.
However, as a kind of public service announcement I would point out that because Dragon 16 is now the latest version, Dragon 15 is no longer sold by Nuance/Microsoft. It may be that some retailers have physical stock of Dragon 15 with a DVD and so on, but I would imagine they would be hard to find.
For example, this page has Dragon 15:
https://www.dictaphones.co.uk/NUANCE-Dragon-Home-V15-p/dc09x-w00-15.0.htm
But then it directs you to another page for the downloadable version:
https://www.speakit.co.uk/collections/nuance-dragon-home/products/nuance-dragon-home-15-instant-download
...and that page says that the software is unavailable and you should buy Dragon 16 instead. A look at this page:
https://www.speakit.co.uk/products/nuance-dragon-professional-v16-single-user-instant-download
...reveals that Dragon Professional 16 costs a cool £619, and as far as I know there is no Home version. I have a license for Dragon 15, and there is very little in Dragon 16 that improves on the previous version (apparently there have been some technical changes under the surface). For that reason I did not think I could justify the upgrade and have stayed with Dragon 15, although I don't think I have run the software since the spring of last year.
Slightly less expensive would be Dragon 15 Professional Individual, but that would still be £418.80. Is also unclear to me as to whether they can actually ship/download this or not, because the site to which they ultimately link does not have any Dragon 15 software listed:
https://www.dictaphones.co.uk/NUANCE-DragonProfessional-Individual-V15-p/k809x-x00-15.0.htm
If you can find a genuine version (preferably in a box) that sells for 179 euros, as you say, that looks like a good deal to me. If it is downloadable that is potentially an issue because Nuance seems to have discontinued permission for such downloads (physical stock can of course continue to be sold). If someone is selling a downloadable version, where did they get it, do they have permission to sell it, and would it be supported?
I'm afraid it's just not easy. Voice recognition is one of those areas where there are few established suppliers with decent technology so there has not been much choice in "polished" software for many years. Moreover, it is not an area in which much active investment is taking place, because of competition from things like Talon, or Whisper, or from the operating system itself (Windows or macOS).
From the corporate perspective, what's the point in spending hundreds of thousands of dollars developing new software if nobody will buy it? Conversely, from the user perspective, what's the point in spending many hundreds of dollars for voice recognition when you have something in the operating system that may do a decent job for general speech?
If, like me, you really need to use voice recognition software due to pain in hands, arms or shoulders, and it needs to be genuinely capable, then you have little choice. You either need to pony up and buy Dragon (which may be the best option if your translation business generates thousands of euro every month), or you need to evolve away from a fixed mindset of "I'm not technical" and put some effort into learning Talon or a similar system. Both paths have their drawbacks.
Regards,
Dan
| | | | Recep Kurt
Turkije
Local time: 01:32
Lid 2011
Engels naar Turks
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| Voicenotebook and Braina | Jan 24 |
I actively use https://voicenotebook.com.
You install a Chrome extension and also download and extract a folder to your computer (instructions provided at the site). For Windows, Linux, Android and iOS.
Only 16 bucks per year and you can dictate to wherever you put your mouse cursor to.
... See more I actively use https://voicenotebook.com.
You install a Chrome extension and also download and extract a folder to your computer (instructions provided at the site). For Windows, Linux, Android and iOS.
Only 16 bucks per year and you can dictate to wherever you put your mouse cursor to.
There is also Braina (https://www.brainasoft.com/braina/) that I bought with a lifetime license a few years ago, but it keeps mixing up the letters "ı" and "i" and doesn't work well for Turkish, so I haven't used it in a long time. But they seem to have added a lot of features, so it might be worth checking out. ▲ Collapse
| | | | kevin furber
Frankrijk
Local time: 23:32
Frans naar Engels
ONDERWERPSTARTER | Food for thought, thanks to all contributors | Jan 27 |
All this information is really useful and exactly what I need. I can now weigh up all the possibilities and see which one suits my needs.
I'm not technical, but if I decided to go for Talon, I will make it work. I would like to try the voicenotebook Chrome extension first as this is a cheap solution and may work for me. Thanks for this Kurt.
I appreciate Dan's contribution regarding which versions of Dragon are on sale, and which are not and the prices. It just seems too expensive. ... See more All this information is really useful and exactly what I need. I can now weigh up all the possibilities and see which one suits my needs.
I'm not technical, but if I decided to go for Talon, I will make it work. I would like to try the voicenotebook Chrome extension first as this is a cheap solution and may work for me. Thanks for this Kurt.
I appreciate Dan's contribution regarding which versions of Dragon are on sale, and which are not and the prices. It just seems too expensive.
I do not have much sympathy for Dragon, as I think they have made millions on their software over the last decades and are still doing so. I have noticed that many medical specialists and even lawyers seem to be using Dragon in their daily business and I'm sure they have paid through the nose for the software. They have chosen to put the price up apparently and target the high end of the market. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Eric Le Carre
Frankrijk
Local time: 23:32
Engels naar Frans
+ ...
Another option could be LilySpeech which comes in a free version and a paid premium version worth $29,99 a year.
It's available at: https://lilyspeech.com/download/
Hope it helps.
Éric
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