This month Macspeech have released a major upgrade of Macspeech Dictate and they have also renamed it to include the Dragon branding – Dragon Dictate.
I’ve only been using it for a couple of hours, but I can say it’s definitely an improvement on MacSpeech Dictate. Dragon have put their name on the product, which I assume means they’ve put out something that they’re finally happy with.
I was happy with the last version, but this one is even better.
Dragon Dictate’s remarkable accuracy is powered by the latest version of the Dragon speech recognition engine. This is the same state-of-the-art technology used by Dragon NaturallySpeaking 11 for the PC.
All the previous upgrades to MacSpeech Dictate have just been an upgrade to the application, but this upgrade includes new speech files as well. That makes it a hefty download, over 1 GB, and also means that you have to totally retrain your voice from scratch. That’s not a problem though, because after no more than 5 or 6 minutes of training my version of Dragon Dictate is already more accurate than the last MacSpeech Dictate, which I had done the full training on.
Dragon Dictate, the latest version, also has voice controls, like ou can move the cursor around on your screen, and you can even say a phrase like ‘search google for Italian restaurants in Dubbo’ and it will open google and do the search. I’m not sure that I’ll use this feature a lot, but it certainly will be good for people who want to use DragonDictate to control their computer rather than just to dictate documents.
Click here to go to the Dragon site where you can purchase and download it.
Note that Dragon Dictate only runs on Snow Leopard.
Here is a short video I put together of me trying out the latest version of Dragon Dictate…
Here is me dictating the start of a talk so you can see how it works in real life…
Here’s a video of what it looks like to do the basic training… (for some reason the audio doesn’t work for the first 30 seconds of the video.)
As good as speech recognition is, sometimes it drives you bonkers. Here it struggles to correctly recognise the word Australian – a shame since it is the Australian accent version!
Here’s a good little demo I found of an American guy doing a similar demo.
You can buy it here:
Other posts on Speech recognition:
I laughed lots – thanks Wayne!
Does it do mouse clicks? Eg can you say “mouse click” and the mouse will click at the current position of the cursor. This used to be an add-in pack for the old iListen. In MacDictate, you had to code this feature using some extensions (but it worked really well when you did). So I am wondering if the new version has this feature out of the box?
Yes it does. You can move the mouse, make it move faster or slower, and click all using your voice.
Little bit off topic but can I ask what screen recording software you are using? it seems to make a circle effect when you click the mouse.
I used iShowU HD to make the video.
Question: Can you save the voice dictation file for playback later so that you can listen to your dictation as you proofread the transcribed document? Two hours’ worth of dictation? Four?
no
I suppose you can have something like WireTap or even QTPlayer running at the same time, and they will record what you say
[...] Dragon Dictate – Dragon Naturally Speaking v11 on the Mac Sep 26 [...]
Will this new version transcribe pre recorded files like the PC version does or do mac users still have to buy scribe……. the latter I suspect but it would be a pleasant surprise if not.
FYI, it only runs on Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard. I didn’t see that until after I bought it.
I can’t see anywhere in the menus where it can transcribe audio files.
Can i use my platronics wireless head set which I use for Dragon naturally speaking v.10 on a windows based pc on a Macbook – dragon dictate?
Yes you can, no worries, you can either plug it straight in to your USB port if it’s a USB-based one, or get a USB sound a dongle and plug it into that. I have tried both of these options.
The first truly useful review of DD. I have read many, but yours shows just how smart it is.
Many thanks !
Hello,
Is it also possible to use it with a digital voice recorder? Specifically ideally as I have one! the Olympus VN-6800 PC?
with thanks,
Gilly
You’d need Dragon Transcribe for that – a separate program.
Does this latest version have spell check and punctuation check?
How reliable is this for a college student to use in a course with technical words
Is Dragon Dictate – Dragon Naturally Speaking v11 on the Mac the only software I need to purchase?
Does this print out what is on the screen?
Will Transcribe work with a Dragon certified Sony ICD-UX200 voice recorder. I just want to be sure that it will work on the Mac with this Sony. Anyone know?
I assume it works with any voice recorder? I’ve never tried it.
>Does this latest version have spell check and punctuation check?
Dragon Doesn’t need spell check – it doesn’t make spelling mistakes! The spell check in theprogram you are dictating into still works.
>How reliable is this for a college student to use in a course with technical words
You can add any techo words to the vocabulary and it will then recognise them.
>Is Dragon Dictate – Dragon Naturally Speaking v11 on the Mac the only software I need to purchase?
Correct. (If all you want it for is to dictate live into your computer).
I recommend Dragon Naturally Speaking V. 11 for the PC run on a mac using VM Fusion software. The fusion software tricks your mac into thinking its a PC and runs the PC version of DNS V.11 flawlessly. Why do it this way? Two reasons: (1) So you don’t have to learn two voice recognition languages, one for the Mac, and one for the PC version of DNS, and (2) you get to use the PC version of DNS which is more robust, intuitive, and – as the administrator points out – corrects and trains better. Nuance wants to soak you for two versions for each platform: Mac and PC. Nuance will tell you not to run DNS through the backdoor using VM Fusion, but I can tell you it works like a charm and I’ve been using Dragon/Nuance products for over 15 years.
Mac fans may also enjoy the fact the VM Fusion essentially arms their macs with all the power and capability of a PC anytime they need it. I suggest to you that using DNS may be one of those “times.”
To the person who contemplates dictating with a computer and a headset/recorder in their car: please just don’t.
Cheers,
RB
This is a huge revelation RB. I’ve used Dragon for a couple years now because of a disability, but I absolutely hate my PC. I was going to buy a Mac and get the DragonDictate, but it sounds like I can have the best of both worlds and use Dragon 11.
I use Dragon to control my entire computer, from Internet searches to form filling to document transcription. Will this VM fusion backdoor method be compatible with that level of usage, or is it something I can only use with documents, i.e. something I need to click on every time I open a document?
Please let me know if you have a chance, and thanks so much again for opening my eyes to this!
RB,
I noticed your post for running v11 off the VMware platform. I am trying to do the same thing, but it says that Windows has no sound card to support it. Do you have any suggestions on how to fix this? Thanks.
What about running Dragon Dictate on the Mac while using VMware. I have recently transitioned from using PCs to a Mac. I have used DNS Medical edition for a number of years. I currently am using VMware but have yet to install DNS until I know that all my other work related software will work on the Mac. If it does, I can avoid using VMware for the most part. The advantage I see to using Dragon Dictate would be that it would work in Mac Applications and also possibly within the PC applications as they are running within an application on the Mac. I can’t see DNS working within a Mac application as it is running virtually within VMware. Has anyone tried using Dragon Dictate with a PC application within VMware?
your video is more imformative than the instructions i have set everything up but nothing is happening i have the little box with micro phone on etc but its not instructing me to train ??help
Wayne
Will DD handle more than one user? ie. When it “learns” your voice is that stored in your user preferences so that another user on their own page can use the same app but it recognise their voice as well?
Does that make sense?
Yes you can have multiple users, it trains each person’s voice separately. Then when you run DD it asks which user you are, and uses your voice profile. I even have two profiles set up for me for two different microphones.
How would you go about using Dragon Dictate (for Mac) for the PC? Can it be “shared” with Parallels?
thanks for this really funny video. I am currently using a PC and Dragon NaturallySpeaking to type out this comment. I’ve spent ages trying to train my profile and is now working really nicely, however I’m about to upgrade my PC to a iMac.
So I am wondering, would you suggest that I run Dragon NaturallySpeaking version 11 via parallels 6.0, or should I buy Dragon dictate to run natively on the Mac?
I would be really appreciated of your advice here guys.
Mark
Can I purchase one copy and install it on both my wife’s laptop and my laptop or must I buy a separate copy for each machine?
Thank you for the demo videos, Wayne. I came across your site while I was searching for dictaphones and the Dragon software…I’m so glad I did. The third video absolutely cracked me up laughing. It’s hilarious! “Obvious trolley annexing version.”
What the…?
Your videos were very informative.
Will Dragon work by replaying interviews recorded on a separate digital voice reorder and replayed into the software mic?
Stevenorthfreo
Can you transfer speechfiles created on Windows XP, using V11, to the Mac version of Dragon?
I doubt it. It would be quicker to re-train it anyway wouldn’t it?
Is there a Dragon Dictate for Mac in spanish?
I am an American living in Australia and have an American accent. Will it matter much if I use Dragon Dictate verson for the Australian accent? It is not easy to get the American accent version and it is more expensive here.
You can choose American, UK, Australian accent etc when you set it up, it has them all. Well at least mine does. I got it from Amazon.com and that was the cheapest place to buy it.
Any news about Dragon Dictate for Mac as hybrid for English and Spanish? That is a must! Thanks.