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Sound card -- Realtek?
Submitted by Matt Chambers on Wed, 02/08/2006 - 19:24.
I am now experimenting with Microsoft speech recognition on my home desktop computer, in part so that my 11-year-old son can use it. I've never tried speech recognition on it before, and don't have Dragon NaturallySpeaking loaded on that computer. When I go into the control panel and look at the hardware, it shows that the sound card is "Realtek AC'97 Audio". (My home desktop is a very nice, but inexpensive eMachines machine.) I'm not sure if this is really the sound card or simply a generic set of drivers. I suspect that it is some sort of sound card integrated into the motherboard.
Unfortunately, the Microsoft speech recognition program does not have the same sophisticated Audio Setup Wizard as Dragon, but it does say that the sound quality is acceptable, or words to that effect.
I suppose I can use the Sound Recorder and listen to my speech to see how it sounds.
Does anyone have experience with this kind of sound card? Have you used it with Dragon?
(Please don't tell me to use a USB sound pod. For reasons that would take too long to explain, at the moment that is not an option.)
Matt Chambers wrote: I
I suspect that it is some sort of sound card integrated into the motherboard.
It probably is an on board sound card.
Generally, many of the on board sound cards are not really good enough for SR.
A small investment in a Creative Sound Blaster Live or Audigy sound card will pay off. They're very easy to fit, and you'll notice a vast improvement.
On my desktop, I have, what was then the cheapest, Sound Blaster Live which I bought number of years ago, and which still works well. Every now and again I simply renew the drivers to keep it up to scratch.
You should be able to get one of these in any reputable computer shop.
Quentin
Realtek is a very popular
Realtek is a very popular chip that follows the AC 97 sound standards of 9 years ago.
That was a real update to the orgional sound blaster of the mid-80's that insisted on a fixed IRQ 5 and a DMA fixed at 1. Both tended to collide with 2 parallel printers (DMA 1 on ANY Ecp printer port) IRQ 5 on the 2nd parallel printer.
You could start without a new cheap Sound Blaster card, and don't put a ton of training in if you are not happy.
The bottom line is no one can answer your question because it will be serial number specfic to go/no go status. The Mic input is not exactly a tested item on every motherboard made. You may get lucky the way some over clockers get a certain CPU to run up higher than the next one in the line, or you could be the bottom of the barrel. This is a crap shoot. Good Luck.
Tcat
You know, I think I have a
You know, I think I have a SoundBlaster card I saved from the desktop that died last summer. I want to say it is a Value model or Live/Value, or something like that. At least I think I saved it. Possible my wife threw it out.
If life were like a silent
If life were like a silent movie or a reality TV show, the totally spontaneous script would have you throwing her out with the admonition that the soundcard would be the ticket for re-admission
I used a SB Live for years and it was great. All SB cards in a given series, e.g., Live, Audigy, etc., are essentially the same card with value differentiation lying in the hard- and software accessories, so your card should be fine for SR if it should ever turn up. As I recall, Richards of VoiceGroup fame thought the Live series were better than its Audigy successors -- whether because of price/performance/etc. I don't know.
As others have suggested, whether the RealTek chipset works depends entirely on how well its shielded -- but I wouldn't count on it.
Bruce
"As I recall, Richards of
"As I recall, Richards of VoiceGroup fame thought the Live series were better than its Audigy successors."
I've often wondered what happened to Richards. I miss his comments. How can we find out if he's still alive?
Charles
Charles Devonshire
I've often wondered what happened to Richards. I miss his comments. How can we find out if he's still alive?
You will find he is alive and well and living on the mssp...@yahoo.com
Quentin
Post post-edit: PS Sorry that should have read ms-s...@yahoogroups.com
Charles Devonshire wrote:
"As I recall, Richards of VoiceGroup fame thought the Live series were better than its Audigy successors."
I've often wondered what happened to Richards. I miss his comments. How can we find out if he's still alive?
Charles
I've spoken with him recently, so I can say he IS alive.
I don't doubt you called a
I don't doubt you called a number associated with the person we knew as Richards. And I'm almost as certain the person to whom you spoke was alive. I'm only slightly less sure that he claimed to be Richards.
But until we see a certifiably Richards-style post, we'll always have our doubts!
Maybe we should send a trusted emissary, like Quentin, to scout the situation. Somehow I see the encounter between them like that between Stanley and Livingstone in tenebrous Africa, or (more contemporaneously) like Alan Shore and Denny Crain hobnobbing on the penthouse terrace of their firm's suite, dressed in their fur coats, to smoke cigars and sip dietetic Scotch after a day in the legal mines
Bruce
BruceCyr wrote:I don't doubt
I don't doubt you called a number associated with the person we knew as Richards. And I'm almost as certain the person to whom you spoke was alive. I'm only slightly less sure that he claimed to be Richards.
But until we see a certifiably Richards-style post, we'll always have our doubts!
Maybe we should send a trusted emissary, like Quentin, to scout the situation. Somehow I see the encounter between them like that between Stanley and Livingstone in tenebrous Africa, or (more contemporaneously) like Alan Shore and Denny Crain hobnobbing on the penthouse terrace of their firm's suite, dressed in their fur coats, to smoke cigars and sip dietetic Scotch after a day in the legal mines
Bruce
JR is still alive. You can find him posting on ms-s...@yahoogroups.com
Chuck
Ye, Richards is there. Just
Ye, Richards is there.
Just my take. DAS
He may be there, but there's
He may be there, but there's no here there. Here is where its at, and Richards ain't here. Therefore . . .
It may well be he's practicing at subsidiary sites before venturing into the limelight again. Guess we won't know till he's everywhere. But what if he's everywhere but here? Man, he'd be no where! Here is where he belongs if he wants to be somewhere.
Bruce
BruceCyr wrote: ..... like
..... like Alan Shore and Denny Crain hobnobbing on the penthouse terrace of their firm's suite, dressed in their fur coats, to smoke cigars and sip dietetic Scotch ...
I wish, and I bet Richards would wish too
Sorry, Bruce, but I found
Sorry, Bruce, but I found it, still in our basement. It is a SB Live!, so I might as well give it a shot. My 11-year old loves doing stuff like this.
Update: my son and I
Update: my son and I installed the Soundblaster Live!, or Live! Value, card last night. We booted up and XP recognized it immediately. I disabled the Realtek card, or whatever it is. Office 2003 wanted me to retrain, so I did. Can't really tell how much the sound quality improved, but I'm sure it didn't hurt.
Seems like the beta version of Windows Vista also recognized it and installed drivers, though I haven't tried the speech recognition feature with the Soundblaster.
Matt, I see you have
Matt,
I see you have Windows Vista Beta.
Have you tried ViaVoice or DNS in it? If so, have they worked?
Quentin
Quentin
No, I have not tried them.
No, I have not tried them. I just have Vista on my home desktop, which isn't the machine I have Dragon on.