Speech recognition on Windows 7

NewKidOldKid · Apr 28, 2011

Windows 7 comes with its own speech recognition software. I've been hearing so many good things about DragonNaturally Speaking that I decided to try and see if this helps. I tried my windows 7 version (it's not DNS) and it's just a mess. I mean, I said "elephant" and it wrote "this is at." I said it again and it wrote something completely different. It could probably be "trained" but it's so bad right now that it would take FOREVER.

Is Dragon any better? I understand I need to work with it, but I'm hoping it will catch at least some of the wording better from the beginning.

Jamesaritchie · Apr 29, 2011

Dragon is infinitely better, but while not as good as Dragon, even the Windows 7 version isn't bad. You're supposed to put it through a training session, and you have to make sure you have a very high quality microphone.

You have to do your part with any speech to text program. The latest Dragon requires very little to no training, if you can speak clearly, but you do have to enunciate well with any such program.

And you don't know how long it will take to train Windows 7 until you try. If you've done no training session, you can't expect it to perform well. Training is just part of the process. If you do your part, it doesn't take very long to train the W7 version to the point where it's more than usable, but, really, you can't expect it to work well without training.

NewKidOldKid · Apr 29, 2011

Thanks. I'll give it another try. I guess I was expecting the program to get SOMETHING right, but it just wrote nonsense the whole time.

RJK · Apr 30, 2011

Windows Speech to Text is as good as Dragon 10. Dragon 11 is somewhat better. The software is only as good as you articulate. I found that it was more tiresome speaking clearly than it was typing. My tongue actually got tired.

Sentosa · Aug 1, 2014

DragonNaturally Speaking 13

Just a brief comment for those interested.

I've used DNS since version 1. I installed DNS 13 yesterday.

Installation very similar to 11 and 12.
One big difference is there is no mandatory training. Merely set up a profile and off you go. Subsequent training still available, but optional.

Speed and accuracy and significantly improved compared to version 12.5.

Nuance has special pricing which may vary from country to country. I paid $99 instead of $199

Speech recognition on Windows 7

NewKidOldKid

diplomat

Jamesaritchie

NewKidOldKid

diplomat

RJK

Sheriff Bullwinkle the Poet says:

Sentosa