The New AudioScribe Forum

[Sara Simonovits]

I've run into a problem during depositions with my brand-new Smart-mic. I'm hoping somebody has encountered a similar problem and can offer me a solution.

After two to three hours of rather quick dictation with crystal-clear recognition, suddenly my recognition disappears, and all I get on my screen is if if if if if if if if if , etc.. Fortunately my room mics are still recording so I am able to transcribe the testimony later on in scope. But if I were asked for a readback, I WOULD BE IN TROUBLE! There's nothing coherent on my screen.

I'm guessing this may be due to condensation build-up in the mask from an extended dictation at pretty high speed. I have put a cotton cosmetic round into the mask behind the foam, between the two mics, and I also insert the half-circle piece of sponge into the mask as well before I begin work, after moistening it and squeezing it almost dry.

Anything else I can do to cut down on the moisture build-up in the mask?

[janis mcleod]

Until smarter folks get a chance to reply, I wouldn't think it would be your mic. Are you using an andrea to convert it to digital? It would be my guess that it may be malfunctioning. Until someone with more knowledge replies, I would suggest plugging your mask directly into your backup recorder -- without an andrea, or whatever you are using, and see if the mic is recording properly. If it is, then the mask isn't the problem! (In my limited knowledge!)

[janis mcleod]

Until smarter folks get a chance to reply, I wouldn't think it would be your mic. Are you using an andrea to convert it to digital? It would be my guess that it may be malfunctioning. Until someone with more knowledge replies, I would suggest plugging your mask directly into your backup recorder -- without an andrea, or whatever you are using, and see if the mic is recording properly. If it is, then the mask isn't the problem! (In my limited knowledge!)

[janis mcleod]

Until smarter folks get a chance to reply, I wouldn't think it would be your mic. Are you using an andrea to convert it to digital? It would be my guess that it may be malfunctioning. Until someone with more knowledge replies, I would suggest plugging your mask directly into your backup recorder -- without an andrea, or whatever you are using, and see if the mic is recording properly. If it is, then the mask isn't the problem! (In my limited knowledge!)

[Deborah Willoughby]

"Anything else I can do to cut down on the moisture build-up in the mask?"

I get terrible moisture buildup in my smart mic too. I get great recognition for about 20 minutes or so, but it all goes downhill after that. I cut up some pieces of Sham Wow and put it under and over the foam. It helps a little, but not enough to keep up good recognition for any real length of time. But it does do a pretty good job of soaking up the moisture so that it doesn't drip from the air hole. I guess that's something at least.

[AKelly]

I had this problem a few years' ago. I went away for a week on a job and stupidly only had the one mask. The problem began and there was no way I could fix it. From my experience it relates to moisture build-up. The manufacturer suggests you change the material inside the mask very regularly, but after only 20 minutes on a new mask this problem developed. It was a major problem for me at the time.

Without any fix being provided by the manufacturer on this problem, I changed to the Accuspeak mask and have never had this problem. I've also got the newer Accuspeak mask with the cough silencer, and like it very much.

I'm actually a reseller for the Smartmic and if people wish to buy it, then I do not have a problem, but I did experience this problem in my own work with it. Others do not seem to have this problem, but I've heard of, again, others who do.

Adrian

[Deborah Willoughby]

I do have the Accuspeak mask as well, but I can't get it to work with DNS 10 at all, no matter what I do. It was working okay with DNS 9, but once I upgraded, I can't any recognition whatsoever. I can't even get through general training with it.

I'm not sure what you're referring to when you say cough silencer. Can you explain?

Thanks.

[AKelly]

Hi Deborah,
I just created a new user with the Accuspeak mask the other day, without any problems, in Dragon 10.1. I'd contact the AS technical team on this.

The cough silcencer: please contact AS on this. It's connected to the Accuspeak mask.

So, again, I'm really mystified why you are having problems creating a user with this mask when I don't have any issues at all.

Best wishes,
Adrian