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Dragon Speak for Mac
- Thread starter ladyhrvy
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You already have it ~~ 
Nuance software along with Apples servers provides the "talk as it [Mac OS-X.8... ] types".
Programs such as Textedit and Calculator are a couple that take advantage of that.
If you have a MacBook , then just goto "speech" settings in the preference pane
and click on the microphone.
Got MBP / Retina ! , then you are in really good shape , as they have built in dual array mic`s.
If you have a desk top or other type , you might just need to add a microphone.
Take care , I hope this helps !
Gary
Nuance software along with Apples servers provides the "talk as it [Mac OS-X.8... ] types".
Programs such as Textedit and Calculator are a couple that take advantage of that.
If you have a MacBook , then just goto "speech" settings in the preference pane
and click on the microphone.
Got MBP / Retina ! , then you are in really good shape , as they have built in dual array mic`s.
If you have a desk top or other type , you might just need to add a microphone.
Take care , I hope this helps !
Gary
Dragon dictate 3
I've just graded to dictate 3 on my 2010 MBA. Although I've tried previous versions on both the mac and windows they have always frustrated me with their randomness ie. sometimes they are perfect and at other times they come up with a stream of random words. The latest version seems much better and, with a few hours training, it is already coping better with my Scottish accent than all the previous versions
The one thing that makes a huge difference is the mic you use. I had the Bluetooth one that came with a previous version and it was hopeless. I'm now using a USB mic and it makes a huge difference so you may need to budget for a mic on top of the cost of the software
Hope this helps!
I've just graded to dictate 3 on my 2010 MBA. Although I've tried previous versions on both the mac and windows they have always frustrated me with their randomness ie. sometimes they are perfect and at other times they come up with a stream of random words. The latest version seems much better and, with a few hours training, it is already coping better with my Scottish accent than all the previous versions
The one thing that makes a huge difference is the mic you use. I had the Bluetooth one that came with a previous version and it was hopeless. I'm now using a USB mic and it makes a huge difference so you may need to budget for a mic on top of the cost of the software
Hope this helps!
Re: Dragon
Thanks
Thanks
Thanks so much! I have the USB mike already and since you like it betteer I may change my mind about it. Hope some more will offer an opinion, too.
Dragon dictate commands and Final Cut Pro
Hello,
I use Dragon Dictate as I work with Final Cut Pro - switching back and forth between the apps. Is there any way to disable voice commands for FCP? If I start to speak into the mic (by mistake) while still in FCP, I end up making many unwanted changes to my timeline.
Hello,
I use Dragon Dictate as I work with Final Cut Pro - switching back and forth between the apps. Is there any way to disable voice commands for FCP? If I start to speak into the mic (by mistake) while still in FCP, I end up making many unwanted changes to my timeline.
Do you find Dragon Dictate to be very accurate? I'm wondering how it compares to their PC version, Naturally Speaking, which seems to be well regarded.
Dragon efficiency test results
I've tried a few experiments using Dragon Dictate v3 and Dragon NaturallySpeaking v12 (on VMWare Fusion 5 & Windows 7)
All numbers in words per hour (based on 15-20 minutes of each experiment)
Typing speed (with no mistakes) --- 3100 wph
Dragon Dictate v3 (with full corrections) --- 3300 wph
Dragon NaturallySpeaking v12 (with full corrections) --- 4500 wph
Dragon NaturallySpeaking v12 (only minor corrections) --- 6200 wph
"With full corrections" means I used the keyboard to fix any dictation mistakes immediately. "Only minor corrections" means I only fixed what was completely wrong, and for the most part avoided tough words during dictation. The end result was very usable though 6200 wph requires intense focus!
Both typing and completely correct dictation using Dragon Dictate for Mac yield similar speeds for me (3100 vs 3300 wph). I use both to avoid fatigue and increase total output.
For me, clearly, the windows version of Dragon has much better accuracy (4500 vs 3300 wph). I use both though, and I dictate into Scrivener on Mac and Windows.
As mentioned above, the quality of the mic makes a huge difference in Dragon's recognition speed. I've settled on the older Logitech H530 (the newer Logitech H540 doesn't work well though I don't know why.)
Jose
author of "Conceptual Guide to ScreenFlow"
http://www.onekerato.com/ebooks.html
I've tried a few experiments using Dragon Dictate v3 and Dragon NaturallySpeaking v12 (on VMWare Fusion 5 & Windows 7)
All numbers in words per hour (based on 15-20 minutes of each experiment)
Typing speed (with no mistakes) --- 3100 wph
Dragon Dictate v3 (with full corrections) --- 3300 wph
Dragon NaturallySpeaking v12 (with full corrections) --- 4500 wph
Dragon NaturallySpeaking v12 (only minor corrections) --- 6200 wph
"With full corrections" means I used the keyboard to fix any dictation mistakes immediately. "Only minor corrections" means I only fixed what was completely wrong, and for the most part avoided tough words during dictation. The end result was very usable though 6200 wph requires intense focus!
Both typing and completely correct dictation using Dragon Dictate for Mac yield similar speeds for me (3100 vs 3300 wph). I use both to avoid fatigue and increase total output.
For me, clearly, the windows version of Dragon has much better accuracy (4500 vs 3300 wph). I use both though, and I dictate into Scrivener on Mac and Windows.
As mentioned above, the quality of the mic makes a huge difference in Dragon's recognition speed. I've settled on the older Logitech H530 (the newer Logitech H540 doesn't work well though I don't know why.)
Jose
author of "Conceptual Guide to ScreenFlow"
http://www.onekerato.com/ebooks.html
Thanks for sharing experience. I have Parallels and Windows 7. Does Dragon Dictate offer any Mac-specific advantages? If not it seems Naturally Speaking would be the way to go.
Dictation + Commands
What I like about Dragon Dictate is that you can pretty much dictate into any text box on Mac OS X (like this post's editor). If you were to always use Dragon NaturallySpeaking, you would have to do a lot of copy-paste from the windows VM to Mac OS X.
I don't like a couple of things about Dragon NaturallySpeaking. First, in most windows applications it will pop open a dictation box instead of directly typing into that application. It does this with Scrivener on Windows because I guess Scrivener is not supported for the text editing commands. That dictation box can be annoying since it takes you out of your favorite text editor. Second, I have had Dragon NaturallySpeaking crash on me a couple of times and in those cases the content of the dictation box or the Dragon notepad was lost. Unlike OS X, there is no autosave on Windows. I like the better accuracy of Dragon NaturallySpeaking but I tread carefully on Windows.
Ultimately, dictation is only one part of Dragon Dictate. It has lots of commands for hands-free interaction with your computer, which frankly I haven't gotten around to yet. If your primary OS is Mac (why would you be on this forum otherwise?) then Dragon Dictate is the better bet. If you intend to use dictation solely for cross-platform apps such as Microsoft Word or Scrivener, then go with Dragon NaturallySpeaking.
What I like about Dragon Dictate is that you can pretty much dictate into any text box on Mac OS X (like this post's editor). If you were to always use Dragon NaturallySpeaking, you would have to do a lot of copy-paste from the windows VM to Mac OS X.
I don't like a couple of things about Dragon NaturallySpeaking. First, in most windows applications it will pop open a dictation box instead of directly typing into that application. It does this with Scrivener on Windows because I guess Scrivener is not supported for the text editing commands. That dictation box can be annoying since it takes you out of your favorite text editor. Second, I have had Dragon NaturallySpeaking crash on me a couple of times and in those cases the content of the dictation box or the Dragon notepad was lost. Unlike OS X, there is no autosave on Windows. I like the better accuracy of Dragon NaturallySpeaking but I tread carefully on Windows.
Ultimately, dictation is only one part of Dragon Dictate. It has lots of commands for hands-free interaction with your computer, which frankly I haven't gotten around to yet. If your primary OS is Mac (why would you be on this forum otherwise?
) then Dragon Dictate is the better bet. If you intend to use dictation solely for cross-platform apps such as Microsoft Word or Scrivener, then go with Dragon NaturallySpeaking.Interesting thread.
I've put Dragon Dicate 3 on a 2009 MBP 6.26Ghg 8GB RAM and and SSD but it is kind of struggling.
Anyone tried it on a 2013 MBA 1.3Ghz 4GB machine ? How does it cope ?
Thinking to get one like today if it runs well.
Bascially I want this as a secondary machine that I can dictate to whilst working on my primary machine (and also use as an on the road machine). Trying to speed up my workflow. It does work on the 2009 machine but it freezes up when doing corrections which defeats the purpose.
I've put Dragon Dicate 3 on a 2009 MBP 6.26Ghg 8GB RAM and and SSD but it is kind of struggling.
Anyone tried it on a 2013 MBA 1.3Ghz 4GB machine ? How does it cope ?
Thinking to get one like today if it runs well.
Bascially I want this as a secondary machine that I can dictate to whilst working on my primary machine (and also use as an on the road machine). Trying to speed up my workflow. It does work on the 2009 machine but it freezes up when doing corrections which defeats the purpose.
Your 2009 MBP (Apple standard specs) has a novabench score of around 420, and the latest Macbook Air has a novabench score of around 660. So, that should mean a 50% performance bump for Dragon Dictate if you get the new MBA. (I prefer the novabench score to industry-standard geekbench scores because (1) the novabench benchmarking app is free on Mac App Store, and (2) novabench takes into account the HDD/SSD in the system, which probably matters for Dragon Dictate since it works off a large voice-recognition database on disk.)
That said, I'm able to use Dragon Dictate quite adequately even on my MBA Late 2010 with a novabench score of 300. So, you could still try to improve performance on your MBP by (1) creating a new voice profile & redoing the training in a quieter environment, (2) using a better USB mic, and (3) switching the preferences slider more towards speed than accuracy.
Also, I'm writing a short ebook on using Dragon Dictate, which will be out in October 2013 - for anyone interested in dictation on Mac.
If you can, hold off buying the MBA till OS X Mavericks is announced, probably in late October. There's a chance that new iWork suite of apps may become free with new Macs, just like iWork on iOS is now free with new iPhones.
Average novabench scores by Mac models is available at http://novabench.com/topmacs.php
You can lookup the specific model name e.g. MacBookPro8,3 for your Mac from http://www.everymac.com/
Thanks for the feedback.
I'm probably going with an 11" MBA anyhow simply for travel convenience. THe dictation speedboost will be a plus. I had a play with DD3 with activity monitor on and it doens't seem to use a super amount of RAM but processor speed seems more important.
Deliberately not waiting for Mavericks since DD3 probabyl won't work on it!
I'm probably going with an 11" MBA anyhow simply for travel convenience. THe dictation speedboost will be a plus. I had a play with DD3 with activity monitor on and it doens't seem to use a super amount of RAM but processor speed seems more important.
Deliberately not waiting for Mavericks since DD3 probabyl won't work on it!
Bought an 11" Air. Happy with the little tyke Even though its the boggo one it gets 6091 on Geekbench2 which surprises me
onekerato - do you know how to transfer the licence for DD3 to a new machine ?
Is it simply a case of deactivating it on one machine and reactivating it on the other ?
Even though its the boggo one it gets 6091 on Geekbench2 which surprises meonekerato - do you know how to transfer the licence for DD3 to a new machine ?
Is it simply a case of deactivating it on one machine and reactivating it on the other ?
Congratulations on your new Macbook Air!
Yes, you can deactivate and reactivate to transfer a license from one Mac to another. From the Nuance forums, it looks like you can activate a license up to 5 times after which you've to call Nuance support for any further activations. You are also allowed to keep two active activations at a time, provided you don't use DD simultaneously on the two Macs.
Dammit DVD sharing is freezing up when I try to install DD3 on the MBA. Is there some known bug ?
Hello Everyone,
I've written an ebook on "Dragon Dictate: Fast Track to Prolific Writing on Your Mac", now available on the kindle store (http://www.amazon.com/Dragon-Dictate-Track-Prolific-Writing-ebook/dp/B00G1PO2FC/) at an introductory price of $3.17
Here's the ebook description:
Would you like to write more, write fast, and write well?
Then this is the book for you. In "Dragon Dictate: Fast Track to Prolific Writing on Your Mac", you will learn how to use the Dragon Dictate application to convert your speech into text with speed and precision.
You'll also learn:
how to optimize your Mac hardware for dictation
how to speak so your Mac understands exactly what you say
what you must remember in order to quickly edit your work
how to control your writing software with your voice
how to fix performance problems in Dragon Dictate
how to make dictation work even when accuracy is low
when to tap into the dictation feature built into Mac OS X
I've written an ebook on "Dragon Dictate: Fast Track to Prolific Writing on Your Mac", now available on the kindle store (http://www.amazon.com/Dragon-Dictate-Track-Prolific-Writing-ebook/dp/B00G1PO2FC/) at an introductory price of $3.17
Here's the ebook description:
Would you like to write more, write fast, and write well?
Then this is the book for you. In "Dragon Dictate: Fast Track to Prolific Writing on Your Mac", you will learn how to use the Dragon Dictate application to convert your speech into text with speed and precision.
You'll also learn:
how to optimize your Mac hardware for dictation
how to speak so your Mac understands exactly what you say
what you must remember in order to quickly edit your work
how to control your writing software with your voice
how to fix performance problems in Dragon Dictate
how to make dictation work even when accuracy is low
when to tap into the dictation feature built into Mac OS X
Sounds good onekerato but last time i used amazon my card got cloned. Is there any other place selling it ?
Have you tried Dragon under Mavericks ?
Have you tried Dragon under Mavericks ?
- The book will be available on iBookstore but will take a while for approval.
- Amazon's been quite secure AFAIK but I'm sweating bricks over the recent Adobe security breach, where I have a CC subscription.
- Yep, I've put up a blog post comparing OS X inbuilt dictation to Dragon Dictate http://www.onekerato.com/1/post/2013/10/how-good-is-inbuilt-dictation-in-os-x-mavericks.html
Sorry I meant - have you installed Dragon Dictate 3 on a Mavericks machine and did it work ? I've read conflicting reports
Yes, I've installed Dragon Dictate 3 on a Late 2010 MBA, and it works fine. DD does show a warning that it may not work as expected. Nuance says there will be an update for OS X Mavericks (http://www.nuance.com/for-individuals/by-product/dragon-for-mac/mac-lion/index.htm).
DragonDictate with iPad?
Hi Everyone,
I have been using Dragon NaturallySpeaking on PCs for the last 2 years or so, although I do not use it on my Mac Pro.
I have a friend who is potentially interested in using DragonDictate on her iPad, and I was wondering whether somebody could point out the major differences in setup and use between the two platforms (Mac and PC), as I would like to try to lessen the learning curve for my friend by trying to pass on the things that I have learned to her.
As an example of the kind of thing I am talking about,does DragonDictate create a 'profile'? If it does so, I am sure that it resides in the cloud, rather than on the iPad itself (my Dragon NaturallySpeaking Premium 11 has a user profile that one can manually copy, whereas the Dragon NaturallySpeaking Professional 11 which I use at work does not have this or, rather more accurately I suspect, it is built-in as a part of the program).
Does DragonDictatehave the same kinds of settings as Dragon NaturallySpeaking? For example,Administrative settings, Vocabulary Editor and so on?
Thanks,
gvdv.
Hi Everyone,
I have been using Dragon NaturallySpeaking on PCs for the last 2 years or so, although I do not use it on my Mac Pro.
I have a friend who is potentially interested in using DragonDictate on her iPad, and I was wondering whether somebody could point out the major differences in setup and use between the two platforms (Mac and PC), as I would like to try to lessen the learning curve for my friend by trying to pass on the things that I have learned to her.
As an example of the kind of thing I am talking about,does DragonDictate create a 'profile'? If it does so, I am sure that it resides in the cloud, rather than on the iPad itself (my Dragon NaturallySpeaking Premium 11 has a user profile that one can manually copy, whereas the Dragon NaturallySpeaking Professional 11 which I use at work does not have this or, rather more accurately I suspect, it is built-in as a part of the program).
Does DragonDictatehave the same kinds of settings as Dragon NaturallySpeaking? For example,Administrative settings, Vocabulary Editor and so on?
Thanks,
gvdv.
Dragon "Dictate" only runs on the Mac, is not available for the iPad. On the Mac, it behaves quite similar to DNS on windows - creates profiles, voice training, vocabulary editor, real-time corrections, voice commands etc.
Nuance offers a Dragon "Dictation" app for iPhone/iPad which is free, but works mostly like Siri. It doesn't use voice profiles, and it doesn't require/use training. Siri has the edge on Dragon "Dictation" since Siri works in every app on your iPhone/iPad. BTW, Apple licensed Nuance technology to build Siri.
Hi onekerato,
Thanks for correcting me, and for the information about Dragon Dictation vs. Siri.
gvdv