1.2

6 MacSpeech DictateChapter 1 — Introduction
Microphones
MacSpeech Dictate supports microphones which connect to
the Macintosh through the USB port, either directly or through
a USB adapter.
Although today’s Macintosh computers appear to have a port
for sound input, this only works with devices that provide a
LINE IN signal, which is different from the signal produced by
a microphone. For this reason, you should use a high quality,
noise-canceling USB microphone with MacSpeech Dictate.
Tip
For best results, use a MacSpeech-certified
microphone. The iSight and the internal microphone
built into some Macintosh computers are not supported
because these do not have the necessary directional
and noise-canceling properties that are required to
obtain the best speech recognition accuracy.
If you already have a noise-canceling microphone that is
not MacSpeech-certified, don’t panic; it may work. Dictate’s
Microphone Setup assistant can adjust the audio input level
of most microphones to work with your system.
If you use a microphone that is not MacSpeech-certified and
are getting accuracy below 95%, it is a good indication the
microphone you are using is not compatible with MacSpeech
Dictate.
If you received your microphone from MacSpeech along with
MacSpeech Dictate, it is certified to work with the software.
For information on microphones, please see the MacSpeech
Web site at:
http://www.macspeech.com/microphones
MacSpeech Dictate’s User Interface
By design, MacSpeech Dictate has a user interface that tries
to stay out of the way. The small Status window provides
control over the program’s main actions. The Recognition
window indicates what Dictate heard you say, and enables
the Phrase Training feature. The Available Commands
window shows which commands are available at a specific
point in time.
The MacSpeech Dictate Status Window
The Status window is MacSpeech Dictate’s main interface.
This window floats on top of all the other windows on your
screen, so it is always available to you. The Status window
may be small, but it packs a surprising amount of information,
as shown in Figure 1-1.
Figure 1-1
The microphone button indicates your microphone’s status,
and controls whether it is on, off, or asleep:
• When the microphone is on, the button will
show a green circle behind a microphone. The
command Microphone Off or clicking the but-
ton will turn the microphone off. The command
Go To Sleep will make it asleep.
• When the microphone is off, the button will
show a red octagon in front of the microphone.
Click the button to turn the microphone on.
• Whenasleep,thebuttonwillshowapurpleoval.
The commands Wake Up or Turn Microphone
On, or clicking the button will turn the micro-
phone on.
Sound Input Level
The sound input level displays the strength of the audio input.
In general, this should be green with a little bit of black space
at the top when you are speaking.
Command Status Indicators
The command status indicators display the status of certain
commands. The top light is for capitalization commands (All
Caps/Caps/No Caps), the middle light for spacing commands
(NoSpace), and the bottom light for numeral commands
(Numeral/Roman Numeral).
MacSpeech Dictate Button
When pressed, the MacSpeech Dictate button will bring the
application to the front, just like clicking the MacSpeech
Dictate icon in the Mac OS X Dock.