Dictaphones

A Dictaphone is a sound recording device most commonly used to record speech for later playback or to be typed into print.There are two types of Dictaphone. (1) tape or micro cassette and (2) digital.

The newer digital Dictaphones uses a format called DSS (Digital Speech Standard). This means that a digital recording can be transferred onto a personal computer and synchronized with voice recognition software.

While the newer digital models can be expensive, the cheaper models, which use cassettes, are fine for keeping notes and lists etc

Introduction to Digital Dictaphones

Voice recognition compatible dictaphones

Olympus DS2300	Olympus DS3300
Olympus DS30, DS40, DS50 and DS4000	Using Dragon Naturally Speaking with a dictaphone
Transfer Audio From An Olympus WS-110 To A PC

Other writing and recording technology

• Maestro
  
  

  With the Maestro, you can manage your appointments, contact list and tasks, take text notes with a standard or Braille keyboard, record voice memos, consult and edit documents, read books, manage your e-mails, listen to music, and soon, surf the Web. The Maestro is based on the HP iPAQ 2490b, made accessible using text-to-speech technology and a tactile keyboard over the PDA touch screen. It delivers fully accessible applications that behave like the familiar PC environment. It comes equipped with both integrated Wi-Fi and Bluetooth to enable access to the Internet and email from corporate, home or Wi-Fi hotspots (in select airports, hotels, and other public places) and to allow cable-free connections to other devices with Bluetooth wireless technology. More about the Maestro . . .

  
  
  
• MileStone 311
  
  

  Developed in cooperation with, and input from, the Swiss National Association for the Blind, Milestone 311 is an accessible voice recording device. With just five large tactually marked control buttons, this small (3.35 inches x 2.13 inches x 0.55 inch) device is not much larger than a credit card. The internal memory contains two hours of recording time which are divided into 5 folders. The folders can be voice-labeled to suit your particular needs. Music files or book recordings in MP3 can be transferred from the PC to the Milestone 311 and played directly through the internal speaker. Recording time can be extended through the use of an optional insertable Secured Digital (SD) memory card. Source: AbleData

  
  
  
• Voice Diary Imp
  
  

  The Imp Voice Diary is an electronic voice organiser designed for use by persons who are blind or have low vision. It provides voice feedback on every action and is equipped with a small tactile keypad with an ergonomic design. The Imp has 90 minutes recording time using flash memory. Other features include Diary for daily scheduling, Dailypad for compiling lists or taking notes, and Phonebook to organise information in free-format folders and subfolders. Entries can be retrieved using voice recognition. The device also includes multiple utilities, such as a calendar-clock, a calculator, a stopwatch, and a timer. The Imp also has the capacity to make telephone calls using direct tone dialing. The Imp's on key can be locked to prevent accidentally turning the unit on . Source: AbleData

  
  
  
• Olympus DS-5000 Basic Training
  
  
  
  
  
• Memo pen for digital audio recording
  
  
• Audio NoteTaker
  

  A new and unique software package to help with navigating, annotating and organising digital recordings. With Audio Notetaker you can see a visual representation of what you are listening to. And you have the tools at your fingertips to quickly review, identify and reference key sections of speech to support your research and editorial work. By analysing your audio files, Audio Notetaker is able to identify the natural pauses that occur in speech. It presents the audio as a visual bar, broken at each pause in the recorded speech. This enables the listener to visualise the different sections of the speech, or lecture, and navigate the recording with ease. You can use playback to hear the speech played aloud and you can jump to any part of your recording and the speech playback will automatically start at that point. To help you annotate, you can break your recording into sections through a single key press on the PC as you listen to the recording or alternatively sections can be automatically created using the index marks taken in your digital recording. Once your section is created, Audio Notetaker offers you a text pane to type in your own notes or copy and paste from other documents or web pages. It is also easy to colour-code sections for easy identification. View a Flash demonstration of Audio Notetaker. (Source: Dyslexic.com)