User Comments

Speech Recognition Microphones (Dictation): Charles van Cleef, Holmes & Moore, PLLC
Chuck Runquist, Former Product Manager, Dragon NaturallySpeaking
Bob Gann, CPA, Minneapolis, MN
Speech Recognition Microphones (Voice Control): Stephen F. Zeigler, Ph.D., CEO and Founder of SpeechStudio Inc.
Mike Dobbles, Director of Engineering, Evolution Robotics
Chuck Crosby, CEO, Leverence, Inc.
Disabilities Microphones: Jeff Symons, Evaluator for Project Threshold.
Adele Gould, Voice Tracker™ User.
James W. Hays, Voice Tracker™ User.
Home Automation Microphones: Richard J. Helmke, President, HomeSeer Technologies LLC
Robin W. Pegg, Automation Specialist, Toiz Automation, Buffalo New York
Classroom Recording/Distance Education Microphones: Loren Farr, Tulsa Community College
Chris Austin, MasteringCamtasia.com
Lory E. Watkins, University of Washington School of Nursing
Melanie Plett, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering, Seattle Pacific University
Medical Recording/Dictation Microphones: Dr. Richard Low, President, Infor*Med Corporation
Dr. Harry Baldinger, an IBM ViaVoice Reseller, President, Speak Your Mind, Inc.
Courtroom/Deposition Recording Microphones: Lynda Batchelor, RDR, Glacier Stenographic Reporters, Inc.
Jeff Styles, M & J Technologies, LLC, Graham, TX
Board Room Recording Microphones: Doron Mansur, Powerhouse Dictation Systems � Johannesburg South Africa
Meeting Recording Microphones: Mike Lanthier, Harcourt Industries Ltd
Jim Barker, Master Products, Developer of the SearchMaster program
Don Johnson, Recording a presentation in combination with an interactive SmartBoard
Conferencing Microphones: Sally Goldberg, Documentation Specialist, Remote Meeting Facilitator, Flint Ink

Speech Recognition Microphones(Dictation)

Charles van Cleef of Holmes & Moore, PLLC uses the Voice Tracker™ for Speech dication.

I received the Voice Tracker™ this afternoon and have to say that it seems to be working superbly. At present, I am using it with Dragon Naturally Speaking version 8, and find the accuracy to be comparable to the headset microphone I was using, but with far less hassle: a rare out-of-the-box, on-my-desk solution.

Thank you for a fine product. I have no doubt that after I have spent a respectful period evaluating it, we will order others.

Charles van Cleef
Holmes & Moore, PLLC

Chuck Runquist performed the testing for Naturally Speaking Certification.

I recently tested the VoiceTracker™ array microphone under a wide range of environmental and training conditions.

My overall conclusion is that the Acoustic Magic Voice Tracker™ array microphone represents a significant advance in technology in far field/array microphones and demonstrates capabilities that are superior to previous array microphones. Properly set up, tuned, and enrolled under Dragon NaturallySpeaking version 6, the AcousticMagic Voice Tracker™ Array Microphone is highly recommended for speech recognition. The accuracy performance of the Voice Tracker™ Array Microphone equals that of close talk headset/microphones, provided that it is used under normal or moderately high noise conditions.

Additional conclusions:

The Acoustic Magic Voice Tracker™ array microphone exhibits accuracy degradation at clear speech interference levels above approximately 76 dB. This is normal behavior for non close talk microphones. However it should be noted that the Acoustic Magic Voice Tracker™ array microphone has significantly better noise canceling capabilities under the above test conditions than any array microphone previously tested. Other array microphones generally fail (accuracy results below 65 percent) for clear speech background noise above approximately 64 dB.
The VoiceTracker™ is effective well beyond the two foot limitation of previous generation arrays.
When LDS™ is engaged, recognition performance in an environment where noise is coming from behind or from the sides of the microphone is improved by several percentage points.
When training is performed in a noisy environment, accuracy reduction caused by interfering speech behind the talker is only a few percentage points.

Test Conditions:

Ambient home office room noise.
Ambient noise with clear interfering speech added (CNN Headline News) at normal listening levels (72 to 76 dB) and high-volume listening levels (82 to 86 dB).
Interfering speech located eight feet behind, eight feet to the side, and eight feet in front of the array.
User training in low noise and high noise environments.
Voice Tracker™ microphone operated in various combinations of its four modes.

Chuck Runquist
Formerly Product Manager for Technical Solutions & Dragon NaturallySpeaking™ SDK product manager

Bob Gann is a professional person using the Voice Tracker in his daily work.

I have been using voice recognition software for several years and found the headset microphone far too confining. I have utilized a number of other desktop microphones including the GN Netcom Voice Array. None of them even comes close to the recognition results that I obtain with the Acoustic Magic Voice Tracker™.

My search is finally over! I feel confident that this is the last microphone that I will need to train - so much so that I have deleted all other microphone profiles. I can think of no greater compliment!

Bob Gann
CPA
Minneapolis, MN

Evolution Robotics is a start up company developing a speech controlled robot.

I think the Voice Tracker™ is a major enabling technology for speech recognition. We experimented with the Voice Tracker™ and were able to use it to speech control our robot at a distance from anywhere within a 180 degree range.

Mike Dobbles
Director of Engineering
Evolution Robotics

Speech Recognition Microphones (Voice Control)

Stephen F. Zeigler, Ph D. is CEO and Founder of SpeechStudio Inc.

The Voice Tracker™ provides just the technology our customers need, and will fit perfectly with SpeechStudio Suite.

SpeechStudio began in 1998 driven by the vision that microphones could track voice for individual speakers. Such technology was already available to our military and intelligence customers. SpeechStudio has built extensive tool support for prototyping, developing, debugging, testing and delivering voice command and control - betting on the future of tracking microphones. It looks like the Voice Tracker™ is just what we have been waiting for.

We tested Voice Tracker™ with our SpeechRunner debugging and testing tools and found that it can perform as well as the best headset microphones, especially considering that headset microphone positioning can be a big factor in real use. In short, in medium- to low-level noise environments typical of an office or home, the Voice Tracker™ gives its user the freedom to give voice commands from two to ten feet away.

We plan to resell the Voice Tracker™ with SpeechStudio Suite. We are building special support into our v3.6.2 release to help our customers handle the unique challenges of this new technology. For example, the Voice Tracker user may be too far from a computer screen to get normal visual feedback of recognitions; also, Voice Tracker™ is so good that users may come to forget that it is always listening to them, and may generate commands from casual remarks. SpeechStudio is using its long experience in both telephony and command and control to help solve these issues for our customers.

Stephen F. Zeigler, Ph D.
CEO and Founder
Speech Studio Inc.
Portland, OR

Chuck Crosby is the CEO of Leverence, Inc., a provider of natural language processing (NLP) technology.

I recently purchased the Voice Tracker™ product for use with our PowerTrieve technology. Our users ask PowerTrieve database query questions using their voice. They definitely do not want to put on a headset microphone to just ask a few questions. One of the noisiest environments is my office, because I have an A/C system that blows air into the office and makes a terribly loud noise when it is running at high speed. Other far field microphones that I have tried will fail every time when this thing gets going. The Voice Tracker™ is the first one to actually work. We have also tested this with people talking in my office and in many cases it will ignore them and focus on me. Most impressive!

Chuck Crosby
CEO
Leverance, Inc.
Bothell, WA

Disabilities Microphones

Project Threshold is a non-profit agency that does evaluations for the State of California Dept. of Rehabilitation.

I have tried the Voice Tracker with a number of disabled users, and recommended its purchase. I was very impressed with how easy it was to use the VoiceTracker and more importantly that the voice recognition accuracy was very good. I see this as a very good alternative for people who cannot easily use a headset or don't want to use a headset.

Jeff Symons, ATP, MSME
President
Project Threshold

Adele Gould is a personal user of the Voice Tracker™ array microphone.

Thank you. I want to mention to you that the combination of Dragon Naturally Speaking 8 and the Voice Tracker™ microphone has given me a new life. I have Parkinson's disease and cannot type anymore. I have used Dragon Naturally Speaking 7 with the headset which is included, and I found it too irritating to use the headset every time I wanted to type. Also the voice recognition software made so many mistakes that I was ready to scream from frustration. I did not know whether it was the microphone or the software or both.

I then ordered the new software (which has just come out) and in reading the manual it mentions an array microphone. I looked on the Internet and discovered your web site and this microphone. There are no words to describe how thrilled I am with the combination -- I do not have to yell, I do not have to put on a headset, and the software makes few mistakes it's incredible!

I thought you might want to know

Thank you so much for your assistance -- and for giving me a new life!

Adele Gould

James W. Hayes is a personal user of the Voice Tracker™ array microphone.

I can't begin to tell you how happy I am with the quick response and the quick turnaround in getting a replacement microphone. My sister and I are both disabled, so a good, quality microphone is absolutely necessary for speech recognition. The new one works wonderfully.

Please do feel free to use my comment about your company. The Acoustic Magic Microphone is no less than a miracle for someone like me, so if my comments can help you, that makes me happy.

James W. Hays

Home Automation Microphones

HomeSeer is a leading provider of home automation SW, enabling users to control home appliances verbally, request information like weather, traffic, stocks quotes, etc., or have their computer read email, place phone calls, etc.

After testing the Voice Tracker™ in a real home environment, we are very impressed with the possibilities of using this device for home automation. We installed the microphone in a 17ft by 22ft family room and connected it to our HomeSeer automation software. From any seating position we were able to give voice commands to control the television, control the lights, etc. It even worked with the television on! For installations where voice recognition is required in a single room, this is an excellent low cost solution.

Richard J. Helmke
President
HomeSeer Technologies LLC

Robin Pegg is an automation specialist at Toiz Automation

I recently installed a Voice Tracker™ in my home to evaluate its performance, and I have finally found a microphone that works exceptionally well. I have been using Hal for the last several years and have had some challenges with it understanding me when I used various brands and models of conventional microphones. I found that I had to repeat voice commands several times in order to be understood.

With the Voice Tracker™, Hal 2000 understands me the first time, from anywhere in the room, even with the stereo or TV turned on. I can speak in a normal voice, without shoutiing.I purchased a second Voice Tracker™ and will shortly purchase a third.

I plan to bring prospective clients to my home to demonstrate the Voice Tracker™/Hal 2000 combination.

Robin W. Pegg
Automation Specialist
Toiz Automation, Buffalo New York

Classroom Recording/Distance Education Microphones

Tulsa Community College is using the Voice Tracker� array microphones with Anystream/Echo 360 automated lecture capture system.

The microphone gives our nursing faculty the freedom of capturing lectures without worrying about audio issues. The microphones have also been useful in capturing presentations by speech students. The Voice Tracker� allows the presenter to have a range of movement without worrying about technical glitches. We've deployed the Voice Tracker� in 12 classrooms and they have been highly reliable with our automated lecture capture systems. They are more fool proof than any other microphone system we have used over the years.

Loren Farr
Manager of Media and ITV
Tulsa Community College

Chris Austin uses the Voice Tracker™ Array Microphone for recording in combination with Camtasia Software.

I've been recording live classes, meetings, and presentations for several years using Camtasia Studio and a variety of microphones. In an attempt to accurately record the presenter or instructor along with the questions and comments of students and audience members, I've used wireless microphones, shotgun microphones, and multiple microphones mixed together with an external mixer. Some solutions were simple, some complex. But none of them came close to the results I'm now getting with the Acoustic Magic Voice Tracker Array Microphone. It's incredibly simple to set up and it does a great job of capturing the voice of the instructor during the lecture and the comments of the students without the complexity and expense of a multiple microphone setup or the massive background noise of other solutions. I really wouldn't record a live event without it!"

Chris Austin
MasteringCamtasia.com

Lory E. Watkins uses the Voice Tracker™ Array Microphone in combination with the ClearOne XAP 8000 for picking up students' questions in large classrooms.

Picking up questions from students in our classrooms has always been a problem even though we have tried many approaches such as PZM microphones on the tables, push to talk microphones mounted on the tables, and microphones hung from the ceiling. We recently installed Voice Tracker array microphones on the ceilings, and the operators seem to like them for picking up questions from the students.

We are using the ClearOne XAP 8000 to accomplish acoustic echo cancellation. We haven�t had any problems with the ClearOne Automatic Echo Canceller and the Voice Tracker mics. They work fine together. The ClearOne also provides level control, filtering, etc.

The XAP 8000 provides phantom power, which needs to be turned off because the Voice Tracker gets power on a separate cable. (If the phantom power is turned on the Voice Tracker makes one hell of a noise!) The inputs to the ClearOne are via Phoenix block connectors and we came out of the Voice Tracker using Belden 9451 cable and into the ClearOne unit.

Lory E. Watkins
University of Washington School of Nursing

Dr. Melanie Plett uses the Voice Tracker™ Array Microphone for recording class session for remote web conferencing.

We are using two Acoustic Magic microphones along with a lapel mic and an inexpensive audio mixer to mic our classroom for use with web conferencing software. This allows students to view class from a remote site, and also allows us to record our class sessions. We have found that placing two Acoustic Magic microphones in the front of our classroom allows students to be heard from anywhere in the classroom if the student speaks up.

Since the instructor often has his/her back to the microphones, and since it is imperative that his/her voice is heard, we have determined that a lapel mic is helpful, though not absolutely necessary.

Melanie Plett, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering
Seattle Pacific University

Medical Recording/Dictation Microphones

Infor*Med Corporation, manufactures Praxis, the number one selling Electronic Medical Program in the small and medium size practices. Praxis employs a CONCEPT PROCESSOR for speech recognition to speed up charting, while increasing the quality of the written output.

It is critically important for a physician to work hands-free in his environment, so that his main concern is only his patient. The Voice Tracker™ enables medical practitioners to use voice recognition software, such as Dragon Naturally Speaking™, to enter information into Praxis. The Voice Tracker™ is the first array microphone I have used that works effectively in a physician's office.

Dr. Richard Low
President
Infor*Med Corporation

Harry Baldinger is a medical doctor as well as a Reseller/SW Developer/Trainer of IBM's ViaVoice SW. Harry has been using the Voice Tracker for 6 months.

The Acoustic Magic desktop array mic with USB, is a wonderful tool to enable voice dictation for professionals like doctors and lawyers. It works extremely well with IBM's ViaVoice Pro version 10 speech recognition software. It's advantage over other input devices is that it allows the user to sit back at the user's desk, moving with the normal desktop flow of papers, leaving your hands free. As opposed to some wireless headset devices, the user is not wearing any transmitting electronic gear on or near the user's ears or head. It does require a relatively noise-free environment to work optimally. This can be easily achieved in any office, even a busy office, by simply closing the door.

Dr. Harry Baldinger
President
Speak Your Mind, Inc.

Courtroom/Deposition Recording Microphones

Lynda Batchelor uses the VoiceTracker™ for courtroom recording.

I use the Acoustic Magic mic daily (along with the FTR digital recording software) to record depositions, hearings, teleconferences, etc. I have used many different kinds of microphones in the past, in all price ranges, and the Acoustic Magic mic is by far the best of the bunch. My experience with the Voice Tracker™ is that it hears everything better than I do. For one thing, it's usually better situated in the room (I'm at an end of the table whereas it's smack in the middle of the table). Anyone that's difficult to hear in the room is always clearer on playback, thanks to the mic.

Because it scans toward each speaker, it picks up each speaker with the same intensity as their speech. It picks up the speakers who are talking over the main speaker, and it even picks up people who are located behind the microphone!

The Voice Tracker™ reduces background noise very effectively. I had one obnoxious situation with an overactive heating system. The Voice Tracker™ minimized the noise from the heater, and it turned out that I could understand the speaker upon playback better than I could hear the proceedings on-site.

Lynda Batchelor, RDR
Glacier Stenographic Reporters, Inc.

Jeff Styles uses the VoiceTracker™ connected to the PA system for Comissioner's meetings.

We recently installed a microphone system in a old historic courtroom in Graham, TX (Young County Courthouse) and the Voice Tracker accomplished our goals with great success!

The courtroom is used for Commissioner's meetings as well as trial proceedings, so standard cardiod microphones were still required at the Judge's Bench and Witness stand. However, in the commissioner�s meetings, the participants disliked having to �lean up to the microphone� during discussion, so we installed two Voice Tracker microphones on each side of the room and connected them to the PA system.

As a result, the county commissioners and/or meeting participants no longer have to lean up to handheld microphones to be heard by the rest of the audience. The commissioners/participants now simply speak in a normal tone of voice and never have to move! The Judge, as well as many who have attended the commissioner meetings and/or court trials, have expressed their amazement at the capability of a microphone to pick up someone�s voice so far away and still be heard so well through the PA system. The judge�s secretary has already purchased additional Voice Trackers for other rooms.

A modification of the cable provided with the Voice Tracker (with 1/8� connections) was required in order to connect to the XLR Balanced Line input on the PA system. Additionally, since the PA system provided phantom power to the cardiod microphones at the Judge�s Bench/Witness Stand, an external phantom power supply was purchased to avoid the �humming/buzzing� sound when phantom power was turned on in the PA system.

We are completely satisfied with and strongly recommend to anyone the Voice Tracker Array microphone from Acoustic Magic!

Jeff Styles
M & J Technologies, LLC
Graham, TX

Board Room Recording Microphones

Powerhouse Dictation Systems uses Voice Tracker to cover entire rooms for Board Room Recordings.

As a company specializing in both digital dictation and meeting recording solutions, we are constantly looking for ways to improve the quality of recording the audio component of meetings. We came across the Voice Tracker through WinScribe NZ and have never looked back. We have in excess of 100 units recording meetings and consultations in executive boardrooms across the country.

The Voice Tracker is generally mounted on the ceilings or walls of the rooms, positions to cover the entire room. In some cases where the rooms are very large, we install two units at either end of the room. Our Audio Visual resellers enjoy the ease of installation and setup. Using either WinScribe or Philips systems, we are able to recording the meetings in high quality formats and then either send for transcription or archive for future access. Since using the Voice Tracker, we have not had the need to search for alternative microphones other than delegate units for our applications.

Doron Mansur
Powerhouse Dictation Systems
Johannesburg, South Africa

Meeting Recording Microphones

Mike Lanthier is President of Harcourt Industries, a digital recorder and speech recognition reseller.

We have finished testing the Voice tracker with good success. We noticed that the settings are important for clarity and voice recognition. It worked best with LDS off. We were particularly interested in attaching the Voice Tracker to Olympus recorders so our customers could record an entire room. We tested it with the DS-3000, which has a 3.5mm external microphone jack, as well as a DS 320. I was impressed when the Voice Tracker picked up conversations in another room some several yards away and walls between.

Mike Lanthier
President
Harcourt Industries, Ltd.

Jim Barker is a developer of the SearchMaster program for Master Products.

I am a software developer who includes PowerPoint and narrated AVI movie presentations in my product. The Acoustic Magic microphone exceeds the quality of any microphone I have ever employed. Great sound reproduction and great filtering of background noise. This is a wonderful product, one I wouldn't dream of doing without. My customers consistently compliment me on the quality of the sound in my presentations -- thanks, of course, to Acoustic Magic.

Jim Barker
Developer of the SearchMaster program
Master Products

Don Johnson uses the Voice Tracker™ Array Microphone for recording in combination with an interactive SmartBoard from SmartTechnologies.

We use an interactive SmartBoard from SmartTechnologies together with the Voice Tracker™ array microphone to record presentations in our conference rooms and training labs. This technology - with your microphone - allows us to record audio and the screen display to the hard drive and later burn meetings, presentations, and seminars to CD's for distribution or Intranet Streaming. Your microphone does a remarkable job filtering out extraneous noises such as air conditioning while "zoning in" on the presenter and other speakers throughout the room.

Don Johnson

Conferencing Microphones

Sally Goldberg is a Documentation Specialist and Remote Meeting Facilitator at Flink Ink.

We recently purchased a couple of Voice Tracker™ array microphones to enable us to use Voice-over IP for remote meetings using Centra Symposium internet remote meeting technology in a group setting. The Voice Tracker™ was recommended to us by Centra as the best array microphone available for conducting an internet meeting where many people were meeting in a conference room with one PC and a projected display of the screen.

The Voice Tracker™ was good at picking up several people's voices in a group across a table and could be clearly heard when we conducted a presentation from Ann Arbor, Michigan that was broadcast over the internet to a large group in Frankfurt, Germany. We are very satisfied with our purchase of this microphone and with the excellent and fast service provided by Acoustic Magic.

Sally Goldberg
Documentation Specialist and Remote Meeting Facilitator
Flint Ink, Ann Arbor, MI