What is the best external USB sound card?


I am considering the two below:


Andrea USBD-2A Stereo Audio Adapter

http://www.andreaelectronics.com/Buy/ProductDesc/USBD2A.htm

http://www.soundprofessionals.com/cgi-bin/gold/item/AN-USBD-2A



Buddy USB Pod 6G
http://www.emicrophones.com/microphones/prod_details.asp?prodID=033



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Intel E8400 Core 2 Duo 3.00 GHz Wolfdale 6MB L2 cache CPU, Gigabyte EP45-UD3P motherboard, 4 GB DDR2 1066 RAM, Buddy USB pod 6g sound card, The Boom C microphone, Seagate 475 GB 7200 RPM hard drive, Windows XP SP3. DNS Preferred 10.1,

 Coming soon:

Intel i7-860 Lynnfield 2.8GHz 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1156 socket CPU, 8 GB Crucial Ballistix DDR3 1333 RAM, GIGABYTE GA-P55-USB3 LGA 1156 Intel P55 USB 3.0 mombo, ZALMAN CNPS9900A LED 120mm 2 Ball Low-noise Blue LED CPU Cooler, SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s  Hard Drive, AeroCool BX-500 Black 0.8mm SECC Super Mid-Tower Computer Case, Antec EarthWatts EA-500D Green 500W PSU.

 Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer + Internet (MCSE+I)

If you are asking which external USB sound device is best for speech recognition you have three principal choices:  Andrea, VXi Two-Way, Buddy USB 6G.   All use recent DSP sound chips and have a very low noise floor.  See the recent post by Chuck Runquist:

 http://www.knowbrainer.com/PubForum/index.cfm?page=viewForumTopic&topicId=3959&listFull

 In practical terms you are likely to get the same speech recognition accuracy whichever of the three that you choose assuming that you use a good quality noise-cancelling microphone.

If it is a choice between the Buddy 6G and the Andrea I would personally recommend the Buddy (and the price is right).

Graham

 

 

 

 

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www.itspeaking.co.uk

We concur with Graham in that basically, from a speech recognition point of view, all USB sound cards are equal. As far as full-duplex versus half duplex is concerned, it just depends on whether or not you want playback through your headset speaker. Most speech recognition end-users prefer to limit playback to their computer speakers but we mentioned this in case you're considering utilizing VoIP programs such as Skype.

We additionally recommend purchasing from Nuance endorsed vendors who support this forum such as Graham Henry in the UK at www.itspeaking.co.uk. You'll also find lower prices on the Buddy, Andrea  and VXI  external soundcards from Nuance certified dealers as opposed to dealing directly with manufacturers who typically offer limited technical support and charge retail.

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Thanks for the response.

I wanted to hear the sound or line output from DNS in my head phones. I definitely don’t want DNS to go through my PC speakers.

Was looking to get the Andrea ANC-750 to go with an external USB sound card.

http://www.andreaelectronics.com/Buy/ProductDesc/ANC750.htm

So is it correct that the USBD-2A Stereo Audio Adapter which is a duplex audio adapter will allow me to both speak to and hear DNS?

"The USBD-2A stereo full duplex audio adapter connects Andrea's Superbeam® Array Microphone, Andrea NC headsets, or headphones to the USB bus."

http://www.andreaelectronics.com/Buy/ProductDesc/USBD2A.htm

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Intel E8400 Core 2 Duo 3.00 GHz Wolfdale 6MB L2 cache CPU, Gigabyte EP45-UD3P motherboard, 4 GB DDR2 1066 RAM, Buddy USB pod 6g sound card, The Boom C microphone, Seagate 475 GB 7200 RPM hard drive, Windows XP SP3. DNS Preferred 10.1,

 Coming soon:

Intel i7-860 Lynnfield 2.8GHz 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1156 socket CPU, 8 GB Crucial Ballistix DDR3 1333 RAM, GIGABYTE GA-P55-USB3 LGA 1156 Intel P55 USB 3.0 mombo, ZALMAN CNPS9900A LED 120mm 2 Ball Low-noise Blue LED CPU Cooler, SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s  Hard Drive, AeroCool BX-500 Black 0.8mm SECC Super Mid-Tower Computer Case, Antec EarthWatts EA-500D Green 500W PSU.

 Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer + Internet (MCSE+I)

There are certainly more accurate microphones than the ANC 750, having used it, and initially the 700 myself, have you considered any of the "theBoom" series like these:

http://www.knowbrainer.com/ShopOnline/index.cfm/category/18/microphone-comparisons.cfm?CFID=136003&CFTOKEN=71360008&jsessionid=a0301014931190897105635

A 2% improvement in accuracy may not seem like much, but it can be huge when speaking 200 words per minute!

You may be better served in the long run by considering a different microphone. My research indicates the microphone will make a bigger difference than the USB pod.

My 2 cents!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We agree with bwaites but should mention that although we also carry the Andrea Electronics full-duplex USB Pods, there is no real advantage in choosing any particular brand of full-duplex USB Pod over another. We just finished testing the Buddy 6G USB Pod today and noted a slightly lower noise floor. We also noted that the high end frequencies seem to be clipped off which is good for speech recognition because high end frequencies are unnecessary for dictation and would normally have to filtered out but we didn't see any change in accuracy between the full-duplex Buddy, Andrea or VXI USB Pods and we've noted that the Andrea full-duplex USB Pods are a bit overpriced. We have all 3 of these USB Pods connected to the same computer and can easily switch between them.

We also concur that the ANC 750 microphone is still a good microphone but hasn't changed since the mid-90s when it held the #1 position. However, in the last 15 years a number of microphones have surpassed the older ANC technology.

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Thanks for the responses.

Money is not really a deciding factor for me. Getting the best accuracy is my first concern. Comfort is also a concern. I purchased a Plantronics headset a while back. I have a large head size and it hurt so much I gave the unit away. It’s now being used by a neighbors kid to play Halo 3 or whatever.

So it sounds like for a wired solution that allows me to hear DNS through a head set, the Buddy USB Pod 6G with the Boom "O" head set would be the best?

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Intel E8400 Core 2 Duo 3.00 GHz Wolfdale 6MB L2 cache CPU, Gigabyte EP45-UD3P motherboard, 4 GB DDR2 1066 RAM, Buddy USB pod 6g sound card, The Boom C microphone, Seagate 475 GB 7200 RPM hard drive, Windows XP SP3. DNS Preferred 10.1,

 Coming soon:

Intel i7-860 Lynnfield 2.8GHz 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1156 socket CPU, 8 GB Crucial Ballistix DDR3 1333 RAM, GIGABYTE GA-P55-USB3 LGA 1156 Intel P55 USB 3.0 mombo, ZALMAN CNPS9900A LED 120mm 2 Ball Low-noise Blue LED CPU Cooler, SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s  Hard Drive, AeroCool BX-500 Black 0.8mm SECC Super Mid-Tower Computer Case, Antec EarthWatts EA-500D Green 500W PSU.

 Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer + Internet (MCSE+I)

theBoom “O” microphone is light, very accurate, extremely noise canceling and can easily accommodate a large head. The Buddy USB Pod external USB soundcard is also a good choice as it has the lowest noise floor of any external USB sound card we have tested. We should reiterate that we have seen no difference in accuracy between any of the USB soundcard's. We like the Buddy USB Pod because it's smaller and includes a built in lighted mute switch that you will probably never use but looks great J

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