Hello everyone, 

 

I've read quite a few threads here (enviously), but I feel no closer to being able to decide on what to get. I live in London, UK and I've already started dictating my novel on a mac + dragon professional individual 15 (Using Parallels) with a Sennheiser UC30. It's been good, fun, but not great. I'd actually intended to use my voice recorder to transcribe (instead of dictating directly into Dragon), but I played around with its main feature a couple days ago and I was hooked. 

 

I would love to increase the accuracy of my dictation (and I know I probably have to work on my technique), but a lot of the solutions I've read about are over my budget, and I'm really trying to be 'good' (I can always spend more when I've used my current setup for a longer period of time). I'm also in a hurry and I need to purchase any headsets/mics from the UK (Covid + regular international waiting times = Stress!), a decision that will clearly reduce my options. 

 

Does anyone have any recommodations to make based on my budget? I'd be really grateful. Thank you so much for your time. 

Is that a Bluetooth headset by chance? If so, no that's not going to work very well with Dragon. Any regular headset like this one will most probably perform better with Dragon: 

 

https://www.amazon.com/ZOVI-Computer-Headset-Microphone-Connection/dp/B0895P23RY/ref=sr_1_16?dchild=1&keywords=pc+office+headset&qid=1604424529&s=videogames&sr=1-16

 

This one might even work better:

 

https://www.amazon.com/Computer-Headphones-Cancelling-Microphone-Adjustment/dp/B087RNPHXJ/ref=sr_1_19?dchild=1&keywords=pc+office+headset&qid=1604424585&s=videogames&sr=1-19

 

If you don't want to wear a headset (and you are in a really quiet surroundings) you may check out some of the Samson condenser microphones like the GoMic and the Meteor. The Q2U will probably perform even better with Dragon. Samson microphones offer great value for the money.

 

If you are a writer and you are using Dragon through parallels you may be interested in SP Standard or SP PRO which can be powerful additions for writers. 

One of your fellow authors, Mary Crawford is using it all the time on her Mac:

https://youtu.be/LXTO9_oGZY8?list=PLCl3DWM-P5iM_39AeEDjlyMR8m%208Ivczic&t=1521

 

She's also written a couple of interesting books on improving your Dragon dictation techniques:

https://www.amazon.com/Power-Dictation-Mary-Crawford/dp/1945637188

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Accuracy isn't something you can buy, which might be good news because it will actually save on your budget and you might stop wasting time looking at alternate devices, but it all depends on "your technique", as you already pointed at, and this will be more involved, and being in a hurry certainly won't help.

 

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Are you certain that you are using a Sennheiser UC 30 rather than the Sennheiser SC 30 USB CTRL because we cannot find your model? If you are using Sennheiser's SC 30 USB CTRL, forget about Dilligence's recommendations because they are not quite as good as what you already have. The Sennheiser SC 30 USB CTRL is consumer grade but perfectly acceptable and even on our recommendation list. We don't believe replacing your current microphone will help. Just make certain there is nothing wrong with your current sound system by opening DragonPad, wiggling the wire (just do it), while dictating a few words and then say play that back; so that you can hear a recording of your voice to detect possible AC or a frayed cable interference. If you hear a clear recording of your voice, you are good to go

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Thank you Dilligence - I appreciate the recommendations. Thank you R.Wilke; you are right, I guess. At the same time, I'm happy I doubted and asked the question, because now I can feel confident I don't need to waste money (or time researching).

Thanks Lunis - you are really good at this!!! Thanks for taking the time to answer.