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Several incremental 1.6.x updates followed at intervals, each one adding refinements and enhancing speed, culminating in iListen 1.6.8 released in May, 2005, which added support for OS X 10.4 Tiger, included a significant speed increase (at least on my G3 iBook and 550 MHz G4 PowerBook), and several other tweaks and bug fixes. It also included a new User Manual, and a training guide that provides the text of the training stories and reminders about the training process. Indeed, version 1.6.8 was a substantial enough improvement that it might have merited the full version number upgrade.
I've found iListen 1.6.8 a much more satisfactory tool than previous iListen versions over the past year and a bit, so much so that I haven't started up ViaVoice X even once in that interval. While ViaVoice has always seemed somewhat more compatible with my personal voice characteristics than is the Philips speech engine used in iListen, in all other aspects I've found iListen to be a superior product, both in terms of functionality and user convenience, particularly the fact that you really can dictate virtually anywhere it is possible to type or enter text with this application.
Another big advantage iListen has over ViaVoice, which IBM farmed out to ScanSoft a couple of years back, is that the program is still under active development, which has resulted in the release of iListen 1.7 - the first Universal Binary version of the program. This is of particular significance, not only in keeping pace with what's happening in the Mac orbit, but also because dictation engines are a class of software for which the raw processing power of the Core Duo CPU should be particularly useful and usable. ViaVoice, on the other hand, has not been upgraded since 2002, and I'm doubtful that there will ever be a Universal Binary version.
However, iListen 1.7 also represents a solid upgrade in performance on Power PC Macs like the 17" PowerBook that is my current production machine. While the new version was only released to the public this week, I've been using various non-public beta builds for several weeks now, and I can affirm that iListen 1.7 rocks!
The main new features in iListen 1.7 compared with version 1.6.8 are:
- Universal Binary. Now works natively on both Intel-based and PowerPC Macs.
- Totally revamped Commands. Deprecated commands have been removed and new ones added.
- Faster training. Users can now be up and running in as little as 5 minutes.
- Enhanced accuracy and faster typing.
- Profiles are now stored outside the application in a new profile package with a ".voice" extension
- Parameterized Variables (numbers only - you can now create commands that have a variable number in the command name)
- Faster Text Macros
- New Voice Package
- Backups can now be renamed
- TypeKey Helper is built-in
- Text Macros can paste into a document instead of type
- Completely rewritten Voice Launcher
- Completely rewritten Web Favorites
- iListen now installs into an iListen folder instead of a folder named "MacSpeech." this means you can have an older version of iListen installed at the same time as 1.7 to assist in making a smooth transition.
- Profiles now live in a new type of container called a Voice Package. You can have as many profiles in a Voice Package as you would like (up to available hard drive space). You can also have multiple Voice Packages on your computer. iListen 1.7 automatically creates a Voice Profile with the name of the first Profile you create and saves it in the Documents folder of your Home folder. You can rename the Voice Package by selecting it in the Finder and changing its name (be careful not to change the ".voice" extension, however).
- You can also now rename an iListen Backup package (as long as you don't change its extension).
- TypeKey Helper is now integrated into the Command Editor window.
- You can now have Text Macros pasted instead of having to wait for them to be typed out. (You must turn this on in iListen's preferences. The default is for this feature to be turned off.)
- The "chooseApplication" AppleScript has been modified to support Mac OS X's application file IDs. The new syntax is as follows:
chooseApplication "TextEdit.app" application file id "com.apple.TextEdit"
If you already have iListen 1.6.x or an earlier version installed, iListen 1.7 now resides in a folder named "iListen" instead of "MacSpeech." This means 1.7 and 1.6.8 can coexist on your computer at the same time, easing a transition to the new version.
MacSpeech has the installation process nicely streamlined, and there were no surprises, or any change in that department from iListen 1.6. It's not a drag & drop install, but it is very quick and hassle-free. Note that iListen must have the Enable Access for Assistive Devices checkbox checked in the Universal Access pane of System Preferences. If it isn't, iListen will ask you to turn it on when it is launched.
While iListen's installation process is generally painless, once the application is installed and started up, if you are a first time user, you still have some work to do (typical of all dictation applications). The first time you launch iListen, it will walk you through the steps necessary to set up your microphone and create your first voice profile. After this initial setup, iListen will automatically begin your first training session. You do this by reading to the program aloud some stories so it can learn your vocal characteristics. Multiple users can share iListen on a single machine, but each must create his or her own profile, and must train iListen separately. Initial training will take at least an hour, as you will need to read several of the stories and then let the computer process them. MacSpeech suggests that you read as many stories as you can manage to further improve your recognition accuracy. The more stories you read, the better your accuracy will be.
As noted in the feature summary above, if you're moving on up from iListen 1.6, you can import your existing voice profile(s, but MacSpeech recommends creating a new profile with this release so you can experience the new version's faster training. I agree, and can confirm that I was getting very decent accuracy after reading just one training story on a fresh user voice profile. After reading a couple more, accuracy matches or exceeds what I had been getting in 1.6.8, and the new version is definitely faster, even on my middling elderly 1.33 GHz PowerBook. It must really scream on an Intel Mac, and dictation applications are one category of software that can really benefit from the MacIntel's greater processor muscle.
The first training story is only 6 panels long instead of the previous version's 27. If you decide you would like to move your old profile, launch 1.6.x, select "Profiles..." from the File menu, then click the Backup button and save the backup file to a location you will remember. Then quit 1.6.x and launch 1.7, select "Profiles..." from the File menu and click the "Restore" button, then locate the backup file from 1.6.8.
MacSpeech strongly recommends that you use a MacSpeech-certified microphone for best results. You can find out more about recommended microphones on the MacSpeech Website, and a vide variety are available from the macSpeech Store. You can also buy iListen with a bundled mic as a package.
In my estimation, by iListen's best features are:
1. Its comprehensive, no hassle, "dictate anywhere" capability. While the OS X version of ViaVoice has the ability to dictate directly into a certain other programs, it's really only at its best when transcribing speech into its own dedicated SpeakPad word processing application, from which you transfer dictated text to its ultimate destination via the Clipboard or in certain instances with a voice commands to supported applications. With iListen, you can dictate directly into virtually any application or text field that can accept typed text, and this facility makes iListen significantly less cumbersome and more versatile to use than ViaVoice is.
2. iListen is easier to install, and to keep working once it is installed.
3. iListen has been a happy camper with a fairly wide variety of mics in my experience, everything from cheap PC - style microphones to old Apple PlainTalk microphones, to the Andrea USB headset that ships with ViaVoice, to the VXI Parrott headset mic that is one of the mics MacSpeech officially recommends (and sells), and the MacMice MicFlex USB desktop microphone system (also officially approved by MacSpeech). MacSpeech suggests that for the best dictation results, you use a quality, noise canceling microphone, and that's good advice, but their program also works well with lesser equipment. ViaVoice X, on the other hand, demands its own dedicated microphone.
4. iListen is also cheaper to purchase them ViaVoice, although it's an apples and oranges comparison, since the IBM product ships with a microphone and iListen doesn't at the base price point. However, even with one of the recommended VXI Parrott headsets added, iListen still comes in cheaper than ViaVoice.
Listen has three modes: Dictation, Spelling and Command. Dictation is the program's core function, the one I use most, and the one that will be of the greatest interest to most users. It works very well in iListen 1.7.
Uncommon or misrecognized words can be entered using iListen's Spelling mode. You can use Spelling Mode for mis-recognized words that are used infrequently, such as surnames. iListen has a built-in vocabulary of approximately 30,000 words, with a background lexicon of 300,000 words developed in association with Oxford University Press.
You use Command Mode to control your Mac with your voice. In Command Mode,
you can click buttons, control windows, launch applications, and use speech instead of pressing keys on the keyboard. Commands in iListen are written in AppleScript, the scripting language built into Mac OS. Commands can be global, meaning they work everywhere, or application specific, which means they only work in a particular application. With iListen's Command mode you can launch applications, visit web sites, press onscreen buttons,
Other features:
iListen's CorrectAnywhere technology allows you to apply corrections as you go and teaches iListen to be more accurate in the process. Frankly, I find that while the voice correction function has improved a lot from earlier versions of iListen, it is still clunky and annoying to use, and I just don't bother with it much. More on this in a moment.
iListen's "Learn My Writing Style" feature allows you to drag a text document you have written into a dialog window and select words you want to add to iListen's vocabulary. iListen will add the words you selected to your personal vocabulary file. iListen already knows many rules regarding phonemes, and knows how you pronounce those phonemes from the training you have done, so no additional effort is required to add new words.
You can also create text macros for often repeated text such as signatures and form letters. Your text macros can be up to 32,000 characters in size (about 8 pages).
iListen's Voice Launcher will allow you to open over 150 Macintosh applications simply by saying "Open" followed by the application's name. Voice Launcher commands are can be edited too. For instance, if you would rather say "Open Word" instead of "Open Microsoft Word" simply change the command name in iListen's item editor. iListen's list of Web Favorites will take you to over 150 useful web sites. You can jump to a web site by saying "Jump to" followed by the name of the web site. You can also add your own web sites easily using iListen's item editor.
ilisten's Transcription feature will generate text from WAV and AIFF audio files. Using a Digital Voice Recorder, you can record now, transcribe later.
It's not all sweetness and light. I still think iListen's correction module is lame, as is ViaVoice's. It's much improved over the early versions, but still cranky and cumbersome, not very versatile, and I don't like functions that take over my computer the way the correction module does, rendering it unresponsive to user input until it's finished with what it's doing, which can take a while, at least on a 1.33 GHz PowerPC with 1.5 GB of RAM.
Personally, I just mostly do manual corrections, although if you require voice correction, it does work, and it's good to have it there. If the correction feature was more convenient, I would be more inclined to use it, because that's one way the program "learns" to improve your speech recognition accuracy. I would also like to be able to paste text into the correction window from anywhere at any time and be able to correct it.
A question I get asked fairly frequently is how does iListen compare with PC-only Dragon Naturally-Speaking, which is widely regarded as the gold standard of computer dictation software.
This is difficult for me to answer, because I don't have any direct experience comparing iListen with Dragon Naturally Speaking, and a problem is that unless one has the extended amount of time it would take to thoroughly train both programs to one's unique voice profile, the test would not be very meaningful. Another is that, as MacSpeech's Chuck Rogers has explained to me, response with these programs is so idiosyncratic to a particular user that one person could get better results with one program while another might do better with the other depending on their individual voice characteristics and perhaps their microphone as well. Some dictation software works better with certain mics.
MacSpeech has posted a short commentary on the topic "How Does iListen Compare with Dragon NaturallySpeaking?", which may be helpful.
System requirements:
iListen 1.7.0 will run on Mac OS X 10.3.x and Tiger (10.4.x). iListen 1.6.8 (using a separate installer) is bundled, and will run on Mac OS X 10.2.8. (You can use the same voice profile under both operating systems by using the back up and restore functions).
iListen is a big, RAM and processor power hungry application. I would suggest that a 500 MHz Mac with at least 512 MB of RAM would be the bare minimum system you would want for reasonable performance.
iListen 1.7 still sells for $99 for a standalone version or as little as $149 for a version that includes a noise-canceling microphone. Registered users of iListen 1.6 or later can upgrade for $39.95. (Anyone who purchased after April 1, 2006 will receive a free upgrade.)
Registered users of iListen 1.5.1 and earlier can upgrade for $69.95.
For more information, visit:
http://www.macspeech.com/
[Editor's note: While this writer enjoys a cordial and collegial working relationship with MacSpeech PR and development personnel, and has been an iListen beta tester for years, he is not involved with the Applelinks advertising department, and the content of this article is in no way linked by way of quid pro quo to iListen advertising on this Website.]
Charles W. Moore
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