DSS File Support and other Methods of Compression



Dictation Buddy and Transcription Buddy can playback many types of audio files. Supported audio files are: RIFF-WAV (compressed and uncompressed); MP3; WMA; Olympus DSS (with restrictions); Dialogic VOX; BCB TrueSpeech.

Notes, to implement DSS file support. You must install the Olympus Player Pro software from the CD that came with your Olympus recorder. Alternatively, you can try to copy a file called DSSCORE.DLL into the Buddy program install folder. This DSSCORE.DLL file is distributed with Olympus software. The described procedure works for Olympus software containing older versions of DSSCORE.DLL (below version 5.1.0.35); with newer versions of the DSSCORE.DLL, support of DSS files may fail to work.

Both Dictation Buddy and Transcription Buddy can also play wav files that have been compressed with an audio codec (like Truespeech, or ADPCM), installed in your system.

Dictation Buddy and Transcription Buddy also support Dialogic Vox (.vox) file playback and BCB Truespeech files. The BCB Truespeech files do not have a specific extension. BCB Truespeech files are also known as PlayAll files. Please see the Help facility for more information about these file formats.

Comparison Chart of Audio File Formats

Format Attributes MB per Hour Application
DSP Truespeech 8.0kHz, 8bit, mono 4 Dictation.
MS ADPCM 8.0kHz, 4bit, mono 14 Talk Radio and meetings.
MP3 11.5kHz, 16kBit/s, mono 4.5 Internet audio.
PCM 44.1kHz, 16bit, stereo 600 High quality recordings.

DSP Group Truespeech
The DSP Group Truespeech CODEC was written by DSP Group of Santa Clara California. This compression method was written specifically to address the requirement of recording human speech. This method removes a considerable portion of the potential sound spectrum. However, the removed data has little impact on a listener's ability to understand what was said. The algorithm "rounds off" many of the highs and lows associated with the tones found in the original spoken words. Listeners may no longer detect some of the emotions that may have been implied by these tones, but the actual words will remain quite clear and discernable.

This CODEC is an excellent choice for recording dictation. The CODEC supports a Sample Rate of 8.0 kHz with a Sample Size of 8 bits and mono recording. One hour of Truespeech recording can fit into about 4.5mb of disk space. We suggest the use of Truespeech for Dictation type applications where the speaker's emotions are irrelevant.

Microsoft ADPCM
The Microsoft ADPCM CODEC provides a middle ground for audio recording. This CODEC retains much of the audio spectrum, while at the same time, providing a good level of compression. The algorithm will reproduce most of the tones that were present in the original spoken words. We suggest the Microsoft ADPCM CODEC for high quality telephone recording or for recordings of meetings or conversations where capturing the emotions behind the words is also important. This CODEC is ideal for talk show Internet broadcasts.

The Microsoft ADPCM CODEC offers Sample Rates from 8.0 kHz to 44.1 kHz. All Sample Sizes are 8 bits and the sounds may be captured in either mono or stereo.

MPEG Layer - 3
This CODEC is applicable for recording speech and music of various qualities.

PCM
PCM is a completely uncompressed sound format. Because it is uncompressed, there is no loss of quality due to the deletion of data. This format is best used when the size of the file is not an issue. For example, this would be the case if the file was to be quickly moved to CD.


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