Absolute worst quality sound files in my
Posted By: Ex-SS QA on 2006-01-08
In Reply to: Probity versus SoftScript - Diana
20 year career, the worst ESL dictators (and I currently do about 95% ESL), horrible management, system not user friendly, technical support a joke, ..... I wouldn't wish this company on my worst enemy. Don't know anything about the other company, though several recent posts about them don't have anything good to say.
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The absolute worst company out there!
nm
SS is the absolute worst company. They offer
you the world to get you to stay, but it is a dead end job. $14.00 is NOT a good rate and twice that is not worth it. You will work like a dog and get treated like one. Not a nice thing to say about them.
Yuk, sewer backup is the absolute worst. sm
We rented a house for a year about 20 years ago, about 10 houses from where we live now. Every time it poured, the sewer backed up into the basement. Once we had water, 4 feet high too, and it stopped filling about 5 inches from the fuse box. We stayed through the winter and then the foundation cracked. That was enough. We bought a house with a dry basement. I swear, we had everything come in through the sewer-waste, toads, salamanders, you name it. It was gross. As a matter of fact, they put in a back flow valve too. Then the neighbors had the problems. The house is now on the market for over a year. No one wants it.
The absolute worst IMHO is the dictator
who loads up his mouth to capacity with marbles and then proceeds to talk.
Can you tell us who this is with the bad sound quality? nm
s
sound quality
I'm totally with you! I used a Lanier station for the first 15 years of my career and the sound quality was superb compared to the internet dictation. One thing you might try, if you have not already, is to make sure your speakers have a tone dial. Lots of these companies provide speakers that only have a volume dial or they want you to plug right in to the PC but there is no tone setting on the voice program. Turning the tone to high helps un-muffle the sound. Good luck!
Sound quality may/may not be the
the wav player but your sound card. You can get a new sound card or you can get a USB thing and bypass the sound card. I'm not sure exactly what the thing is called but the one I have is by Turtle Beach and is called Audio Advantage. I got it at Best Buy for about $30. You can Google and read about them. There are 3 different ones to choose from. I didn't think it made a huge difference, but I went on a working vacation once and didn't bring it and realized how much difference it did make. You can adjust all kinds of things on it, which will be a trial and error thing for you. If you have Win98 or less you can't access all the features though.
sound quality
I have had a couple of at-home jobs in which the dictation was received by phone line. Is it true that the sound quality is better this way? I am currently looking for a new job and wondering if dictation via internet will be a rude surprise in comparison. Appreciate any comments.
Sound quality.....MT : QA
This is an excerpt from a post from an MT some while ago and I AGREE 100% WITH IT:
'Is it me, have I totally lost it, or is the sound quality on the QASAR playback FAR better than the quality on the original job?
Last night I had job after job dictated by a gal who mumbles, speed talks, fades in and out, rattles papers, and it sounds as if she is talking through a shoe. I listened repeatedly. I had my husband listen. I even stuck the headset on the cat to no avail; none of us could understand her as she rattled off study meds.
This morning I check QASAR and while QA couldn't get everything she said either, the sound was crisp, clear, and sharp as a bell. I find this very frustating. If the sound on my end had been this good while I was transcribing I could have gotten the majority of these blanks and saved QA some work.'
I think the sound quality is not that great.
p
Laptop sound quality
I am looking at purchasing a Dell Vostro laptop but I have heard the sound quality with headphones is poor. Does anyone have any experience with the Vostro? Thanks. sz
Laptop sound quality
I am looking at purchasing a Dell Vostro 1500 laptop but I have seen reviews regarding poor sound quality when using headphones. Headphones are a must for me. Does anyone have any experience with the Vostro? Thanks! sz
I don't find less quality getting my sound - sm
through my home PC. In fact, it's digital, and my phone is analog, so I think it's better. It can be altered further with different headphones, too. Of course, I still do sometimes get some pretty bad dictation quality sometimes, but it apparently comes from the equipment at the dictating hospital.
I have no problems with sound quality...
so I think it just depends on your equipment/platform/specific hospital, etc.
Integrated Sound quality
Hi. I'm looking into buying a new computer from Dell, which has the integrated 7.1 audio. Does anybody use this? Is the sound quality good enough or should I think about adding a Sound Blaster card?
Best player for poor quality audio files?
I'm on a new account using primarily .wav and .dss files -- I can use whatever player I want and am currently using Express Scribe (just because its free!) -- but these files are not the best quality, and I wish I had more controls available to try to tweak them a bit. If anyone has experience with any other audio player software that they think is better than Express Scribe, would you let me know? Thanks much.
winscribe and sound quality question (sm)
I presently work for a company that used to have the hospitals call into their own in-house Dictaphone system. Recently, we have switched to using Winscribe and I notice that the sound quality has deteriorated. Why would this be? I'm not familiar with Winscribe or how it works so I'm not sure if the work is being re-recorded from the original Dictaphone system or what. Any thoughts?
Don't know if you can, but the sound quality is sure to be atrocious. Gets worse with every
s
Think this has been discussed before, but the sound quality will probably suffer if you do it. nm
s
Sound quality is 10x better than Express Scribe...sm
The settings are not as complicated either.
There are no preloaded files. You download your own files. I transcribed actual voice files using the trial version.
I usually tell them about the poor sound quality and if it is not rectified I quit! nm
x
Excellent sound quality and just leave me alone to work! nm
s
Poor sound quality, looking up proper names, sm
switching from one account to another, not enough work, repetitive stress injuries, accounts continually changing they way they want things done, uninvited guests, slow ISPs, inability to get broadband, accounts having server problems,lack of proper reference materials at hand (meaning MT word books and dictionaries), relying on Google 100%, visiting this and other boards, chocolate cravings, food cravings, extreme boredom, extreme fatigue, delirium.
All I ask is for clearly speaking dictators and good sound quality and I would be a
nm
I have no problem with the sound quality using Express Scribe.
There is a new version of ES available for download and you can improve files with their special audio processes. Bytescribe wave player is expensive (compared to free with Express Scribe) and ES is more versatile, IMO, having used both. ES will play a wide variety of file types, including .dss.
Depending on sound quality, lookups, fill-ins, ESLs, that's
s
Winscribe is fine where I work. But if a mic is malfunctioning, sound quality is suboptimal.
cc
Sound files
I thought it was just me but my group sometimes uses hand held recorders and you are so right--it may be a simple word but it just doesn't always come through clear and I feel like a fool leaving a blank when I've done this job for 30+ years. The comment about a tin can is SO appropriate! I use Express Scribe and MOST of the time the dictation is fairly clear--although (guess I'm old fashioned) you can't beat the clarity of a Dictaphone tape player. It is always clear as a bell and I really HATE to sell mine; however, no one seems to use the tapes much anymore. Such is progress--even if it isn't really better at all!
Sound files wanted
Does anyone have any sound files they could share, good and bad quality, that I could let someone listen to so they can see what they're getting into if they decide to do MT? I'd let her listen to mine, but we save nothing; as soon as the job is typed, the sound file is gone. Any websites that have practice type files? Thanks for any suggestions.
Question about digital sound files
Hi everyone,
I am totally new to medical transcription and have a question. In doing transcription digitally, what are the most common sound file formats? I am about to take a test (both written & verbal) for a company and they sent me my test files as .wav files. The files are hard to understand at best (the guy sounds like he's talking into a tin can ) and I am wondering why they didn't send them to me in a clearer form such as MP3. I am about to ask this same question to the person sending me the test but I thought I'd ask it here too. Is the .wav format the most common form of sound file for MT's? And if so, what's the best program to listen to these files in? I have Windows Media player, Real Player and WinAmp on my computer. Are there programs that MT's use to better hear these files? I hate to sound like a total dummy here but I'm new to this and when I went to school several years ago for MT, we only did tapes--not digital! If anyone can give me some info here, I'd really appreciate it!
Best,
RT
AWESOME - does it work with sound files???
I love It thanks!
Try Switch. I can convert sound files. I love it. It has
p
Conversion program for digital sound files - sm
A long time ago I saw a listing regarding a program that would convert sound files, ex. dss to wav; etc. I need to convert a .dvf file to .wav. Any ideas?
I had a call-in sytem that used sound files (wasted money)
I spent several hundred dollars trying to clean up voice files, both with an expensive external sound card system and very expensive computer speakers with a pod for a headset. I finally ditched the system and purchased a call-in system accessed by a C-phone. Be weery of those sound files. The clear ones do go overseas while us Americans get the worst of the batch.
Great program called "Switch" can convert sound files into
p
Try Switch program. Converts sound files. Can get free demo.
p
Express Scribe is GREAT for downloading sound files for testing for different companies!
Express Scribe Transcription Playback Software
This software works as a transcriber that downloads into your computer and allows you to receive files and use your footpedal. I have used it a lot when applying for jobs and testing, especially because I can then use my footpedal and not my keyboard to advance the sound files. This is a free download too, so use it if you have to. I highly recommend it.....
This is the link for the site to download it for free -
http://www.nch.com.au/scribe/
Hahah!a! Funny typo: not quality 'scAre', quality 'scOre'. LMAO!...nm
nm
Worst types for me are oncology and ENT. Worst dialect
definitely Arabic, Indian, Pakistani. No problem with Asian though. Of course, warp speed, mush mouth American dictation can be the pits, also.
I think that depends on the quality. Do you honestly think there is good quality just throwing every
MT on any account like they are. I also think QA has been told to not waste a lot of time on blanks so I think the hospitals are getting a lot more blanks. I certainly have more when I get in a hospital I dont know and they talk 100 miles an hour.
I thought quality was a given. Speed and quality are not mutually exclusive. sm
I maintain 99% accuracy above on my reports. However, the original question was regarding personal preference, and I have stated mine, and I respect your opinion as well. :-) I do think if I was working in an office or hospital setting, the setup you mentioned might be more profitable in the long run. There are too many interruptions and such when you have other people running in and out, phones ringing, etc.
I doubt that anyone but me really cares about the lines per hour it takes for me to do a report. They just want an accurate report in a timely manner. I take pride in my work, and would never just slop something out for the sake of the almighty buck. And, as an added incentive, I work for 2 companies, and one of them has my name on each report. I don't have a problem with it, but I did think it was a bit unusual at first.
Oh well ... I must confess that what I'd TRULY like is to be paid lots of money to just sit and play Battle Phlinx on Pogo all day long, but as of yet, no such luck. 
Filezilla is the software used to transfer files to an FTP server where the files "reside".
.
If you could just QA for 1 day and see the absolute
garbage that QA people have to deal you might understanding where they are coming from. I don't agree with constant negative feedback. I do agree if the MT is wrong that corrections should be made and passed along. I don't believe additional comments need to be made about errors, unless they are repeated errors. I have had QA people correct things and make snide remarks about how style changes were made months ago and that I had previously received other information, etc. In every case in which the QA person made such comments I proved her wrong. I also complained to the MTSO and the person was taken off of QA.
If you are expecting positive feedback, in most cases it isn't going to happen, but I'm a believer that if you tell someone what they are doing wrong, you also need to tell them what they are doing right.
I try to be adult about it, and if I have made a mistake I make a note of it so that I won't do it again, but if I'm corrected for something that I'm not doing wrong I go back to QA with it. Almost every time QA has come back with you are correct, but and then tell me how they do things or add in a few more cutting remarks I go to the QA manager.
I work in a very particular account and they are frequently changing the way they want things done, but they want them the way they want them, doesn't matter what BOS says, doesn't matter that we are all in agreement that they are incorrect, we have to do them that way. It may seem nitpicking to the MT that some things are being corrected because they aren't really wrong maybe, but it isn't what the account wants.
Absolute BS
Baloney! Money talks and if insensitive cruel people buy shocking devices to control their animals, then these collars will be put on the market. Unfortunately in our society, there are no restrictions on who can own an animal. No background checks or mental health requirements. Anybody may own an animal and do with it pretty much what they want. The only qualification necessary is money--not compassion or sensitivity toward the animal--just money. And the same is true of these collars. If they sell, then humane or not, they are put on the market. How sad for the poor unfortunate animals in this world to have such an owner who would actually try to justify shocking them! Anybody incapable of training an animal without shocking it should NOT be allowed to own one.
Converting voice files to digital files
I have a Voice Solutions dictation system that will happily convert DS4000 voice files to digital when they are downloaded (wave files). However, it will not recognize any other files for conversion. I had a physician download .WAM files from his DS-30 and my dictation system would not convert it. Anyone have any suggestions? I would greatly appreciate any input.
Thanks!!!
I absolute would not not marry someone because of their last name!
I would keep my own last name as I plan to do whether I like his or not.
You are an absolute angel! Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!!!
nm
Please, you owe them the absolute truth as you know it. SM
Not to discourage them, but it is of the highest importance that every person preparing to enter the workforce understands that for any job not tied to a specific geographic location in some way he is potentially in competition with the entire planet's workforce. English as the universal language is definitely a two-edged sword. But it also means they come ready equipped with an extremely valuable tool-fluent English.
To do anything else would be profoundly immoral and potentially do someone great harm.
The AHDI website has a section on questions frequently asked about MT that would probably be a great help in putting together your talk. It also has a report on Scenarios and Solutions for the Future" of MT. Different scenarios because they just don't know where we'll be.
You could include in your talk suggestions for related work they can also train for that is more geographically tied, such as tumor registrar and ?, and ? Nursing and hospital tech fields, of course, but when you come up with some more of those that still can be mostly done at home, you can come back and tell the rest of us about them.
my ABSOLUTE favorite is...
the alt+tab to navigate between open windows. just hold in alt and tap on tab to see what you have open and let go when you are resting on what you want.
I got your apology and it is absolute accepted!
Thanks!
I find that surfing the net is an absolute no-no
when I have a bunch of work to do at night. I try to get up and walk through the house, do a simple chore, get something to drink even if just water, helps me. If I find myself actually falling asleep while typing it is definitely time for bed because then I have to relisten to my entire dictation to make sure it is good. My DH is always telling me to go to bed at a decent time and get up early and I'll be more productive, which is really true if you are that tired. With my work if I'm not out of TAT, I pick the easy/short jobs first and leave the longer/more difficult ones until I've had some rest. While I may still have lots of minutes left, I don't have as many reports and I feel that I have accomplished something.
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