DSS File Support and other Methods of Compression

Dictation Buddy and Transcription Buddy can playback all types of compressed audio files. Included with the program is support for Olympus DSS files. The programs will automatically convert DSS files to standard wav files. The newly created wav file may then optionally be saved.

DSS Index Marks within the DSS file are automatically converted into bookmarks. The Job Number, Author ID, Creation Date and any Notes found in the DSS file are also saved into the Buddy File Notes facility. Access bookmarks by clicking the Bookmark icon. Access File Notes by clicking the File Notes icon.

Note, to implement DSS file support, users should copy the DSSCORE.DLL file into the same folder as Transcription Buddy or Transcription Buddy is installed. By default, this folder is Program Files/High Criteria/Transcription Buddy. The DSSCORE.DLL file resides on the CD that accompanied your Olympus recorder.

The above procedure is sufficient for a DSSCORE.DLL file at or below Version V5.1.0.35. However, for newer versions of the DSSCORE.DLL (above V5.1.0.35) the Olympus DSS Player Pro software must also be installed onto the same PC as the Dictation Buddy / Transcription Buddy software. Alternatively, some users have reported that adding the following Registry key:
HKEY_Local_Machine\Software\Olympus\DSSPlayer
is all that is needed to allow our programs to work with the newer versions of DSSCORE.DLL, without installing the full Olympus system. High Criteria has not tested this suggestion.

Both Dictation Buddy and Transcription Buddy can also play wav files that have been compressed with Truespeech, or with Lernout & Hauspie, or with any other compression method installed and supported on your Windows operating system. By default, Windows has almost 16 compression methods, all of which are available to the Dictation Buddy and Transcription Buddy programs.

Dictation Buddy V4.0 and Transcription Buddy V3.1 and above also supports 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.

Some of the standard compression methods include:

• DSP Group Truespeech
• Lernout and Hauspie CELP
• Lernout and Hauspie SBC
• Microsoft ADPCM
• GSM 6.10
• MPEG Layer - 3
• PCM at all levels
• CCITT a-law and u-law
• and any other compression method which is installed properly onto your PC

Comparison Chart of WAV File Formats

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.

Lernout & Hauspie
There are several Lernout & Hauspie CODECs included with Windows. All of these CODECs have a small sample rate and were written specifically to address the requirement of recording human speech.

The CODECs have a Sample Rate of 8.0 kHz with a Sample Size of 16 bits. All of the CODECs are mono. The extra size of the Sample Size provides additional tone to these recordings, but will also increases the file size. A file recorded with the Lernout & Hauspie SBC 16kbit/s CODEC will require less than 9mb of disk space for a one hour recording. We suggest the use of a Lernout and Hauspie CODEC for recording applications that require a level of quality beyond that provided by Truespeech. Recording telephone conversations would be a good example of a use for this CODEC.

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
On some versions of Windows, Microsoft provides an MPEG Layer - 3 CODEC to create files compressed into mp3 format. This CODEC supports sample rates from 8.0 kHz to 24.0 kHz with a Sample Size of 16 and in both mono and stereo. This CODEC is applicable to low quality music recordings. Please see the MP3 section of this page for more information.

PCM
PCM is a completely uncompressed sound format. Because it is uncompressed, there is no loss of quality due to the deletion of data. The most widely distributed PCM CODEC has sample rates from 8.0kHz up to 48.0 kHz, a Sample Size of both 8 and 16 bits and support for both mono and stereo.

This format is best used when the size of the file is not an issue. This would be the case if the file was to be quickly moved to CD.