Mac Speech Dictate and other Audio Recording Questions

Question

Mac Speech Dictate and other Audio Recording Questions

Thanks again for this great resource. I have a Macbook Pro, my first issue is I want to record audio from my stereo system, through the headphone output. I can't use the cables because I have an AV splitter, I have a DVD, Satellite, TV, all going through the splitter and to the stereo system, so I need to record stuff to my Macbook Pro from the stereo headphone output.

How is this accomplished?

My second question, is it possible to use Mac Speech Dictate to pull segments of audio from a radio talk show into typed text? I sometimes write transcripts of talk radio segments for a blog and it takes such a long time to pause, type, pause, etc. I am looking for the best solution to just play the audio and have the program type it out.

Once I have the best program, how would I get the audio in, would the internal mic pick it up if I played the audio through my stereo system at a loud volume?

Thanks for your time and any assitance you can give me.

Mac OS X (10.5.6)

Posted on Feb 11, 2009 6:05 PM

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Answer 1

Feb 11, 2009 8:58 PM in response to GordonGekko1975

{quote:title=GordonGekko1975 wrote:} is it possible to use Mac Speech Dictate to pull segments of audio from a radio talk show into typed text?{quote}
Yes and no. You would have to make a profile for the person talking in the program, but if more than one person was talking then likely the accuracy would be poor. These programs are designed to be used with one person talking into a mic.

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Answer 2

Travis A.

Level 6

14,985 points

Feb 12, 2009 11:03 AM in response to GordonGekko1975

Hi there,

I'm having issues understanding what you want to do with the cables from your stereo. Do you want to record the talk show from the stereo into your MBP? If so, then you can use a simple Y-adaptor (Stereo RCA -> 1/8" minijack) to connect your stereo's audio output to the MBP's line-in jack. Or, are you trying to go the opposite direction? MBP to stereo? Sorry for my confusion.

Edit: I'm sorry, I completely misread your first post. If you want to go from the stereo's headphone jack to the line-in on the MBP, you only need a 1/8" to 1/8" male-male cable. Is that what you were looking to do?

--Travis

Message was edited by: Travis A. (Thanks)

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Answer 3

Feb 12, 2009 12:04 PM in response to Travis A.

Travis, thanks, yes that is one of the things I want to do. I want to record audio from stereo system into my Macbook Pro and then bring it to my Ipod. Here is the problem, I connected a 6ft 1.8 mm cord from Best Buy, and the Macbook did not detect any audio, I used audio line in port from the sound section, but it did not detect any volume.

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Answer 4

Travis A.

Level 6

14,985 points

Feb 12, 2009 4:46 PM in response to GordonGekko1975

Hmm, this is odd.

If you plug a normal pair of headphones into the same plug on the stereo do you get sound? And if you connect that same cable between say... the stereo and a set of computer speakers... do you get any sound?

It may help to just try to narrow down whether the issue is with the stereo, the cable, or the MBP.

--Travis

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Answer 5

Feb 12, 2009 4:52 PM in response to Travis A.

I just tried this again, the input level is moving, it is registering the sound but I am not hearing anything on my mac's internal speakers.

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Answer 6

Feb 12, 2009 5:10 PM in response to Travis A.

My fault, I did not realize you had to have Garage Band opened to hear the audio, everything is good now, this is great, able to take it from the stereo to garage band and then to itunes, thanks, now if anyone has any solutions to the dictation software, that would be great.

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Answer 7

Feb 12, 2009 5:15 PM in response to Travis A.

Travis, while I have your attention, what settings should I use to optimize the incoming recording on Garage Band when importing from a stereo, I usually like to import songs from movies, scenes from movies, sometimes songs from satellite radio, thanks.

What can I do to have the best sound quality?

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Answer 8

Travis A.

Level 6

14,985 points

Feb 12, 2009 10:14 PM in response to GordonGekko1975

It should be noted that this is a bit of a touchy subject. I'm no lawyer (though I may become one someday) but I think that the recording of music from sources like the radio to computers can be illegal depending on your jurisdiction. The sharing of such files is definitely illegal.

That said, some content on the radio may not have these restrictions such as talk radio (what I originally thought you wanted to use this for) or independent radio. I'm not really well versed on audio recording to be honest, but if you are looking for simple bitrate settings, I would use something like AAC 160-192kbps for optimal quality from that source. Anything over that probably is not much use.

Sorry I'm not much help in this area! Unfortunately I'm not much of a musician so I haven't had a chance to use Garageband much.

--Travis

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Answer 9

Feb 12, 2009 11:23 PM in response to Travis A.

Travis A. wrote:
It should be noted that this is a bit of a touchy subject. I'm no lawyer (though I may become one someday) but I think that the recording of music from sources like the radio to computers can be illegal depending on your jurisdiction. The sharing of such files is definitely illegal.
--Travis

I've tried telling you this in 2 different posts... in which both have been deleted (and I'm guessing this one as well). He doesn't even have to share the files for it to be illegal (add on another crime if he does), but it's illegal to simply posess such recordings.

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Answer 10

Feb 13, 2009 2:14 AM in response to PansSiren

First off I want to say that I am not sharing these recordings with anyone. I pay for all of my music with Itunes, subscribe to satellite radio, I don't see what is illegal, it is no different than taping a movie scene onto a cassette tape or a song I hear on the satellite, perhaps there are technical laws but I would like to see evidence of someone being arrested or sued for taping music in this fashion.

Thanks for your help, is it necessary when using GarageBand to use the "better" function, I think the first quality is 16 bit, next one is 24, is 16 sufficient.

Also does anyone have any insight into software that would be able to transcribe talk radio programs, thank you.

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Answer 11

Travis A.

Level 6

14,985 points

Feb 13, 2009 7:32 AM in response to GordonGekko1975

Thanks for your help, is it necessary when using GarageBand to use the "better" function, I think the first quality is 16 bit, next one is 24, is 16 sufficient.

I would say that "good" is probably sufficient for the source that the audio is coming from in this scenario. Often, the sound coming from musical instruments (the focus of this recording capability in Garageband) is considerably higher fidelity than the source you are using. That's when 24 bit may be applicable.

As far as I know the options are:

Good (16-bit recording, 16-bit exporting)
Better (24-bit recording, 16-bit exporting)
Best (24-bit recording, 24-bit exporting)

There is definitely no reason to choose "best", and similarly, no reason to choose "better" because it will be exported in the same manner as "good". I would go with "good" if I were you, to save disk space.

--Travis

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Answer 12

Thmzup

Level 1

0 points

May 2, 2009 8:34 AM in response to MyApple8MyPC

Is there any program that will take a voice only (actually a pair of different voices) iTunes file and convert the dialogue from the spoken iTunes/iPhone audio file into a WORD document (or any other form of typed text)?

Thanks!

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