I would offer GW Micro's Book Sense as an alternative. The Stream records in a special format that escapes me, whereas the Book Sense records in standard mp3, plus has a line-in option for recording, as well as an internal or external microphone. It costs more than a Stream, but it has some better features. Of course, the Stream has better features in other areas, but which one you select really depends on what you expect to use the device for, such as mainly recording, or mainly listening to music.
Have a great day, Alex
----- Original Message ----- From: "The Elf" <inthaneelf@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx To: <programmingblind@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Date sent: Wed, 8 Jul 2009 14:55:17 -0700 Subject: Re: Off Topic: Accessible Digital Recorder
I think this will do the job for you,
this is an article on the device, inthane
"
ACCESSIBLE AUDIO DEVICE FOR THE BLIND: THE VICTOR READER STREAM
by Michael Geno
Here's a riddle. What weighs 6 ounces and is small enough
to hold in
the palm of your hand, can store more than 100 CDs of audio books
or music,
live recordings, and even speak file names, text files of books,
mail, and
other documents such as calendar schedules or address books?
Playback
volume, tone, and speed can be changed without experiencing pitch
changes.
This device can even store, play, and bookmark more than 30 NLS
talking
books and magazines (after the authorization process). It can
also store
and play audio files of radio shows, television programs or
full-length
movies any time you are on the go, or relaxing at home.While a portable laptop computer can do most of these
things, the
answer is not a computer, nor an iPod, MP3 player, portable tape
recorder,
or Olympus digital player recorder. The answer is: the Victor
Reader Stream.
Since the year 2000, digital audio devices have been getting
smaller
and smaller while the amount of audio material that can be stored
and
quickly accessed on them is steadily increasing. The newest
generation of
handheld digital audio recorders and players have no moving
parts, and can
be easily carried in a pocket or purse. Most that are smaller
than a pack of
gum have very few buttons, and present barriers to the blind
because of
their dependence upon visual navigation of a pointer to access
many features
on their display menu. The good news is that some companies are
removing
these barriers and developing products that go beyond what you
might imagine
is accessible to the blind. HumanWare is one of those companies.
The
Victor Reader Stream has become one of the company's hottest
selling
products.Until you test drive the Victor Reader Stream for yourself,
you really
won't know what you're missing. This digital audio device offers
much more
than you would expect. Find someone who already owns one, and
check it out.
What follows is what I discovered after testing this easy-to-use
product.
General Description & FeaturesThe Victor Reader Stream is about as thick as a deck of
cards, and can
be held in one hand much like a small calculator. It can easily
be operated
with one hand, and runs for 15 hours on a four-hour battery
charge. It has a
built-in speaker and microphone, and can be connected to a
computer or other
audio amplification equipment. It is not configured to record
from other
audio devices directly. I have not tried an attenuated patch
cord to see if
this can be done using the microphone jack. A USB cable is used
to load
audio and text file information.The description of its buttons makes it seem harder to
operate than it
really is. This is because it has been designed to follow
standard
conventions you already know. For example, 12 of the buttons on
the face of
the Stream are assigned numbers just like the buttons on a
standard touch-
tone telephone. Another set of three buttons on the bottom of
the key
display are like those of other CD or tape recorder buttons that
use the
left button to go back, the right to go forward, while the middle
button
places the unit in play or pause mode.There are two arrow buttons on the left edge of the Stream
as you hold
it in your hand facing you. The lowest of these buttons, shaped
like an
arrow pointing down, can be pressed to lower the playback volume,
speed, and
tone. The up-arrow-shaped button just above it raises volume,
speed, and
tone. The round button on the top left edge of the Stream above
the arrow
buttons is the on-off switch. One small button on the right edge
of the
Stream starts and stops recording. The top portion of the face
display has
two grilles. The left covers a built-in mono speaker, and the
right grille
protects a built-in mono microphone. Just below the left grille
is a square-
shaped "Go To" button. Below the right microphone grille is a
diamond-shaped
"Bookmark" button. Between these buttons is a green LED
indicator light that
stays on when the Stream is on, and blinks when it is charging.Moving left to right on the top edge are ports for a mini
USB cable, a
memory card slot, and a port for the power cord. Above the
record button are
two mini audio jacks. The top one is for stereo earbuds that
come with the
Stream; it can also be used to connect the Stream to headphones
or an
amplified speaker system. The other jack is for an external
microphone.
Learning How It WorksThe first function I recommend beginners to take advantage
of after
pressing the power button until the Stream comes on and says,
"Welcome to
the Victor Stream," is to press and hold down the number 1 key
until the
built-in user manual begins speaking. Then you can use the
bottom center
"play" button to stop or continue listening to this manual.
Another
excellent option is to press and hold down the 0 button in the
phone pad
array until the Stream announces that the Key Describer feature
is on. This
mode allows you to press any button on the device to hear what
its name is
and what it does. Pressing again and holding down the 0 will
turn off the
Key Describer feature. Why You Will Want OneThe current Victor Reader Stream's basic male announcing
voice is
clear and pleasant. But the female synthesized voice that reads
text file
names or books seems a bit harsh and repetitive in her reading
inflection.
Even so, this voice is generally understandable, and has a male
option as an
alternative firmware upgrade. Both synthesized and recorded
audio books can
be easily slowed down or made faster without any pitch change.
This is a
definite advantage over taped books that sound like Mickey Mouse
when played
faster, or digital CD audio books that allow no speed changes at
all. The
shuffle option for playing folders of music files is a real plus.
Now you
can mix the variety of 100 music CDs or more without any changer
delays. You
can easily delete any books or folders you no longer need or want
to store
or hear.The auto shut-off and sleep feature is great for saving
battery life.
I have even used the sleep shut-off feature to keep me on
schedule when
reading books during a break or lunch hour. One press of the
sleep button
sets the Stream to fully shut off in 15 minutes. You can press
the sleep
button up to four times to increase the sleep shut-off time 15
minutes with
each press up to a 60-minute maximum. A fifth press turns off
sleep mode. I
was surprised to discover that the Stream bookmarks each book you
have
started, and remembers them when it turns off in sleep mode, or
after you
pause or stop. This feature allows you to listen to more than
one book or
folder and leave them without losing your last listening point.
The Stream
will resume play from the exact place you stopped listening in
each file you
left off in every sub-folder except music. (However, it does
remember the
last played position for the entire music structure.) I have
stopped
listening in up to 14 separate books, magazines, recorded
meetings, movies,
and TV shows, and was able to resume listening exactly from where
I left off
in each one. The Stream went far beyond my expectations with
this automatic
saving and remembering each last listening point in every book or
folder.
Automatically set markers you can resume play from should
not be
confused with stationary bookmarks you number and insert yourself
anywhere
in a book or audio file. The difference in these stationary
bookmarks is
that they all remain until you remove them regardless of your
last listening
point. You can jump to any of these bookmarks using the "Go To"
button.
These markers differ from the pause/stop bookmarks that are
automatically
placed and temporarily remembered by the Stream until you play
beyond them.
The automatic bookmarks remember the position where you last
stopped in any
given book, and are automatically reset at the point where you
stop
listening or turn off the Stream.Navigating of text files or address and phone files by
sentence, word,
or even character by character is an important option. The
Stream is
especially useful when spelling names, addresses, and reading the
digits of
phone numbers. Slowing the reading speed also helps when
reviewing strings
of numbers.My final commendation relates to the Stream's ability to
make use of
standard memory SD card storage that can be removed and replaced.
These
postage-stamp-sized cards can also be read and written to using a
standard
card reader connected to a computer. An exciting spin-off of
this option is
the on-line access to and downloading of NLS digital talking
books that can
be decompressed and copied to these cards, and listened to
immediately on
the Stream in clear CD quality audio. The added bonus you will
find hard to
live without after you have enjoyed it is the ability the Stream
gives you
to quickly jump to book chapters, sub-sections, and if available,
specific
page markers.The Victor Stream I carry with me now has more than 20
downloaded
magazines and talking books on one guitar-pick-sized flash memory
card,
along with two complete audio versions of Bibles. Also on this
digital
storage card are 39 books in text files, and various audio
program listening
folders with old-time radio shows, TV programs, and audio tracks
of movies.
I have also recorded my reading of each weekly calendar schedule
in notes I
can easily change or remove. I also can access text files of my
personal
address and phone book with inserted bookmarks I can jump to for
quick
reference, and this 8-gig digital storage card is not yet full.
I still have
room to record hours of live audio notes about product
information in
stores, names and addresses of people I meet, or recordings of
meetings I
need to review and bookmark for a later time. And it is easy to
carry more
of these flash cards if I need to place another one in the
Stream's card
reading slot for more memory storage options. Improvements & Wish ListDespite all this good news, there are things I believe can
be added or
improved to make the Victor Stream more functional and versatile.
For
example, I really don't see the need for the indicator light
constantly
drawing power from a device designed for consumers who cannot see
it. I also
question why the sleep feature, which is a timer option, was not
integrated
with a fully functioning talking clock and calendar. It would be
nice to
have a time-date function alarm set option for reminders with
selectable
alarms much like those available on Olympus digital audio
products. The
Stream also needs a sturdy eyelet loop so that a safety strap can
be
fastened directly to it.The rounded bottom of the Stream is not very practical.
Without a flat
base the Stream cannot be stood upright. I recommend stabilizing
it with a
hinged prop fin attached to the battery storage door in the lower
back of
the unit. Standing the Stream up would help with built-in
microphone
recording and better listening to the built-in speaker in some
situations.
Supplied with the Stream is a 4-inch cable used to connect a
USB
memory stick storage device. This adds to the data accessed by
the Stream,
but is not convenient or secure as an active connection. The
mini USB socket
holds the connecting cable with friction only. The socket
connection cannot
withstand the torque of a thumb drive hanging on the stiff short
cable
supplied with the Stream. Too many times while I was listening
to a book or
audio file using a USB memory stick on the end of the short
cable, the
Stream lost the connection, and the playback stopped. Perhaps a
more
flexible connecting cable would help, but this option needs to go
back to
the drawing board. I do not recommend using this set-up unless
you plan to
listen to it flat on a stationary table without moving it around.The most useful function of the mini USB port is to connect
to a
computer using the longer cable also supplied with each Victor
Reader
Stream. USB connections are commonly used for transferring data
and files to
and from the inserted SD storage card. Standard Windows Explorer
functions
work very well when connecting the Stream to a computer, even
though the
data transfer speed is relatively low. Using a separate SD card
reader
connected to your computer transfers information to these storage
cards at a
much faster rate. Also, a separate card reader is helpful to
install the NLS
book decryption file and any firmware upgrades. I highly
recommend buying an
8-gig SD storage card and USB flash card reader at the same time
you
purchase the Stream. I am not sure why HumanWare does not supply
these as
standard accessories with each unit, especially when they seem to
be very
necessary and useful.It would be an improvement if the Stream used standard
batteries. The
battery now supplied seems to be a type that may not be generally
available.
I like to carry a replacement battery with portable devices as a
back-up
when recharging opportunities are too few for the hours of
expected use.
Currently, the digital recording format the Stream uses is
very
different from standard audio formats that can be played and
edited using
common computer applications. I recommend instead that the
Stream record in
stereo as well as mono in a more standard format, such as MP3 or
wav files.
Some have also suggested that the Stream include a stereo line-in
recording
jack for direct dubbing of external audio sources. It is very
easy to delete
a folder from the flash memory card. But the Stream does not
seem to be able
to delete a single file. This feature would be nice, especially
in the
"other books" and "music" folders. As I finish listening to some
files I no
longer wish to hear again, it would be beneficial to delete them.
I
understand that this is now possible in the version 2.0 firmware
upgrade.
A nice bonus as a playback option in the music folders would
be a
cross fader. This would remove the silent gap between music
files and fade
out the end of one song while fading in the beginning of the
next. This
option is already available in many computer audio programs and
some small
MP3 players. Combined with shuffle play, this would make the
Stream's music
folder output sound much like a radio station broadcast. But
this station
would only play music you choose, no commercials.Diabetics with limited feeling in their fingers have noted
that the
dot typically found on the number 5 button is not pronounced
enough as a
tactile landmark on the number pad. The majority of those I have
spoken with
also say that the built-in speaker volume needs to be much louder
than is
now possible. I agree. Then there are those who assert that the
over $300
price is more than many can afford. I have seen boom boxes and
other toys
carried around and used by the blind that cost as much or more
than the
Victor Stream and do far less. While I hope that the price will
eventually
come down, the Victor Stream is already worth the investment.I do not work for the company, and have received no
compensation in
any way from HumanWare that influenced my opinions in this
report. Now when
I go out of the house, I always carry my keys, wallet, cane, and
my Victor
Stream. It is there to entertain and work for me when and where
I need it.
This audio product has supplied me with portable talking books
and Bibles,
CD changer and player, radio and TV programs, audio movie
theater, and text
file or book reader. It records meetings and information for me
on the fly,
and makes each of these recordings immediately retrievable with
an assigned
number and "Go To" function. Would we have ever dreamed that
something small
enough to fit in a shirt pocket would do all this? I can only
marvel at the
potential advancements in audio products that will be available
to us in the
next 10 years."
inthane
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