I recently purchased a Telex digital USB microphone at Staples, for $50.  I ran into this same problem.  In the microphone setup process, you have to tell Dragon to use the USB microphone for input.  If your student has a sound card in her computer, Dragon may be looking for that microphone by default.

Getting the system to listen to the USB microphone can be a challenge.  You have to go into double click on the volume control to open the mixer panel, then click the Options menu, and select "Properties."  Here you will see a setting for the sound card, or the USB microphone.  Set to USB microphone, and you should not be able to control the volume.

It is possible to have the USB microphone talking to Dragon, and a convention Microphone into the sound card talking to sound recorder, so you have to be sure to set things up appropriately.

Denis Anson, MS, OTR/L
Assistant Professor
College Misericordia


-----Original Message-----
From: * EASI: Equal Access to Software & Information [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of MARLENE MCINTOSH
Sent: Thursday, January 25, 2001 4:45 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Dragon NS and Usb headset

It's better to purchase a Mic. that has noise reduction. It's worthwhile to spend the money to get a higher quality set.

The other thing that I've experienced is getting a "short" in the Mic. from the wires being bent back and forth (usually when the student puts the headset away).

So my suggestion is to try another Mic. to see if that works.
The volume adjustment is the small yellow "horn" that appears on the taskbar close to the time (on the bottom of the screen - if you're using Windows)

L&H has file for bankruptcy protection - so they're still open for business.

Good luck!
Marlene McIntosh

Cambrian College
The Glenn Crombie Centre
     for Disability Services
1400 Barrydowne Road
Sudbury, ON P3A 3V8
(705) 566-8101 x. 7219
Room 2539
[log in to unmask]
http://homepages.cambrianc.on.ca/snrrc

>>> [log in to unmask] January 24, 2001 5:57:37 pm >>>
Hi, listers.
Please forgive the cross posting for those on both lists.

I'm hoping someone who has used Dragon Naturally Speaking can help. We have this software in our office, but it is difficult to use with JAWS so I have never used it. 

I have a student who has Dragon Naturally Speaking Preferred at home.I'm not sure which version. She purchased it about a year ago.
She has the USB headset. She is trying to train the software to recognize her voice. When she reads the training material, Dragon NS doesn't recognize her voice, and she gets an error message saying to turn the volume up. She said there is no volume adjustment on the headset itself, and when she tries to click on the volume on screen, it doesn't work. Any ideas?
If needed, I can get specifics from her about version number, headset model, etc.

Is there any technical support for Dragon through L. and H. now, since they have filed for bankrupcy?

Thanks for any help you can give.