Talk Technologies Steno Pro-1 Single Mic Professional Speech Recognition Microphone

Let me explain my use of this device. I sit in a crowded office and have to do sensitive phone conversation for business. I have added a splitter and attached a set of headphones to it to make a rudimentary privacy device, since none is available in market, Hushme keeps dangling there device in air from 2 years and it looks like pie in sky. Microphone in this device works great, overall it significantly dampens my voice that some one standing 5 ft away can not understand a word. It does changes the voice a little bit not significant, people still recognize me over the phone. For those who like bullet points. It dampens voice really well when placed properly on face, even with a beard. Padding is soft and doesn't hurt. Can be connected to any device with 3.5 mm Jack or a USB convertor. Acoustic design is good and serves it's purpose well. Technology wise it has nothing and lot of room from improvement. For this price they can add Bluetooth and head phones to it. Any idea of making it hands free similar to Hushme concept will be great

I have been a court reporter for over 10 years and this is the worst mask I've ever had. Sound quality is horrible. I've purchased Talk Technology masks in the past but this design is the worst. I do not recommend.

Over the past couple of decades I've delved into dictation and tried a variety of microphones, digital recorders, not to mention different speech to text programs. In the past few years things have gotten better, but things have improved significantly in speech to text conversion. Two things of note. First, Microsoft has acquired Dragon Naturally Speaking. Second, Apples latest IOS and Mac OS now have amazing dictation ability. But you're not reading this for a brief history of dictation. What is important is what can the Steno Pro 1 do for you. Surprisingly, it's probably not what you're thinking. IMHO the key advantage is that the voice quality is consistent. If you're dictating with a microphone sitting on your desk, pinned to your label, or being hand-held, there is a variation as you move closer or further away from the microphone. There's also plosives that can be problematic. The Steno Mask eliminates those issues. Some folks complain about the air flow issue. Now that's a head scratcher because there is a hole next to where the cable comes out. Personally expelling the air while speaking has never been a problem. Other folks complain that you have to hold it in front of your face to get any sound at all. Really? Did they not look at the images of the device in use? If you're thinking that this is going to have the quality of a $400 microphone, think again. It's not. The steno mask is not designed for podcasting or telephones. One thing worth noting is that you may need to get a USB to USB C adapter to connect the phono plug adapter (suggest the Creative Labs Sound Blaster Play! 3) to your device. The Syntech adapter that I purchased had problems. It fails to connect firmly (you should feel a little snap when it is inserted). At first, I thought maybe the one I had was defective, so I tried others of the same brand. They all failed to seat firmly. I suspect some owners who report poor dictation with the steno mask may have used a low quality USB to USB C connector. The first time I dictated with the low quality connector the results were horrible. However, when an Apple USB to USB C connector was used the results were spectacular.

A must have for court reporters. Be careful with the cord near the plug. It does tend to short out very quickly if bent for storage

I am very impressed with the customer service and warranty. I bought this steno mask for my work as an audio describer. The plug is a 3.5mm jack and worked great when I used it on that connection with the broadcasting equipment. I then used it with a converter to XLR jack so I could switch equipment. My ignorance at using the wrong converter caused the mic to be fried by the power of the XLR jack. The company rep was amazing in explaining to me his thoughts and he helped me get my mic fixed with their warranty program and even got me sorted out with the correct jack. 100% would by another Talk Technologies product.