Anyone out there using a Passport? Just wondering how it records audio? Is it better than the Mira? I think the Mira stinks.
Also, if anyone is selling one, please e-mail me.
thanks
I received a request from a person who had an advertisment of a Passport writer for sale and their personal contact information was reposted on this forum. Although the post was in violation of the TOS of this site, the post was deleted *only* because of this person's request.
Kind regards,
Steve
Debra,
I never was a great writer, but I've had lots of machines in my life. I used a SmartWriter and Stentura for a long time. The Passport is easily the best writer I've ever had. The great thing about it is that there are adjustments and settings that enable you to get it the way you want it. I had somebody's Diamante for a week to learn how to use it so I could show the owner, and while it's pretty, if it stacked or split words, you were stuck with it because there wasn't much you could do, and SG couldn't either.
I like seeing my shadows on the screen like you do on paper. If a letter doesn't come out all the time, I can fix it in a minute, and same for a letter that prints when I didn't mean it to. I couildn't be happier with the Passport. Howard
Debra, I've had a Passport for over two years. I use a laptop with the Passport, but have a mic plugged into both the laptop and the Passport. I use only the developmental version of Eclipse, and sometimes there could be a problem with the new version, and so I like to have the Passport with its own audio there in case the laptop turns white and stops translating, which has happened only a few times.
Audio on the Passport is very good AFTER you set the mic input and mic boost settings in the right places depending on the mic you use. Some mics don't like the mic boost, and some can't live without it. It is very easy to find the right combination.
I don't know if any other writers can do this, but what I did to find the right combination was to open up a file on the Passport with the mic inserted. I then speak and write what settings I have put in, what mic I'm using, and I talk loud to see if there is distortion, and then softly to see if it picks up low voices. Then I say stop. Then make a new paragraph and change the settings, like turn the mic boost on or off, or change the mic volume up or down and then start speaking and writing again and I do this from 10 percent mic volume plus mic boost all the way up to 100 percent mic volume and no mic boost. Then I translate the whole file, and because I have announced exactly what settings I'm using on each paragraph, I can play each paragraph and pick the one that sounds to best to me, and that will be my settings. It's better to do the translation so you can hear the sound on the computer you will be editing on. The sound from the Passport may sound different than when you listen on the computer.
Many people have complained about garbled underwater type sound from the Passport. This is due to using a mic that absolutely does NOT need the mic boost built into the Passport. If you try zero mic volume with the mic boost, it may work better, or shut the boost off and raise the mic volume as high as you have to to get a good sound. Usually the clearest sound is without the boost on, but sometimes, depending on the computer, you need more volume and may have to put up with a slight background noise. Somewhere the setting is there. Just have to find it. It's great that you can do it all in one file and listen to them all at once. Howard
Thanks for the reply. The Mira only has 2 settings. I use the 150 dollar mic and do not use the boost but there is some background noise that I cannot get rid of, but I have had to use it and it does the job. It doesn't sync as well as from my computer and I have to adjust the settings but it helped me out of a medical mal depo that my heart stopped when I came home and there was no audio on my computer. And that was an all day job. It sounds like the passport has a lot more settings to play around with.
That mic boost, it's on the laptop too. The problem is when you put it on it sounds great over the headphones and you can really hear everything, but playback is horrible so unfortunately you can't use it. I was thinking of getting a new writer because I really don't like the Mira. I get that split finger miss on the left hand and have ever since I got the thing and thought it was me and it's the machine. I miss the "tk" a lot on my left hand. I heard the passport was much better. I am sure you are a great writer on any machine, but how do you like it?