Sorry if this is OT, I've had no luck getting this question answered
elsewhere (on web forums) and these groups tend to be populated by
people who have a higher degree of technical expertise.
Hi,
I've just got a new Sennheiser headset microphone and a Buddy USB sound
adaptor for my speech recognition software, the combination of which is
supposed to be among the best set-ups for getting the best possible
levels of speech recognition accuracy.
I'm told the Buddy USB sound adaptor should be put in the, or one of
the, Primary USB ports - I've got 8 USB ports and can't work out which
of these are Primary USB ports. Device Manager hasn't helped me, but I'm
not exactly sure what I'm looking for.
How can I tell which is a Primary USB Port, and specifically if my Buddy
USB sound adaptor is plugged into a Primary USB Port?
Poster Matt wrote:
> Sorry if this is OT, I've had no luck getting this question answered
> elsewhere (on web forums) and these groups tend to be populated by
> people who have a higher degree of technical expertise.
>
> Hi,
>
> I've just got a new Sennheiser headset microphone and a Buddy USB sound
> adaptor for my speech recognition software, the combination of which is
> supposed to be among the best set-ups for getting the best possible
> levels of speech recognition accuracy.
>
> I'm told the Buddy USB sound adaptor should be put in the, or one of
> the, Primary USB ports - I've got 8 USB ports and can't work out which
> of these are Primary USB ports. Device Manager hasn't helped me, but I'm
> not exactly sure what I'm looking for.
>
> How can I tell which is a Primary USB Port, and specifically if my Buddy
> USB sound adaptor is plugged into a Primary USB Port?
>
> Thanks guys.
In the world of USB, there are no "second class citizens" :-)
You can have more than one controller chip, which controls USB ports.
USB USB
chip chip
/ | | \ / \
/ | | \ / \
In Device Manager, you aren't looking at physical ports, but at the logic
blocks that control the USB ports. So don't be concerned, if you have
eight physical USB ports, and only five things show up in Device Manager.
Those five things are the logic blocks that control the eight ports.
There will be more USB 1.1 logic blocks, than USB 2.0 logic blocks, and
the logic blocks are bound dynamically to the physical ports, as a function
of the device type (i.e. a USB 1.1 peripheral or a USB 2.0 peripheral).
In terms of electrical qualities, the ports on the back of the computer,
in the I/O area (that metal plate with all the connectors on it), are the
best connectors. Some DIY computer builds, have poor quality wiring to
the front mounted ports, and sometimes the front ports suffer from problems
as a result. So start your testing, using the ports on the back of the computer,
to get a good idea of how the stuff should be working.
That is as close to "Primary" as I can get for you, because the USB ports
don't have artificial titles.
If you later switch to the front mounted ports, and experience problems,
while the back ports did not give you problems, then you'll have a better
idea as to where you should be connecting.
Poster Matt <postermatt@no_spam_for_me.org> wrote:
> I've just got a new Sennheiser headset microphone and a Buddy USB
> sound adaptor for my speech recognition software, the combination
> of which is supposed to be among the best set-ups for getting the
> best possible levels of speech recognition accuracy.
I'm hooked on speech recognition, to replace typing and to greatly
improve Windows scripting/macroing by voice activation.
Besides training your voice, the most important component is that
you use NaturallySpeaking, IMO, it's the best speech recognition for
personal computing.
I use an ordinary inexpensive USB microphone, modified to remove
most of the analog wire.
For what it's worth.
I used a digital recorder for a year or two, making notes and then
playing them back to help train my voice. Digital recorders are very
useful for a to-do list and a to-buy list, anyway. So whenever
you record a message, you just press play, then you can hear how
clear it is (or isn't). Olympus has made excellent digital recorders
IMO. Would be better if erasing a message required only two button
presses instead of three.
> I'm told the Buddy USB sound adaptor should be put in the, or one
> of the, Primary USB ports
I don't understand that. Digitally speaking, I can't imagine that it
would make any difference. What's left is the power supply. But if
the device you're talking about uses so much power that it requires
a particular USB port that sources the most current (at USB
voltage), sounds like it's poorly designed.
You might be getting hocus-pocus diversionary answers. Some speech
recognition spammers won't tell you that your voice is the most
critical component until after they've sold you every bit of related
hardware they can.
Paul wrote:
> Poster Matt wrote:
>> Sorry if this is OT, I've had no luck getting this question answered
>> elsewhere (on web forums) and these groups tend to be populated by
>> people who have a higher degree of technical expertise.
>>
>> Hi,
>>
>> I've just got a new Sennheiser headset microphone and a Buddy USB
>> sound adaptor for my speech recognition software, the combination of
>> which is supposed to be among the best set-ups for getting the best
>> possible levels of speech recognition accuracy.
>>
>> I'm told the Buddy USB sound adaptor should be put in the, or one of
>> the, Primary USB ports - I've got 8 USB ports and can't work out which
>> of these are Primary USB ports. Device Manager hasn't helped me, but
>> I'm not exactly sure what I'm looking for.
>>
>> How can I tell which is a Primary USB Port, and specifically if my
>> Buddy USB sound adaptor is plugged into a Primary USB Port?
>>
>> Thanks guys.
>
> In the world of USB, there are no "second class citizens" :-)
>
> You can have more than one controller chip, which controls USB ports.
>
> USB USB
> chip chip
> / | | \ / \
> / | | \ / \
>
> In Device Manager, you aren't looking at physical ports, but at the logic
> blocks that control the USB ports. So don't be concerned, if you have
> eight physical USB ports, and only five things show up in Device Manager.
> Those five things are the logic blocks that control the eight ports.
> There will be more USB 1.1 logic blocks, than USB 2.0 logic blocks, and
> the logic blocks are bound dynamically to the physical ports, as a function
> of the device type (i.e. a USB 1.1 peripheral or a USB 2.0 peripheral).
>
> In terms of electrical qualities, the ports on the back of the computer,
> in the I/O area (that metal plate with all the connectors on it), are the
> best connectors. Some DIY computer builds, have poor quality wiring to
> the front mounted ports, and sometimes the front ports suffer from problems
> as a result. So start your testing, using the ports on the back of the
> computer, to get a good idea of how the stuff should be working.
>
> That is as close to "Primary" as I can get for you, because the USB ports
> don't have artificial titles.
>
> If you later switch to the front mounted ports, and experience problems,
> while the back ports did not give you problems, then you'll have a better
> idea as to where you should be connecting.
What I have gleaned from reading various faqs and threads is that
interference from other electronics affects the audio quality. My goal
is to get up to 99% accuracy from the speech recognition software, I
already have a high level of accuracy, I just want to get up as high as
possible which people say is currently (with today's technology) about
99%. Just a little electronic interference brings that down a little. So
the advise is not to use an internal soundcard because that can be
housed near electronics which can interfere a little. So you use an
(external) USB sound card and make sure that other USB devices don't
interfere at all by making sure that the USB port is a 'Primary' one and
is directly connected to the motherboard. If there is no distinction
between 'Primary' and 'Secondary' in the USB standard might it be what
is meant is as simple as the wiring passing through several USB ports on
the way to the motherboard (and that this is to be avoided)?
I was hoping to find a quick and easy way to identify which was the
'Primary' port without running a sound test -which the software has
available- for each USB port until I find the lowest interference level.
But from what you say I think that's what needs to be done, try each
port and run a sound test and measure it's levels and final score.
Tedious with 8 ports. Still it's Sunday tomorrow, I can spare an hour or
two.
Poster Matt <postermatt@no_spam_for_me.org> wrote:
> If there is no distinction between 'Primary' and 'Secondary' in
> the USB standard might it be what is meant is as simple as the
> wiring passing through several USB ports on the way to the
> motherboard (and that this is to be avoided)?
The wiring passes through several USB ports on the way to the
motherboard?
If you can't dazzle them with brilliance, baffle them with bull****?
John Doe wrote:
> Poster Matt <postermatt@no_spam_for_me.org> wrote:
>
>> I've just got a new Sennheiser headset microphone and a Buddy USB
>> sound adaptor for my speech recognition software, the combination
>> of which is supposed to be among the best set-ups for getting the
>> best possible levels of speech recognition accuracy.
>
> I'm hooked on speech recognition, to replace typing and to greatly
> improve Windows scripting/macroing by voice activation.
>
> Besides training your voice, the most important component is that
> you use NaturallySpeaking, IMO, it's the best speech recognition for
> personal computing.
I could not agree more. I've been using speech recognition for a while
now and the key to high levels of accuracy is the clarity and
consistency of your pronunciation - and to be using the best software
which is, of course, NaturallySpeaking.
My accuracy levels are already very high, and my dictation voice is well
trained. Now my goal is to go that extra bit to achieve 99% accuracy.
The research I did led me to several highly rated microphones with
really good noise cancellation. The combination of the Sennheiser
microphone and a good external USB sound adaptor is recommended by users
and professionals alike and that's what I opted for.
> I use an ordinary inexpensive USB microphone, modified to remove
> most of the analog wire.
>
> For what it's worth.
> I used a digital recorder for a year or two, making notes and then
> playing them back to help train my voice. Digital recorders are very
> useful for a to-do list and a to-buy list, anyway. So whenever
> you record a message, you just press play, then you can hear how
> clear it is (or isn't). Olympus has made excellent digital recorders
> IMO. Would be better if erasing a message required only two button
> presses instead of three.
Thanks for the info.
>> I'm told the Buddy USB sound adaptor should be put in the, or one
>> of the, Primary USB ports
>
> I don't understand that. Digitally speaking, I can't imagine that it
> would make any difference. What's left is the power supply. But if
> the device you're talking about uses so much power that it requires
> a particular USB port that sources the most current (at USB
> voltage), sounds like it's poorly designed.
>
> You might be getting hocus-pocus diversionary answers. Some speech
> recognition spammers won't tell you that your voice is the most
> critical component until after they've sold you every bit of related
> hardware they can.
I'm sure it's not a power issue. Please see my reply to Paul when I made
my best guess as to what is meant by a 'Primary' USB port. Paul says
there's no such distinction in USB, so I've made an educated guess as to
what it's all about.
Any random readers... You really can now get awesome speeds with speech
recognition now. Even if you touch type well, you can get very
significant increases in text entry speeds. My own levels have gone
through the roof and my text entry bottleneck is now deciding what I
want to write not my typing speed.
John Doe wrote:
> Poster Matt <postermatt@no_spam_for_me.org> wrote:
>
>> If there is no distinction between 'Primary' and 'Secondary' in
>> the USB standard might it be what is meant is as simple as the
>> wiring passing through several USB ports on the way to the
>> motherboard (and that this is to be avoided)?
>
> The wiring passes through several USB ports on the way to the
> motherboard?
>
> If you can't dazzle them with brilliance, baffle them with bull****?
I'm not an electrical engineer and have no experience of how computer
components can individually affect each other inside a PC. I was trying
to come up with a logical reason why a signal from one USB port might
degrade a little while that not happening from another port a cm or 2 or
3 away. It wasn't a statement, but a question, starting with 'might it
be' and ending with a question mark - there's no need to be dismissively
rude about out it.
I don't believe the advise given to me about performance levels being
affected by which USB port used was made up. It was given to me by a
speech recognition professional who sold me the equipment. He'd made the
sale so it wasn't sales waffle, he followed it up later with the USB
port advise, I'm sure to be genuinely helpful. But he couldn't tell me
how to determine which was, what he called, a Primary USB port beyond
trial and error. I saw the same advise in a thread on a web speech
recognition forum, but got no joy as to how to tell which a 'Primary'
USB port was from the OS of the PC. I thought the techies here in
homebuild and WinXP support groups, who have been most helpful in the
past, might be able to explain. I'm sorry if my technical competence in
this field wasn't up to making a more plausible explanation but it
doesn't sound all that stupid to me. There are physical wires, they do
carry signals, such signals can interfere with each other. I've never
wired up USB devices to connect to a motherboard but it doesn't seem out
of the question that the wires pass through other ports (obviously not
the input/output terminals). Perhaps since I've failed to dazzle you
with my 'bull****' you can come up with a better suggestion?
Poster Matt <postermatt@no_spam_for_me.org> wrote:
....
> components can individually affect each other inside a PC. I was
> trying to come up with a logical reason why a signal from one USB
> port might degrade a little while that not happening from another
> port a cm or 2 or 3 away.
Who says it does? You?
> It wasn't a statement, but a question, starting with 'might it be'
> and ending with a question mark - there's no need to be
> dismissively rude about out it.
> I thought the techies here in homebuild and WinXP support groups,
> who have been most helpful in the past, might be able to explain.
You have been helped, you just insist the help isn't good enough.
> There are physical wires, they do carry signals, such signals can
> interfere with each other.
Where is the question mark after that nonsense, maroon?
On Sat, 02 Aug 2008 18:16:01 GMT, Poster Matt
<postermatt@no_spam_for_me.org> wrote:
>Sorry if this is OT, I've had no luck getting this question answered
>elsewhere (on web forums) and these groups tend to be populated by
>people who have a higher degree of technical expertise.
>
>Hi,
>
>I've just got a new Sennheiser headset microphone and a Buddy USB sound
>adaptor for my speech recognition software, the combination of which is
>supposed to be among the best set-ups for getting the best possible
>levels of speech recognition accuracy.
>
>I'm told the Buddy USB sound adaptor should be put in the, or one of
>the, Primary USB ports - I've got 8 USB ports and can't work out which
>of these are Primary USB ports. Device Manager hasn't helped me, but I'm
>not exactly sure what I'm looking for.
>
>How can I tell which is a Primary USB Port, and specifically if my Buddy
>USB sound adaptor is plugged into a Primary USB Port?
>
>Thanks guys.
As Paul mentioned, any of the motherboard mounted USB2 ports
should be equally good. With some caveats.
If all of those ports aren't controlled by the motherboard
southbridge, if some use a 3rd party chip sitting on the PCI
bus, those should be avoided. By Googling your motherboard
info you should be able to determine if any are like this,
it would be several years old boards not anything made in
the past few years (random guess, 4-5 years?).
As for the remaining ports, install the USB sound adapter in
the USB socket w/driver if needed. Look in Windows Device
Manager at the USB Hub entries to confirm that you have only
this device alone on a USB Hub entry. Next plug in your
remaining USB devices and confirm the Hub entry still has
only that device alone on it. You can look at the "Power"
tab on the Hub properties, to list that the device is there
and that there is one port kept free. You'll have to look
through the multiple USB Hub category listings to find the
sound adapter's position the first time.
Poster Matt wrote:
> John Doe wrote:
>> Poster Matt <postermatt@no_spam_for_me.org> wrote:
>>
>>> If there is no distinction between 'Primary' and 'Secondary' in
>>> the USB standard might it be what is meant is as simple as the
>>> wiring passing through several USB ports on the way to the
>>> motherboard (and that this is to be avoided)?
>>
>> The wiring passes through several USB ports on the way to the
>> motherboard?
>>
>> If you can't dazzle them with brilliance, baffle them with bull****?
>
> I'm not an electrical engineer and have no experience of how computer
> components can individually affect each other inside a PC. I was
> trying to come up with a logical reason why a signal from one USB
> port might degrade a little while that not happening from another
> port a cm or 2 or 3 away. It wasn't a statement, but a question,
> starting with 'might it be' and ending with a question mark - there's
> no need to be dismissively rude about out it.
>
> I don't believe the advise given to me about performance levels being
> affected by which USB port used was made up. It was given to me by a
> speech recognition professional who sold me the equipment. He'd made
> the sale so it wasn't sales waffle, he followed it up later with the
> USB port advise, I'm sure to be genuinely helpful. But he couldn't
> tell me how to determine which was, what he called, a Primary USB
> port beyond trial and error. I saw the same advise in a thread on a
> web speech recognition forum, but got no joy as to how to tell which
> a 'Primary' USB port was from the OS of the PC. I thought the techies
> here in homebuild and WinXP support groups, who have been most
> helpful in the past, might be able to explain. I'm sorry if my
> technical competence in this field wasn't up to making a more
> plausible explanation but it doesn't sound all that stupid to me.
> There are physical wires, they do carry signals, such signals can
> interfere with each other. I've never wired up USB devices to connect
> to a motherboard but it doesn't seem out of the question that the
> wires pass through other ports (obviously not the input/output
> terminals). Perhaps since I've failed to dazzle you with my
> 'bull****' you can come up with a better suggestion?
> Regards, matt
Don't pay any attention to him, Matt. He likes to insult people and be
a general PITA, as I've found out in the past. I only know who it is
because you included his post in your reply, as I've kill filed him long
ago and suggest you do the same.
As to your problem, perhaps the meaning of a "primary" USB port is one
that is connected directly to the motherboard, as opposed to "secondary"
ports that are on the front of the case, or located in a card slot at
the back and are connected to the motherboard by a length of cable.
The USB ports attached directly to the motherboard are those at the back
of the computer, in close proximity to the keyboard and mouse inputs,
along with any network, or serial or parallel ports (if the system has
any) and audio inputs/outputs (if the MB has integrated audio). There
are usually at least two ports in very close proximity to each other.
My particular MB has two "stacks" of two ports which are soldered
directly to the MB in the location mentioned.
Determining Which Is The Primary USB Port. 
Linear Mode
