Hi out there! I'm in dire need of some foot pedal help....I need to purchase a foot pedal to work with Inscribe, and am not sure which of three options would be the best. One option is the Infinity IN-USB-1 for around $50-60; another is the Start-Stop Universal Transcription System Model #30010 SST-3-USB (3 Pedal System) USB Interface, which advertises basically to work with EVERY platform and even Media Player, for a whopping $189; and a third is the Start-Stop 3-Pedal USB Footswitch for EMDAT PLAYER Model #30679-EMDAT, which will ONLY work with Inscribe, for $98 (which does not seem like a good value as it would be useless if I ever changed platforms). The Infinity apparently will work with a host of platforms for far less than the Start-Stop, so is there any reason to spend $189 on the Start-Stop Universal?

Thanks for any help!!!

It depends on what you need/want. The Infinity is just a USB pedal. You will need some kind of player software with it. I know it will work with the free ExpressScribe and with Transcribe!; you would need to check if any other player software you are interested in will work with it. Start-Stop is a pedal packaged with compatible player software. I'm not familiar with its Emdat package, though; you would need to check with Start-Stop as to whether that is a limited player compatible with Emdat or just a pedal compatible with Emdat with Emdat supplying the player.

Thank you so much, Tonks! But let me see if I have this right (I'm not very tech savvy): The Infinity will work with Inscribe once I configure it, but if I want to use it with another application down the road that it's compatible with (such as DocQScribe), I'd have to re-configure it using that software; whereas the Start-Stop comes pre-configured to work with a vast array of platforms. Is that right? It still hardly seems worth spending three times as much, just to skip the configuring. Or do you mean that it comes with the transcription software itself? (See, I'm REALLY not very tech savvy!! Every previous company I've worked for has supplied the appropriate foot pedal, so I'm completely lost right now.)

You can't really "configure" a foot pedal, or rather you can only configure one with wire cutters and a soldering iron plus information on what configuration a given piece of software wants (generally not available through any means but trial and error with a circuit tester), and it's rare you can "configure" software to work with any foot pedal except one wired specifically for that software. The one exception I'm aware of is ExpressScribe. That software does have a section that allows you to tell it what switch signal is related to what pedal action. The Start-Stop pedal/software combo works with a lot of different sound file types (most players do), but that doesn't mean in any way that it works with all "platforms" or wave players; that depends on the platform/player software. The Start-Stop pedal is no more universally compatible than any other pedal when it comes to working with different software. It works with software that interprets switch signals the way the Start-Stop pedal is wired, which is to say the Start-Stop wave player software or possibly some other software which uses the same switch signals, and it won't work with software that doesn't interpret switch signals the way the Start-Stop pedal is wired. As I said before, I'm not sure what the deal is with the Start-Stop Emdat package. It may be that Emdat doesn't understand the standard Stop-Start pedal wiring, and you have to buy the Emdat version to have a pedal that works with Emdat, or it may be that it's the same pedal but the Emdat software is more limited in the file types it can play than the standard Start-Stop software. The people to ask about that are Start-Stop and Emdat.

What goes on with a foot pedal is that you have a connector to your computer that has a bunch of pins. The pedal is wired to the connector that plugs into the computer so that when you tromp on a pedal switch (play, fast forward, or reverse) it closes a connection across two pins, completing an electric circuit--a different pair of pins for each action. (Say pin 3 in the connector/computer is soldered to a copper wire that runs down through the cord and into the pedal where it is connected to one side of the fast forward switch, and another copper wire runs from the other side of the fast forward switch out the pedal and up the cord to pin 4. When you step on the switch, it makes contact with the ends of those two wires and completes a circuit between pins 3 and 4, letting the electrons flow around the loop and creating a current that signals the software to perform the fast forward play action.) Your wave player with pedal control is programmed to interpret it as a fast forward command if one pair of pins is connected, a reverse command if another pair of pins is connected, and a play command if a third pair of pins is connected. The problem is that your connector offers way more than 3 pairs of pins, and there is no "standard" that rules what pair of pins rules what action. So your pedal has to be wired the way the software expects to gets its signals for those three actions, or it won't work with that software. For instance, if your software interprets current across pins 7 and 8 as fast forward, the above example pedal with it occurring across pins 3 and 4 is not going to be "understood." It's about as useful as yelling "run" in English to someone who only speaks Urdu.) As noted before, the only software I know of built to ask which pin circuits are closed by what pedal and set itself accordingly is ExpressScribe--because it's free, and the programmer therefore doesn't care how many computers you install it on. The folks that sell the software/pedal packages do, and therefore their software generally only works with the pedal that comes packaged with their software, which you can only buy from them. So while you might be able to install the software on several computers, you can only use it on one because you only have the one pedal, and they won't sell you a pedal separate from their software. It's the first step of piracy prevention, which can escalate from there to schemes that result in your only being able to install the software once ever without having to call during business hours to beg another unlock code, which they may or may not grant you.

Okay, that's the detailed geek for something that's really quite simple to understand: you have to buy a pedal that works with the software you want to use, and you generally can't mix and match no matter how many other pedals are already cluttering the area under your desk or how much other player software is installed on your computer. Once in a blue moon you may be lucky enough to have two pieces of software that both work with the same pedal, but don't expect it. If you want to know what pedal works with a given piece of software, ask the people who wrote the software. If you want to know what pedal will work with a company's platform, ask the company to tell you. If you don't have that pedal, you will have to buy it. Most MTs gather quite a collection of pedals, players, and platform software over a career.

The question of what sound file types (codecs) a player can handle is a whole different issue. There are lots of ways sound can be digitally encoded, and software has to be told how to decode each type. If the programmer didn't include an entry in the code book in his wave player for the specific type of sound file you are trying to play, it won't play. Some wave players understand only a few codecs, others can handle a wide range. Obviously you need one that understands the codec for whatever sound file type your company/client is going to be sending you if you expect to get any work done. That is purely a matter of software, though, and has nothing to do with the foot pedal the software understands. The foot pedal is nothing but three light switches in a row that just signal on/off; it doesn't matter at all what type of light fixture is at the other end as long as its plugged into the right socket for the switch. Throw the switch, and the light goes on (or the sound plays)--doesn't matter if its an incandescent, fluorescent, or LED light or if its a .wav, .dss, or .voc file. However, if your switch is wired to the overhead fixture, don't expect it to turn on your table lamp. Before you can have light, you need a bulb that fits your lamp, and your lamp needs to be connected to a socket that's switched on. Likewise, before you can have playback for transcription, you need a sound file that works in your player and your player has to be connected to a switch that can turn it on.

Scribe4now, I went over and took a look at the Start Stop website. They have a separate section for Inscribe/Emdat. They describe the pedal for that software as "Inscribe-specific" and give it a different model number than their Start Stop USB pedal. I would conclude the Inscribe/Emdat software requires a different pin/pedal configuration than the standard Start Stop wave player and that you would need that USB pedal to work with your platform. I'm sure you can verify that with Start Stop. It appears that they are packaging that pedal with software than works directly with the Emdat platform, providing it with pedal playback and some additional features. I'm not familiar with the platform, but as I understand it the other option was to export files into an external player such as ExpressScribe in order to play back with a pedal (since native Inscribe provided only hot keys). That, however, raised some issues if you weren't very careful with tracking your job numbers while doing that. It appears Start Stop has done some custom programming for a player package that integrates with the native Emdat/Inscribe playback software. Again, that is just a guess based on what they said on the web page; verify with Emdat/Stop Start.

Wow, I'm really impressed with your knowledge (as well as your detective work)!!! Thanks for explaining it all so well. The company I'm starting with told me that both the Infinity and the Start-Stop are compatible with Inscribe (and sent me a link to the Infinity), but didn't mention requiring ExpressScribe at all....I will clarify with the recruiter/trainer, but I thought I read somewhere (on this forum?) that the newer versions of Inscribe had eliminated that cumbersome step. The Inscribe application I downloaded does have a "Configure Foot Pedal" tab, which appears similar to the one I've used in Dictaphone Powerscribe (whereby one is asked to push FF on the foot pedal, then PLAY, etc). And according to one transcription equipment Web site, the Infinity foot pedal is compatible with Inscribe (as well as 43 other platforms!!). So it looks like I'll be purchasing the Infinity; I see no reason to shell out three times as much money for the Start-Stop Universal -- and the Start-Stop Emdat model is still almost twice as much, for merely skipping the configuration process (according to a Start-Stop representative) while being incompatible with other platforms.

Thank you so much -- I really appreciate your help!!

Kerry

It's quite possible Inscribe has been updated with integrated pedal control and a configuration app for pedals. As I said, I don't know anything about the platform, and the last person I talked to working on it was a while back. It sounds like you are good to go with the Infinity USB pedal, which is one of the USB pedals commonly in use these days, so hopefully it will work with whatever supplementary player you might need in future.

Maybe when you're up and running on the platform with pedal/player installed, you could come back to this thread and add a post with the skinny on exactly what the current setup is for others who may have the same question about pedals/software for that platform in future.

Sure, I'd be happy to do that...so often I need help on this forum (and MTChat), but I'm not knowledgable enough to actually help anyone else! So it will be my pleasure to come back & update.

Thanks again for all your insight -- you truly are a fountain of wisdom!!!

Okay, I haven't bought the foot pedal yet, but I have spoken with both EMDAT and Start-Stop. The Start-Stop is the only foot pedal recommended by EMDAT/InScribe, but I suspect the Infinity will work based on other transcriptionists' testimonies and the fact that the Start-Stop is the same Infinity foot pedal bundled with player software (and in fact, InScribe does include its own player now). Since ExpressScribe is free, it's hard for me to justify paying so much more just to get a player -- especially since most transcription companies provide the player software, and the Infinity works with so many of those. The only advantage to getting the Start-Stop Universal would be if I want to be able to transcribe other types of files, such as from an Olympus digital voice recorder; the Start-Stop Universal can do that. The cheaper Start-Stop, the one specifically for EMDAT/Inscribe, is NOT compatible with any other system, so that one's out -- I want to at least have a chance of my foot pedal working with other platforms.

Anyway, once I get going I'll post here again with the latest.

Update for anyone interested: The Infinity foot pedal works, although the response is a bit sluggish and unfortunately if one merely taps the pedal (such as if interrupted) the playback does not stop; it must be depressed for at least two or three seconds in order for playback to stop when released. This is associated with the player, and is very annoying (and not anything I've experienced before). My version of InScribe has three player choices: The built-in InScribe, ExpressScribe, and Windows Media. The trainer instructed me to use Windows Media (although I tried the built-in InScribe with the same results, and the ExpressScribe sounded awful). I am now wishing somewhat I had bought the Start-Stop Universal for Emdat, after all, because apparently that is a more sophisticated player, and I probably would not be having these problems. However, the good news is that the Start-Stop player software can be purchased separately, and it still only costs about the same as the foot pedal bundled with the software would have cost had I bought that originally -- and with a 100% guarantee, so if it doesn't work as I hope I can return it (I'm just not sure it will work as seamlessly as if I had bought the bundled package).

So that's the "skinny." If anyone else out there has any information or ideas, please don't hesitate to toss them in!!!

Kerry