Why choose Sony’s Soloist™ Digital PC Comparative Recorder and Media Player?
Here are just a few of the reasons…

1. Sony and SANS - Technology You Can Trust, Names You Can Depend Upon

Soloist is installed on student’s PC as part of a Virtuoso Language Learning System, however, its flexibility allows you to install it on a PC that is part of the school’s Local Area Network giving students more opportunity to use Soloist outside of the designated class period. This could include PCs in a library, dorm, or general lab space.

2. Soloist is Written and Maintained in the United States

Soloist software is produced in the United States of America. It was designed and is upgraded based on extensive input from local educators. Do you have an idea for a new feature or change to Soloist? Just submit your request, and if it is something that most users would like, chances are that it will be quickly implemented.

3. Soloist is Simple to Use

Soloist appears similar to a cassette player or PC media player program. The language-learning specific functions are intuitive… To hear a phrase over and over again, just click “A-B Repeat” at the beginning of the phrase and click it again at the end.

4. Soloist is a True Comparative Recorder

Soloist uses a single file for playback and simultaneous comparative recording (“drill recording”) with most sound files. Just like a cassette, the “program” (lesson) material is on one track, and the student recording (“drill”) is on the other track of the same file.

Other language learning PC recorders use separate files for each “track”. This is like having a special cassette deck with two tapes – one tape containing the program material, and one tape for recording the student’s voice. Obviously, you could not play both of these tapes at the same time on a standard cassette deck, and likewise you cannot play two separate files at the same time using a standard software application.

5. Soloist uses only Standard File Formats

The sound files produced by Soloist are international standard formats (WAV and MP3), playable on any Windows 95 or higher PC. You can listen to a student’s comparative recording, (which can be saved with or without the program track), on any PC anywhere anytime.

Some other systems can produce proprietary files containing the recording – files that are not in compliance with international standards and may not compatible with any other program.

6. Soloist has the Best Possible Sound Quality – Virtually No Dropouts

Since Soloist uses a single file for playback and recording of audio, it does not “stream” audio from a Server if recording is going to be done. Instead, Soloist automatically copies files to the local hard drive. This prevents the unacceptable dropouts in sound due to server/network bottlenecks – assuring the best possible sound quality for the students.

7. Soloist Supports a Large Variety of Multimedia File Formats

Soloist can open and play/display a large variety of formats of sound, video, still image, text and Hyper-Text Markup Language files. All this multimedia functionality is built right into Soloist – no other software is needed.

So in addition to helping students learn languages orally and aurally, Soloist can help them learn both reading and writing and can provide visual reinforcement.

8. Soloist has Highly Accurate Random Access

Soloist can access any point in a sound file with 1/10th of second accuracy. Since many words take less than a second to speak, this helps students quickly locate any single word. 9. Soloist Allows Students to Work at Their Own Pace with “Varispeed”

Soloist can playback sound files slower or faster than they were originally recorded with “Varispeed”. This easily adjustable feature permits more advanced students to work faster, and novices to work slower. In addition, recording at normal speed while playing back with Varispeed is possible – something never possible with education cassette recorders.

10. Soloist Can be Integrated with a Comparative Cassette Deck

Cassettes still have an advantage of being low-cost and very transportable – who doesn’t have a tape player (at home, in the car, or a Walkman®)? In addition, there is an abundance of audio lesson material existing on cassettes.

Soloist can be integrated with Sony’s ER-8020 comparative cassette deck, allowing students to listen/record digital files or analog cassettes. Students can also copy to/from files and cassettes at normal or two times normal speed. Want to take home a copy of a ten-minute digital recording on a cassette? Copy it at two times speed and you’ll be ready in five minutes.

11. Soloist has Integrated “Voice over IP (VoIP)” Technology

Soloist can be used with Sony’s Virtuoso™ Instructional Control Software to create a truly all-digital, PC-LAN based language learning system. Voice Communications over the network are performed using VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) technology – technology that is integrated into Soloist. In “uncompressed” mode, the sound is near CD quality with negligible latency (delay). Soloist can also be configured to use Sony’s own “LPEC” (Long-term Predictive Excitation Codec) VoIP compression, minimizing network bandwidth usage while still providing excellent sound quality.

12. Soloist has Integrated “Text-To-Speech (TTS)” Technology

Soloist supports the Microsoft standard Speech Application Programming Interface (“SAPI”) – both versions 4.0a and 5.1. Soloist can use any installed TTS engine to have the computer speak text in either its built-in Text Editor, or in any of the message boxes displayed by Soloist.

TTS engines (some of which are available at no charge) are available in multiple languages. So your text files can instantly be heard by your students, assisting them with correct pronunciation. You can even create WAV or MP3 files directly from text files, enabling your students to do comparative recording with the TTS voice.

13. Soloist has Integrated Speech Recognition (SR) Technology

The Speech Application Programming Interface also includes Speech Recognitiontechnology. You can have Soloist use this technology to accept voice commands from your students. For example, by simply saying “Open Lesson”, Soloist can automatically open today’s lesson file for your students.

14. Soloist has Advanced System Diagnostics built-in

Ever experience “everything was working yesterday, but not today”? To help find out why, Soloist can perform diagnostics providing detailed information about the PC, operating system, Network, Soloist settings, etc. Soloist can be set to automatically perform the diagnostics each time it is started. If a problem is found (such as the server containing the program lessons is down), the user will be notified. In addition, if a problem is found, the diagnostic data can automatically be emailed to designated administrators instantly.

15. Soloist has the Capability for Self-Maintenance (Automatic Version Upgrades)

Software updates are common, but keeping your system up to date does not have to be a chore. Soloist can be configured to automatically check for updates provided by Sony and then perform the upgrade without user intervention. It can check for updates in a specified folder or on a specified FTP site.

16. Soloist has Hundreds of Additional Features

Soloist has literally hundreds of other features. Many are unique to Sony and most are customizable by the administrator. All features are intended to make Soloist easy to use and the most flexible choice for language learning. Contact your Sony authorized Reseller for complete details and a demonstration.