From the first day that Humanware unveiled the first-generation Victor Reader Stream back in 2007, the blind community was immediately taken with this compact little device that played books, podcasts, and music anywhere at any time. Even before the first units began to ship, pre-release audio demos from people such as Jeff Bishop on ACB Radio's Main Menu program whetted the appetite of anyone who wanted to be able to carry content with them wherever they went. Not everyone was using truly accessible cell phones then, and accessible smart tablets were still a thing of the future. As popular as the first-generation Stream was, it had some limitations. It didn't have an onboard clock, and it couldn't connect to the Internet. That said, it was a durable product with great battery life, and it developed a loyal following among people who are blind all over the world.
Fast forward to 2014 when Humanware released the second-generation Victor Reader Stream. It was smaller in size than the first, had a clock, connected to the Internet, and retained the same great battery life as its predecessor. Still, many wondered if there were a place for a new Stream in the world of iPhones, iPads, and Android devices. Could the next generation Humanware product really find a place? As it turns out, the Victor Reader Stream New Generation has held its own with Apple and Android products, and its following continues to be quite strong.
But how does one go about learning all the ins and outs of using this little audio player? There is an excellent onboard user guide built in, and written documentation can be obtained online, but many people who don't consider themselves power users at the computer find the Victor Reader Stream to be quite useful in their daily lives. Wouldn't it be nice if a human could walk them through the various functions of the Stream? Thanks to a new DAISY audio tutorial produced by Mystic Access, it is possible to spend eight hours with a real person as you explore all that the Victor Reader Stream has to offer.
Strengths and Weaknesses of the Mystic Access Audio Tutorial
Because the tutorial is produced in DAISY format, all main sections and subsections of the tutorial are marked up in a way that makes it quite easy to find exactly what you are looking for as you work through the tutorial. While new users will most likely want to study each lesson sequentially, there will certainly be times when you will want to go back and review material again to increase familiarity with a particular concept. The only disadvantage to providing the tutorial in only DAISY format is that a novice computer user will need to either learn how to use a DAISY player on the computer or gain enough familiarity with the Stream to be able to use the device to work through the tutorial. That said, MP3 files would be rather unwieldy, and would make it more difficult to find specific sections of the tutorial. It shouldn't take long for the user to become comfortable enough with the Stream to successfully work through the tutorial.
For the most part, you are guided through each lesson by Kim Loftis, whose positive presentation style should put anyone at ease. At the beginning of the tutorial, Loftis seems a bit nervous, but she quickly hits her stride and becomes increasingly relaxed as she works through the various lessons presented. True audiophiles will notice some inconsistency in microphone placement from time to time, but these are not deal breakers, in my opinion. On the upside, the output of the Victor Reader Stream is run through a mixer, rather than the Stream's external speaker. Loftis uses her experience as a life coach to provide a lot of positive encouragement, including tips on how to practice using the Stream without becoming overwhelmed. She also gives suggestions for ways to expand on the various lessons, so you can enhance your understanding of how to use the Stream.
In the final part of the tutorial, Chris Grabowski joins Loftis in a Q & A section that covers areas of study that didn't fit easily into other sections of the tutorial. Grabowski asks questions and Loftis answers them, giving demonstrations as she goes. This part of the tutorial felt especially scripted to me, and I found if difficult to listen to.
Finally, each section of the tutorial begins and ends with a chiming sound. This works for long sections, but becomes a bit annoying when sections are really short. All in all, I found the overall presentation style to be quite pleasant and easy to follow.
What the Mystic Access Audio Tutorial Covers
The Audio Tutorial thoroughly covers all functions of the Victor Reader Stream and provides plenty of practical examples. In part one, you will become familiar with the layout of the Stream's ports, jacks, and buttons. You will learn how to insert and remove the Stream's battery and SD card. You are not shown how to lock and unlock the Stream until the fifth part of the tutorial. While I understand that the sequence of key presses required to accomplish this task is a bit complex for a new user, I believe that most people will want to learn how to do this fairly quickly. It might have been worth mentioning briefly in part one, with a more in-depth discussion in part five.
When I purchased my New Generation Victor Reader Stream, I fancied myself enough of a power user that I didn't feel it necessary to thoroughly read the user guide. Consequently, I missed the very convenient command to hold the "Confirm" key down in order to hear not only the level of the Stream's battery, but also status of content you are downloading (such as when you are downloading NLS books to the device). Suffice it to say that even experienced Stream owners may find some nuggets of wisdom scattered throughout the tutorial.
Next, the tutorial introduces the student to concepts such as how to change the Stream's TTS voice, how to navigate the device's various bookshelves, how to adjust the speed, tone, and speaking rate of the material being read, and how to enter and exit the Stream's key describer mode and user guide. Finally, setting the Stream's date and time, setting bookmarks, and using text entry search round out the first part of the tutorial.
Part two of the tutorial takes an in-depth look at the Victor Reader Stream's offline bookshelves. These include audio notes, text documents, DAISY books, other books such as MP3 files, and saved podcasts. Much time is also devoted to working with books from Audible, as well as a thorough demonstration of the Music bookshelf. Finally, careful attention is given to all of the Stream's menu settings as they relate to working with offline content.
In part three, we learn how to work with online bookshelves. Loftis carefully takes us through the process of connecting the Stream via Wi-Fi. Once online, we take a look at playing Internet radio stations on the Stream. When I began using my New Generation Stream, I didn't think I would make much use of this feature at all, because I was used to listening to Internet Radio on my iPhone. I was very surprised at how much I enjoyed using Internet Radio on the Stream, and Loftis was able to pique my interest in this area of Stream usage even further. An area that I had not explored at all was searching for and reading content from Wikipedia and Wiktionary using the Stream. Again, Loftis was able to encourage me to explore these areas further. Also included in this part of the tutorial are lessons on using the NLS BARD service, managing online podcasts, using NFB Newsline, and working with Bookshare content. Finally, we learn how to update the Victor Reader Stream to the latest firmware.
The fourth part of the tutorial is devoted to the use of the Humanware Companion, a great piece of software for anyone who doesn't wish to manually transfer content from their computer to the Stream and back again. As stated earlier, Part 5 of the tutorial is a Q and A section that covers miscellaneous topics that didn't fit neatly into earlier sections. Included here are several ways to reset your Stream should it lock up at some point.
The Bottom Line
After having worked through all eight hours of the Mystic Access Humanware Victor Reader Stream New Generation Audio Tutorial, I would be willing to recommend this reference to anyone who wishes to learn how to use their Victor Reader Stream for the first time, anyone who is an experienced Stream user but wants to make sure they have gotten all that they can from the product, and anyone who might need to teach someone else how to use the Victor Reader Stream. At $89, this tutorial is not an insignificant investment. There are some issues that I would like to see corrected in a future release of the tutorial, especially considering the steep price. The relaxed presentation style needs to be consistent throughout the tutorial, and more care needs to be taken to ensure that microphone placement remains the same from beginning to end. That being said, I believe this is a really good tutorial, and I commend Kim Loftis for her hard work and dedication to what was undoubtedly a very time-consuming project.
Product Information
Product Name: Mystic Access Humanware Victor Reader Stream New Generation Audio Tutorial
Available From: Mystic Access
Price: $89.00
Available Format: DAISY audio
Length: Approximately eight hours
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- Stream It! Music, Movies, and More with Apple TV and VoiceOver, by Jonathan Mosen: A Book Review by Jamie Pauls
- A Review of Wireless Content on the Victor Reader Stream New Generation from HumanWare by Aaron Preece
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