While a microphone is absolutely necessary because you are speaking to your computer, an external microphone is not strictly required. However, for the best accuracy and dictation quality, especially in noisy environments, we recommend a good unidirectional dictation microphone.
Our recommendations are the Olympus RM series or the Philips Speechmike Premium series. These microphones are far and away the best options we’ve come across for dictation. Not only do they have terrific noise-canceling capabilities, but they also have built in hotkeys, allowing you to do more with Talkatoo.