Just to rule out a known issue with some laptop built-in microphones (e.g. https://developer.ibm.com/answers/questions/174176/speech-to-text-audio-problems/?sma

Just to rule out a known issue with some laptop built-in microphones (e.g. https://developer.ibm.com/answers/questions/174176/speech-to-text-audio-problems/?smartspace=watson https://developer.ibm.com/answers/questions/174176/speech-to... ) - could you let us know if you tried with an external close-talking microphone, and if that mattered at all?