Digital voice recorder

Poppy9

DD wants a small simple device to record lectures and then transfer to laptop.

She has a usb one at the moment but it skips bits mid recording randomly.

Thanks

A.Penny.Saved

Do you have any idea why it skips bits? Is it the recording sensitivity ie not picking up the audio?

I have a Philips Voice Tracer with Zoom Mic which can be set to 2 sensitivities. It has always worked well for me. It has a USB port for transferring recordings which are recorded in Mp3 or PCM Wav format. It also has a FM radio which can be recorded. Idea! hey I just realised that that might come in handy and I did not realise it. However there are only occasions when I want to record by which time the interesting bit has usually passed. Recording everything is a bit of a nuisance and rewinding and recording is more what I would like. I could do that with my PC but I don't really want that on for long periods.

A bit off topic but it provoked some thoughts.

agrinnall

I also use a Philips Voice Tracer for recording interviews, and it seems to work pretty well even when recording from a speaker phone. Whether it would work so well with a lecture is a bit debateable though (and I think the same would apply to any recorder) as the device will not be located close to the source of the sound and the lecturer may be obscured by noise coming from sources that are closer to the recorder.

A.Penny.Saved

agrinnall wrote: »

I also use a Philips Voice Tracer for recording interviews, and it seems to work pretty well even when recording from a speaker phone. Whether it would work so well with a lecture is a bit debateable though (and I think the same would apply to any recorder) as the device will not be located close to the source of the sound and the lecturer may be obscured by noise coming from sources that are closer to the recorder.

A sensitive Mic helps a bit but nothing can work miracles in such situations. If you cannot sit near the front and there are no loudspeakers or hearing connections provided then it would be very difficult recording anything successfully IMO. My Voice tracer has a built in dual stereo Mic and a 3.5mm Mic connection with a supplied external Mic on a 1M cable. I have used that attached to my Bag in the past and it has recorded a voice at about 8 ft away with the Mic clipped in the pocket in my bag on the chair next to me.

If you can sit near the front and have the external Mic as close to the lecturer as possible then you might get a decent recording. It's something which makes me think because I am considering going to uni myself and having a recording would benefit me a lot so this topic makes me consider things.

Please note mine does not accept memory cards, it has 4GB of memory for recordings or files. The specs claim the zoom Mic has a range/sensitivity of 12M/40 ft but at what volume I don't know. Picking up a loud noise is going to be far easier than a mouse squeak at that distance.

Poppy9

The USB records sufficiently from where she sits it's just the blips on recording at playback. It could be a software issue. I might just buy another usb digital recoreder and see if that's better. She has also used her Ipad to record but found easier as it just pops in her pocket.

[Deleted User]

I have a VN-733, it has two mic sensitivities, various bit rate/ record times, VOX, SD card memory extension, ext mic/earpiece, audio filters, MP3/WMA format, records up to 1600 hours, or 12960 hours with an SD card.

It's fine, I like it. I have a VN-7500 too, but they're obsolete now, and don't download to a PC.

SailorSam

I wanted something when i had to go to one of those Atos medicals and got something similar to this from argos
http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/3073113.htm

ohreally

I used an Olympus recorder, remember she doesn't need to sit beside the speaker, simply place the recorder/ mic there and she can sit anywhere.

shaun_from_Africa

I bought one of these:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00BOK93ZI?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00
a couple of months ago and even when sitting at the very back of a lecture room it will record everything that is said at the front which is a good 8 metres away. (I use the plug in mic that was supplied with the recorder).

Poppy9

Bought another USB to test out before she goes back to uni . Advantage is it doesn't need batteries and it's silent to use. It had good reviews on Amazon by other students.