Hi group,

I am looking for a portable audio recorder that I can use to record
interviews straight to a digital file - ie WAV, MP3 etc. Most of the
discussions I've found about this topic revolve around Minidiscs and so
on, but I want something that can transfer files straight to a computer
via USB.

I would really like recommendations, especially if you've got
experience recording interviews for transcription.

These are my requirements:

At least 4 hours of recording capacity
Built-in mic capable of recording both sides of an interview (or is an
external mic the way to go here?)
Capable of taking external mics for recording phone interviews etc.
Capable of working with a computer without special software -
plug'n'play file transfer over USB, standard audio format like WAV or
MP3
Voice quality does not have to be broadcast, but should be good enough
for later transcription - are noise cancelling features and
voice-activated recording worth it?

From searching Froogle, there are a lot of devices that would seem to
fit this - from professional dictaphones aimed at legal secretaries to
even some cheap USB MP3 players.

I have some budget for this. I don't want to spend £300 if I could
spend £50; on the other hand I don't want to buy something cheap and
regret it.

Any advice would be much appreciated.

Thanks,

Ben

"Ben Henley" wrote in message
ups.com...
Hi group,

I am looking for a portable audio recorder that I can use to record
interviews straight to a digital file - ie WAV, MP3 etc. Most of the
discussions I've found about this topic revolve around Minidiscs and so
on, but I want something that can transfer files straight to a computer
via USB.

Sony's portable HiMD recorders will do just that. You can record on the
HiMD using mic input, line input, or optical digital input and then use USB
to upload to a PC.

Some MP3 players will do this as well, but they usually have their own built
in mic, which I've not found to be of high quality in the few units I've
tried.

I would really like recommendations, especially if you've got
experience recording interviews for transcription.

These are my requirements:

At least 4 hours of recording capacity
Built-in mic capable of recording both sides of an interview (or is an
external mic the way to go here?)
Capable of taking external mics for recording phone interviews etc.
Capable of working with a computer without special software -
plug'n'play file transfer over USB, standard audio format like WAV or
MP3
Voice quality does not have to be broadcast, but should be good enough
for later transcription - are noise cancelling features and
voice-activated recording worth it?

HiMD will do all the above.

From searching Froogle, there are a lot of devices that would seem to
fit this - from professional dictaphones aimed at legal secretaries to
even some cheap USB MP3 players.

I have some budget for this. I don't want to spend £300 if I could
spend £50; on the other hand I don't want to buy something cheap and
regret it.

Any advice would be much appreciated.

If you can try before you buy, that would seem to be the best thing to do.
Failing that, I'd look at reviews of products and make sure you buy the
thing from a shop that has a good return policy for electronics. HiMD is
certainly not the cheapest solution, but I don't think they're at the high
end of your price range either.

The newsgroup alt.audio.minidisc may be helpful, as is
http://www.minidisc.org/

Jeff
--
"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a
little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor
safety"
- B. Franklin, Bartlett's Familiar Quotations (1919)

Check out the Neuros line of Open Hardware/open source player/recorder, only
high quality components, reasonable price
this one should fit your needs plenty and more
http://www.neurosaudio.com/store/pro...cat= products



"Ben Henley" wrote in message
ups.com...
Hi group,

I am looking for a portable audio recorder that I can use to record
interviews straight to a digital file - ie WAV, MP3 etc. Most of the
discussions I've found about this topic revolve around Minidiscs and so
on, but I want something that can transfer files straight to a computer
via USB.

I would really like recommendations, especially if you've got
experience recording interviews for transcription.

These are my requirements:

At least 4 hours of recording capacity
Built-in mic capable of recording both sides of an interview (or is an
external mic the way to go here?)
Capable of taking external mics for recording phone interviews etc.
Capable of working with a computer without special software -
plug'n'play file transfer over USB, standard audio format like WAV or
MP3
Voice quality does not have to be broadcast, but should be good enough
for later transcription - are noise cancelling features and
voice-activated recording worth it?

From searching Froogle, there are a lot of devices that would seem to
fit this - from professional dictaphones aimed at legal secretaries to
even some cheap USB MP3 players.

I have some budget for this. I don't want to spend £300 if I could
spend £50; on the other hand I don't want to buy something cheap and
regret it.

Any advice would be much appreciated.

Thanks,

Ben

"No Ise" writes:

Check out the Neuros line of Open Hardware/open source player/recorder, only
high quality components, reasonable price
this one should fit your needs plenty and more
http://www.neurosaudio.com/store/pro...cat= products


Wow. Didn't know these existed. They look pretty slick.

I'm curious whether they play well with Linux or not and what the data
transfer speeds are like, etc.



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