Digital Voice recorders... pros/cons of your

[ceriserowan]

Shopping digital voice recorders
Not finding a site that compares features
I'd prefer an ac adapter option, microphone jack and something that records in a format I don't have to convert
need to upload to computer (noticed some don't) and prefer to keep it around or under $60.00 (probably before mic and adapter if it turns out I need a new mic)
using it for voice primarily so sound should be nice but does not need to be music quality


Would you recommend yours or did you find it fell short of expectations?

[steve]

I use a Zoom H2.
It's a bit over the price range that you specify, but the recording quality is very good and it can record in MP3 or WAV format.
Recordings can be transferred easily to the computer using the included USB cable, and it can even be used as a stereo USB microphone.

Also, see here: http://forum.audacityteam.org/viewtopic ... 27&t=48132

[ceriserowan]

If I win the lottery
looked at it, very nice!

but beyond current allowance...

[kozikowski]

Zoom. There has to be at least four that I know of without thinking too hard about it. Very highly thought of. The built-in microphone(s) work very well and I've seen interviews done with just one of those and a quiet room.

The Zoom is the low end of the Pro line. Lower than that you're into the memo-recorders with oddball compressed sound formats, crappy microphones, and if it has provision for external microphones at all, it will be "computer microphones," not the real thing. These things also tend to have automatic volume control and you can't stop it. This makes quality voice tracks difficult or impossible.

If you find one you like, post a review here.

I have a mechanical tape PearlCorder S701 that I still use. It's terrific for recording meetings sub-rosa and I just pop out the tape , label it, and put it in the drawer. If I need to transcribe it, I plug a cable into the headphone output and jack it into my computer. Play the tape and capture it in Audacity.

http://www.amazon.com/Olympus-S701-Pear ... 038&sr=8-2

Nobody will mistake that for a Hollywood Sound Shoot, but it works for me, and the price is perfect.

Koz

[kozikowski]

http://cgi.ebay.com/New-Zoom-H1-Handy-R ... 3f0ae37f26

http://www.zoom.co.jp/english/products/h1/

This seems to be pretty much perfect, except it's not $60.

Koz

[Trebor]

This guy on Freesound uses an H1 for some of his recordings, e.g. ... http://www.freesound.org/packsViewSingle.php?id=7223

[Freesounds sound even better when downloaded than when heard via the on-line preview which adds compression artifacts]