digital recorders?

[makakona]

i'm shopping for a digital recorder and thought you guys would be a good source of info. anyone have one? likes, dislikes, recommendations?

i recently took a long car trip with my dad and we had a lot of time to talk. he shared a lot about his service in the marines, his time in viet nam, the early years with my mom... i loved heairng it, but it killed me that i didn't have a way to record it! i'll be taking another long trip with him (ten hours this time!) and i want to make sure i have something ready and waiting. i'd hate to miss out on recording such great memories!

thanks in advance!

[not5150]

iRiver... I've bought three of them so far and love every singe one.

The first two were bought in the USA while the third was bought in Japan. It's very small and has one hell of a sensitive microphone. If you throw it in a corner of a room, it will pick up the entire room.

The recordings are in MP3 format and easily downloadable to your computer.

[junebughunter]

the video iPods also have audio recording. No built in Microphone but there are several accessories out there for that. You could also use a computer microphone.

[dw]

If you want to record 10 hours, you're looking at one with a lot of memory and/or that records to a compressed (usually .mp3) format. I've had good luck with Olympus. Keep in mind the recording time listed is usually that for the lowest quality. Especially if recording in a vehicle or anywhere else noisy, you'll probably want the mid or best quality setting. You also want something with "PC Link" or whatever they call the USB port so you can download the files to your computer -- some of the less expensive ones do not have this.

I've been looking at this one (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000A2EXI8/sr=1-1/qid=1147231735/ref=sr_1_1/103-6039167-3469443?%5Fencoding=UTF8) for my next. The WS-100 / WS-200 (Olympus) may also work well for you. (I nixed them because the record button is too small and can not be operated on the road through a shirt pocket)

[Your Mentor]

Currently using a Sony with built-in stereo microphones. Make sure you buy one that comes with the USB cable and software rather than one that is simply capable of connecting to a computer. Obtaining the software after the fact is a pain. As these things have gotten smaller, I find my current one to be a bit too small. It won't stay positioned in my pocket the way I'd like it too. Getting an .mp3 player/recorder will give you a lot of options and some models work with Windows Media Player so you don't have to use proprietary software. If you don't need one that you can carry in a shirt pocket, as most of us here do, then invest in a good microphone. Not the little lapel style but the kind that is the size of a roll of quarters. You'd be amazed how much better the sound quality is. It's funny you mentioned talking to your dad about his military career. I 'interviewed' my father about his military career and recorded it as well. I used it to research actual dates and events. I'm going to save the sound file for future generations (since my two oldest are expecting their respective firsts).

[Chippysgt]

I don't need one for work anymore but I recently bought a Samsung YP-T7 MP3 player that stores 1gb music plus pictures plus it has FM radio and it is a recorder. It dd not come with a mic but I see where it plugs into the same as the ear pods. It also comes with a USB cable and you plug it into the computer to recharge the batteries for a 14 hour charge and it uses Windows Media Player. I got this beauty on E-Bay brand new for under $100.

As far as recording your father's military history, that is a great thing to do. You may not be aware that there is a national program to preserve the history of veterans in the Library of Congress. It is no where near as complicated as it sounds. My wife was doing it for local veterans when she was the curator of Castle Air Museum. We went back to D.C a couple of years ago and visited the office where they do this Peter Bartis is the Senior Program Officer at the American Folklife Center where they do this and he is a very sincere guy. They have a kit so folks can do this themselves and they are also a lot of location where volunteers and groups do it. I suspect, with a little luck, they will be there for many generations down the line.

http://www.loc.gov/vets/

:cool:

[WinnieI05]

For your run of the mil recording, all the devices reccomended will suit you just fine. I know you didn't ask, but for enforcement stop recording, I would reccomend the Olympus DM-20 with the lapel remote/mic.

WinnieI05

[makakona]

thanks, everyone! in my head, it was clear why i bothered to ask here, but i guess i should never assume, haha. i figured it could do double duty by passing it along to my husband. he said he didn't have any opinions, other than to look at the olympus ones because he'd heard they were good. i don't expect to fit a full ten hours on there... lord knows i can talk, but even *i* can't talk that much, haha. we're ipod folk, so i don't really need anything multi-purpose... just recording is good enough.

i really appreciate the info on the veteran project. i'm really into family history and the likes and would love to be able to pass info along!

dw, thanks for that link! the ws-200 looks like it would work, but it's sure not as pretty as the vn-960! the vn-960 seems to have good reviews and the price is decent.

[Chippysgt]

I don't need one for work anymore but I recently bought a Samsung YP-T7 MP3 player that stores 1gb music plus pictures plus it has FM radio and it is a recorder. It dd not come with a mic but I see where it plugs into the same as the ear pods. It also comes with a USB cable and you plug it into the computer to recharge the batteries for a 14 hour charge and it uses Windows Media Player. I got this beauty on E-Bay brand new for under $100.

As far as recording your father's military history, that is a great thing to do. You may not be aware that there is a national program to preserve the history of veterans in the Library of Congress. It is no where near as complicated as it sounds. My wife was doing it for local veterans when she was the curator of Castle Air Museum. We went back to D.C a couple of years ago and visited the office where they do this. Peter Bartis is the Senior Program Officer at the American Folklife Center where they do this and he is a very sincere guy. They have a kit so folks can do this themselves and they are also a lot of location where volunteers and groups do it. I suspect, with a little luck, they will be there for many generations down the line.

http://www.loc.gov/vets/

:cool:

[dw]

For your run of the mil recording, all the devices reccomended will suit you just fine. I know you didn't ask, but for enforcement stop recording, I would reccomend the Olympus DM-20 with the lapel remote/mic.

WinnieI05

I was looking at the DM-20 for that reason. Do you have one? If so, pros/cons for the road?

[dw]

dw, thanks for that link! the ws-200 looks like it would work, but it's sure not as pretty as the vn-960! the vn-960 seems to have good reviews and the price is decent.

...and the VN-960 will work better for him on the road.

[cdawg21]

I like the Olympus ws-100. Great recording quality, and you don't need any software to download it. It has a built in USB plug. It has great battery life. True, the record button is a little small, but I put a little bit of clear nail polish on it and built it up a little. I have never had any problems with it in the field and have recommended it to several friends who are now using them happily.

[dw]

I personally like the ones that do not require proprietary software. I have an old Olympus one I use now that needs their software installed to download the files. The newer ones that just show up as a USB Drive are much more convenient... Just dump all the files into a folder on your hard drive and you're done.

[makakona]

just an update... i am totally digging the vn-960. i can't believe how small and light it is! my last recorder was used in college and was a huge clunker of a thing. it took me about six years to figure out how to power it off (and required me taking the recorder and instructions to someone else and asking, "am i missing something?!"), but i love it so far!