If you are a journalist, student or a regular visitor of various trainings and seminars, a voice recorder is an indispensable thing for you. Unlike the very first dictaphones, which are bulky devices equipped with impressive reels of magnetic tape, modern recording devices in their size may not exceed a conventional lighter. The variety of these devices on the shelves of modern stores is so great that anyone who wants to buy a dictaphone can easily choose the most suitable and convenient option for him.
Which dictaphone to choose: digital or cassette
There are only two types of voice recorders: cassette and digital. Recording during the operation of a cassette recorder is carried out on a miniature tape cassette, transferring the saved material from it to a computer is not an easy task. In addition, the recording quality of the cassette model is noticeably lower than that of the digital device.
Due to the rapid growth in the popularity of digital voice recorders, cassette devices quickly receded into the background, and it is almost impossible to find them on sale.
The digital voice recorder is a real miracle of technology, which has not only miniature dimensions, attractive design, excellent sound recording and playback quality, the ability to connect to a computer, but also many other interesting and useful functions.
Criteria for choosing a good voice recorder
One of the most important criteria for choosing a recording device is the audio format. A good voice recorder should definitely support the MP3 format, which takes up a minimum of disk space and is reproduced by standard computer applications, WMA, which has high sound quality and the ability to detect even the quietest and subtle sounds, and WAV, which allows you to record audio without compression.
When choosing a voice recorder, special attention should be paid to the volume of its memory. The built-in memory of most of the presented voice recorders is 128 MB, which allows you to record audio in good quality for 4-6 hours, which is quite enough for recording a seminar, training or lecture. However, voice recorders with support for removable memory cards are considered more convenient, due to which the audio recording time can increase several times.
As for the microphone of a good dictaphone, firstly, it should be built-in, and secondly, as sensitive as possible. Only a device with a really powerful signal for catching sounds is able to record speech well, which, upon further listening, will be clear, accurate and understandable. The range of the built-in microphone for most voice recorders is 4 meters. If you need to significantly increase this indicator, choose a model with the ability to connect an additional expansion microphone.
When deciding to buy a voice recorder, choose a model from a trusted manufacturer such as Sony, Olympus, Sanyo, Ritmix, Philips or Panasonic.
Modern digital voice recorders are endowed with a variety of additional options and mechanisms that significantly expand the functionality of these small, but very useful devices. The most popular functions that significantly increase the popularity of certain models are the presence of a digital display, a battery indicator, an alarm clock, an organizer, the ability to edit audio files and other interesting additions.
