My sister has been asking me really great consumer tech questions lately...
The last one was about buying a new TV... I pointed her to * a Vizio.
(Philips Outlet is a GREAT place too)
Her most recent question was about a solution to record audio of our family's stories.
I figured I would blog this in case someone else found it useful.
QUESTION
I think that we need to get these stories recorded to have a hard copy of them. Aunt Leslie and, I think, Mom suggested using a video recorder to get the stories, but I thought that would make people uncomfortable and stilted. I was thinking more along the lines of a tape recorder or some sort of digital recording device (?).
Any suggestions (on a recording device) or otherwise?
ANSWER:
There are a BUNCH of really cool solutions that would work.
Belkin Podcast Studio
Belkin just announced something really cool. The proposed retail price is $99, but it requires an iPod as the recording destination.
It records in lossless WAV format and can easily be edited or burned to CDs.
The caveat is that the announced street date isn't until June 2008.
Thesre is a whole other class of stand-alone, all in one professional portable recording devices.
These record to some sort of flash memory (usually CF or SD).
These devices are great, but a bit expensive for most folks.
I will mention some other (more expensive) solutions in a bit.
M-audio Microtrack *
*Microtrack II is the current model *
You should be able to find a used or first gen version of this device (try ebay).
It does require some sort of microphone, but a comes with a simple T mic which works * for most conversation recording. Great device and form factor. Uses CF as the recording media. Can do various bit rate MP3s or lossless WAV.
Edirol R 09
Has built-in microphone. These devices have been around for a while.
The earlier gens are probably pretty cheap used, but those mofos are huge by Microtrack II standards.
Cheap solutions
There are a couple way to go here.
Minidisc
Minidisc recorders. These things hav been around for a long time now.
I own one... I have it SOMEWHERE... in my storage space I think... errr....
Discs are cheap... and you can get a home deck too so you could dump it to a computer.
Big problem? The way it writes the files. Old recorders tend to $%&% up when writing the table of contents (TOC). What does that mean to you? If the TOC fails.. the WHOLE disc is gone...
I got burned a couple times and realized that the cheapness does NOT make up for the risk.
MP3 player/recorder via line-in
This is probably one of the best DIY/hack solutions.
The big draw back is that you do not get a single device to carry around.
You will have wires, mics, pre-amp, recorder, and all those batteries with which to worry.
Many mp3 players have the ability to record via a line-in jack.
If you find a mic and an inexpensive pre-amp, you can use that to record for pretty cheap.
One of the best things about this solution is your ability to upgrade any of the components of the solution to meet different or growing needs.
Video camera
Just record video, but put a lense cover on and just never use the video.
The audio from most video cameras is pretty nice, but you are stuck with the mic in the camera.
Laptop
You could also use a laptop and some sort of mic/audio card to run into the laptop...
Expensive (more-pro) solutions
Marantz and Sony make some nice devices.
Most of these solutions make some sort of compromise.
It comes down to your priority:
1. weight
2. cost
3. sound quality
Hope that helps!