[spinneresque]

My purpose is recording lectures that will be archived. I've been dealing with minidiscs for the last six years, but I live in India, it is extremely humid here and they 1) go bad and 2) fail too often to rely on them and 3) are not compatible with Macs (except the new $300 HiMds). I do love the sound quality though. I use a unidirectional sony microphone with them that works great. But.... it's time to move on to something more reliable. I am looking for a DAP that records using an external microphone with really good sound quality, maybe not minidisc-good, but good. I've done a lot of research and so far am leaning toward and iriver ifp 795. I would prefer a flash drive to a spinning hard drive, I just think they are cheaper, get better battery life and are more reliable... but nothing is set in stone. Sound quality is really important to me, but it IS just for recording voice and like I said, something other than minidisc....?? Please? THANKS IN ADVANCE FOR CONTRIBUTING!

 

[spinneresque]

zero opinions? Please, anyone. I should add that I have recorded with my 3g ipod in linux, but the volume is too low no matter what ( that's using an external mike)

 

[IpaqMan]

I have been recording lectures for a few years using MDs, too.

I have tried numerous DAPs for recording (Iriver, Creative, Iaudio, and Rio). Some make decent recordings but they are missing a lot of the recording functions that are standard on MD recorders.

My favorite recorder for lectures today is the Olympus DS-2200 digital voice recorder. It records in Windows Media format at up to 64kbps stereo. The sound quality is very good and it has true recorder controls and displays. A new Olympus model is coming out soon: the WS-320M with a 1gb memory. It will also function as a true DAP with the ability to play MP3s and WMAs.

 

[spinneresque]

Thanks, do you use an external mike with the Olympus?

 

[IpaqMan]

I actually use two Olympus recorders at a time (a DS-2 as backup). The DS-2200 comes with an external remote control / microphone (mono). There is an oddity in that there is only one jack that serves for both input and output. The DS-2200 can auto-sense some accessories like the remote/mike. You can plug an external stereo microphone into the jack.

There is a full manual available on the Olympus website.

The pluses of the DS-2200: a great bright display with date-time stamps for all recordings, pause, FF/RW, bookmarks, multiple nameable folders, high-low mike sensitivity, hold switch, very small, uses two AAA batteries, Windows plug and play, standard mini-usb connector, vu meters.

The minuses: no cut / join functions on the recorder (can do on PC), single i/o jack (can't use earphone at the same time as an external mike), requires X picture memory cards, no line-level input (must use special dub cable).

The DM-10 and DM-20 are almost the same recorders but with fixed internal memory and fewer accessories. These players are designed as DAPS.

I would consider the WS-320M when it comes out. Olympus has a manual on its website for it.

Overall, the Olympus recorders are great for recording lectures. You get great sensitivity, low noise, clear recordings with minimal compression artifacts with WMA format, optional external mike use, informative displays, date-time stamping, and replaceable batteries.

Many DAPs do not provide good sensitivity, do not date-time stamp, add noise (HD noise), do not support ext mikes, use low bit rate MP3 recording which is worse than low bit rate WMA recording. I have tried to find a DAP that handled music / audiobook playing well and also recorded well. I haven't found such an "animal".