5 Digital Voice Recorders for Interviews and Lectures

Are you looking for a good digital voice recorder? Do you have too many choices? Don’t know which will be suitable for you? Then don’t worry we will make it simple for you. Here we give you everything about 5 great digital recorders available on the market today.

1. Sony ICD UX 533

This is a simple voice recorder yet very effective. It has two microphones in opposite directions which provide a stereo recording. It has a simple interface and minimum features. The Sony ICD UX 533 is very intuitive recorder which is very portable.

Features

  • The recordings are captured in stereo; files are stored using USB memory stick. It can also be used as MP3 player.
  • It is highly sensitive and there is much less noise. With built-in S-Microphone system, its recording range is wide.
  • The supported formats are MP3, WMA and AAC.
  • With Scene Select feature, you can choose the kind of recording that you want(For eg. Meeting, music, interview, dictation etc.)
  • Easy connection to PC using USB. Simply plug and play.
  • The maximum recording time possible is 1073 hrs. (For MP3 8 kbps).
  • You can add multiple bookmarks in the recording and can jump to next/previous.
  • It has got large LCD display and simple GUI for managing recordings easily.
  • You can store your recordings in folders, monitor levels and perform calendar searches.
  • Has Multi-language support.
  • Comes with USB cable, stereo headphones, 1 x alkaline NiMH battery and Sound Organizer.

Pros

Comes with 3 playback file formats.

Cons

Sound quality can be improved.

Best Use

The Sony ICD-UX533 is best for lectures and meetings.

2. Zoom H4N

Zoom is well known for high fidelity recording of audio. And this has been taken forward by Zoom H4n. This digital voice recorder comes with voice activation and pre-record(What is pre-recording?) which makes it ideal for recording interviews and lectures.

  • It has onboard X/Y Mics of high quality with ease of selecting recording width (120 and 90 degrees).
  • The device comes with 2 XLR/TRS Inputs where you can connect mics, line level devices, instruments etc.
  • The audio is of high resolution of 24-bit/96 kHz.
  • It is the recorder of choice as it comes with built-in effects, onboard speaker and audio interface mode.
  • It records natural sounding stereo and has strong center image
  • The angle of two unidirectional mics can be changed easily from 90 degrees to 120 degrees.
  • The pre-record function lets you record previous two seconds of audio when you hit the RECORD.
  • It comes with a unique auto-record function.

Comes with quite a lot of functions like Compressors, limiters, bass cut-off, fx etc.

Comes with 2 GB of storage.

It is best for interviews and lectures.

3. Roland R-26

Roland R-26 is a very innovative recorder which is very portable and loaded with a lot of great features. It comes with four mini microphones. Two of the microphones have cardoid pickup patterns. The other two are omni-directional.

  • It has 2 types of stereo mics(directional and omnidirectional).
  • 2 XLR/TRS combo inputs and 48V phantom power.
  • Comes with an input for stereo plug-in power mic.
  • Simultaneous recording of up to six channels is possible.
  • Large LCD display.
  • High-Speed USB interface for external storage and use as audio interface.
  • Loop-back function.

Easy to use and good sound.

Not compatible with SDXC storage cards.

Best for interviews, meetings and lectures.

4. TASCAM DR-05

Tascam’s DR-05 gives you great quality recording. It is very easy to use portable device with a price and size that can be easily handled. The price of the device is also very affordable. It has two format recording i.e. MP3 and WAV.

  • It has compact design which helps in taking the recorder to any place you want. It is perfect for journalists, teachers, coaches etc.
  • It has high quality versatile recording that records WAV files at 24 bit/96kHz and MP3 files at 320 kbps.
  • It has unique storage capability of storing to microSD and microSDHC cards for storage that is very reliable.
  • It has integrated bidirectional microphones that capture very sound stereo audio.
  • It is very sensitive to sound and can capture loud sound as well as very subtle sounds clearly.
  • It has intuitive controls that help in quick and easy operations.
  • Tascam DR-05 comes with Self-Timer Recordings that helps you in pre-recording or post-recording.

Allows for recording in two formats..

Some functions seem unnecessary and sound quality can be improved.

Best for interviews and lectures.

5. Yamaha Pocketrak PR 7

The Yamaha POCKETRAK PR7 is the newest entrant of Yamaha. It is very portable and comes with PCM recorder which gives you effortless recordings of high quality. It comes with the newly introduced crossed XY stereo. The PR7 is perfect for recording high quality and natural sound of consistent quality.

  • The PR7 comes with crossed XY Stereo mics that are aligned on the same axis. The mics are always equidistant from the source of the sound.
  • Comes with superior PCM recording of 24 bit/96 kHz that exceeds CD quality and provides sensitive recordings.
  • The device’s HPF settings reduce popping noise caused due to wind from vocals. The input levels can be adjusted to avoid distortion.
  • The playback speed can be adjusted from 50% to 200%.
  • Comes with pre-recording with three seconds memory buffer.
  • Comes with 2GB built-in memory and micro SD/SDHC card slot.
  • Comes with built-in speaker

Excellent sound quality.

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