Hi.
I bought my own digital voice recorder when I started doing interviews with tourists in the summer. I have the Sony ICD-P17 which comes complete with the necessary software for transcription on a laptop/PC. The recordings are downloaded as .wav files. I've used the recorder both for recording proceedings of a business meeting where there were seven or eight people present, and for one to one, one to two person interviews. I found the sound quality perfectly acceptable - I lost a bit from chair scraping, but a slight better mic would have solved that - it was the Redcoats café at Edinburgh Castle which has wooden floors and wooden chairs! As an audio typist originally, I also treated myself to the Sony transcription pedal and headphones. Altogether, the voice recorder and the transcription kit were about £200. Hope that helps.
Cathy Guthrie
PhD Student, Robert Gordon University
E-mail: [log in to unmask]
-----Original Message-----
From: qual-software [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Duncan Branley
Sent: 07 January 2005 14:17
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: new software, digital recorders, etc.
Thanks for all these updates, Alan.
What are the "built-in stereo condenser mics" like - would you still advise using an external mike for audio quality even for research (ie
non-broadcast) interviews?
==
For UK based list members I've just found a website of a London-based company which has info on both of the machines Alan mentioned:
<http://www.cunnings.co.uk/product/audiorecandplay/pcmcia-portable-marantz.html>
<http://www.cunnings.co.uk/product/audiorecandplay/pcmcia-portable-edirol.html>
They don't have prices on the website, but they are very helpful if you give them a call. The Edirol R1 retails at about £320 (incl VAT) though there may be some discount available to HE users - it's always worth asking! The Marantz PMD660 is not available in the UK until around Easter - pricing is still being decided though it will probably be more than the Edirol.
So both of these are more expensive than the Sony Hi-MD series. I'm avoiding the MZ-NH1 because it does not have a large enough display to monitor that things are recording properly and does not allow you to add extra batteries giving you longer recording times, both of which the MZ-NH900 do. In the UK the latter retails between £180-200 - though you can get it online for about £20 cheaper.
I can't say whether the download process is ridiculous and slow yet as Alan suggests - that may be a matter of degree. Even listening to your recordings in real-time again can be usefully exploited by increasing familiarity with the content - but the Hi-MD download is faster than that.
I suppose each person will have to do their own cost/benefit anaylsis, but at least there now seem to be good quality hand held solid state recorders which opens things up a bit more - and gives Mac users a choice too.
I'm going to look at the quality of the lower-priced digital voice recorders next. The Olympus DM-20 seems to be c £230 and the DM10 (half the recording capacity) is c £200. Has anyone used any of the Sony models?
Thanks,
Duncan
===================================================
Duncan Branley [log in to unmask]
Research Applications Officer, Information Services
Goldsmiths' College, University of London
New Cross, LONDON SE14 6NW
Tel: +44 (0)20 7919 7708 Fax: +44 (0)20 7919 7556 ===================================================
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