Kate,
As has been noted a number of times on this list, most researchers find that
the combination of a minidisk recorder and good quality microphone produces
the optimum quality of recording. There are numerous reasons for this, one
of the most important being that a decent minidisk recorder will auto-adjust
the gain input as you are recording, so when a person speaks quieter, the
recorder increases the gain accordingly.
One of the things many of my colleagues and students seem to ignore is the
importance of getting as good a microphone as you can afford. A model like
the Sony ECM-MS907 may well cost more than your minidisk recorder, but it
will pick up everything that happens with incredible clarity, and in stereo.
This makes the transcription process a little easier, as there is more audio
separation between speakers (in a one-to-one situation). From an audio point
of view, the quality of the microphone is more important than the recorder.
Using a minidisk with a poor-quality mic is a bit like having a great camera
and putting a poor-quality lens on the front!
Dr Allan Hewitt
Lecturer in Music
Department of Applied Arts
Universtity of Strathclyde, Glasgow
-----Original Message-----
From: qual-software [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of
Kate Forrest
Sent: Wednesday, January 29, 2003 14:55
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Digital recording
Dear All
Thanks to all who replied to me earlier regarding recording and
transcribing interview data. I was wondering if there was a better
method of recording interviews rather than using the traditional tape
recorder method. I am hoping that by finding a decent 'recorder' I
can eliminate some of the problems that are associated with recording
interviews (background noise etc.). I have already conducted a
number of interviews and some of the problems have been
distinguishing what people have been saying, particularly when they
begin the sentence fairly audibly and then deteriorate to a barely
audible garble. It's important that I get as clear a recording as
possible as the interviews are quite technical in terms of their content.
Thanks in advance for any help.
Regards
Kate
---------------------------------
Kate Forrest
Postgraduate Research Student
School of Psychology
University of Leeds
0113 343 6696
|