If you’re a student or business person who needs to record and process audio files often, you probably know how important it is to choose the right recording device.
Digital Voice Recorders (DVRs) are a great way to create high quality audio files that can easily be transferred to a computer later for editing, customization.
There are a huge number of choices available in the DVR market. So knowing what to look for is important. Here are some basic features to consider when shopping for one:
Sound Quality
Most DVRs come with multiple sound quality settings, for e.g. LP (Long Play – lowest quality), SP (Standard Play – medium quality), and HQ (High Quality – highest quality). Higher levels of quality require more memory and consequently reduce recording time.
If you’re recording the audio for your own listening then even the lowest level of recording may be sufficient (may be). However, if you plan to use the recording to create products (like podcasts or CDs) it would be wise to choose the highest level of recording and supplement recording time with additional storage devices like flash drives and removable memory cards.
Microphones
Built-in microphones in most DVRs make them completely self-contained recording units. On the flip side though, they capture all sounds indiscriminately – including the sound made by the recorder itself – so they’re great for single-speaker audio recorded in a quiet room but not so effective if there’s any amount of noise around or if there are multiple speakers involved. They also limit one’s options in terms of positioning the microphone according to the kind of audio being recorded (for e.g. if you’re interviewing someone, you’d have to keep moving the recorder between the two speakers – and every time you do that, the noise from the movement will be recorded).
Choosing a DVR with an external microphone jack is by far the best option. You can then attach a lavalier, unidirectional, or omnidirectional microphone to the device according to the type of audio you plan to record.
Telephone Adapter
Some DVRs come with a telephone adapter that can be used to record telephonic interviews, teleclasses, etc. External phone adapters are also available.
PC Connectivity
If you want to work on your audio files using a computer (for creating information products, editing content, etc.), your DVR must have a USB port and connectivity cable that will allow you to transfer audio files from the recorder to your computer.
File Formats
If you plan to share your audio files with others, it’s important to save them in a format that can be easily played. The four most common file formats are DSS (Digital Speech Standard), WMA (Windows Media Audio), WAV (Waveform), and MP3 (MPEG-1 Audio Layer 3). DSS files require additional software to play on PCs, WMA files are compressed files that can be played on the Windows Media Player, WAV files are high-quality, uncompressed files that are very large, and MP3 files are compressed files that are much smaller than WAV but almost the same quality.
Some recorders create files in proprietary formats that can only be played on the device or using its companion software. If you choose one of those, it’s advisable to either convert the files to one of the common formats before sharing them with others OR send the companion software along with the file.
Recording Time
This varies from product to product. Recorders can store anything from 90 minutes to 20 hours of recording. External storage devices such as flash drives and memory cards are also available.
Recording time is directly related to the level of quality chosen. High quality audio takes up more space and reduces recording time. With a low quality setting your device can record more. You should choose a device that is suited to the kind of audio you want to record.
Battery life
The battery life of a DVR can be anything between 25 hours to 32 hours (this can however vary depending on how old the batteries are, when they were last used, etc.). It’s advisable to choose a device with both battery and electrical adapter capacities.
There are many other features of DVRs that can be considered at the time of purchase, but these are the main things to look for.
And for the visual learners amongst you, here’s a great video guide to portable digital voice recorders from B&H – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Ey_ySC9aO0
Happy recording!
