MP3 Player with Good Voice Recording

[Snubber]

Hi there.

I am looking for a >1Gb MP3 player that has good voice recording facilities for recording lectures. I guess that this will need a unit with line-in to take a decent external microphone rather than using internal condenser microphone that may not be able to pick up lecture material where the source is up to 10 m away etc.

My budget is in the order of £150.

Any thoughts?

Many thanks,

CH

[extremelydodgy]

Depends on whether you need the > bit of the >1Gb, but Sony's Hi-MD recorders have absolutely the best recording abilities of any non-pro DAP around at the moment. They record to 1Gb discs, and have a decent Mic preamp for small Mics as well as line and optical input. £150 should get you the upper-end models at the moment, and you may even be able to find the superceded-last-year NH1 top-end model for less. You can upload analog recordings to Sonicstage, whereupon you can convert it to WAV format for editing. Hi-MD records at various bitrates, from 64K to uncompressed.

[D2V2D]

Look at these player/recorders, there are more on the iriver site as well. Some have a line in that you can adjust volume on, some even have optical line in, also seperate line in & Mike in. Dixons Curries have a special offer 20 gig iriver (H 320) this may do what you need for £179.00 at the moment. I just bought one myself.

http://www.iriver.com/eu/index.asp

[extremelydodgy]

The H320 has an onboard mic but it picks up drive noise, display noise, etc. The Mic input preamp is also just a digital gain on top of the line input. I also find that it's very counterintuitive to use as a recorder and during time-pressed moments I've ended up recording at the wrong bitrate and the wrong input a few times too often. As a tech toy it's very cool. As a proper recording tool I can't recommend it anywhere near as much as Hi-MD.


(And I'm not a Sonyholic as many seem to be on this board these days. Hi-MD just happens to do recording right)

[shadowritten]

Easy, dodgy! Some of us may like Sony, but it ain't nuttin' to be ashamed of or distance yourself from.

[johann1979]

Sorry to forever be the one that is either stirring up the **** or pouring the oil on the fire - but I am ashamed to be a Sony fan! Just look at the cracking thread and you will know why. I have wasted sooooooo much energy on them, I upgraded my personal audio player every 6 months, always getting the top of the range minidisc player or Hi-MD a while back, vaio pockets, 2 HD5's plus so much money on phonecalls moaning to them - and what have they given me in return? Non existent customer service. Lies. Two fat fingers up and that is it. I am disgusted that they reward my (OUR!) loyalty like that...

[shadowritten]

They're not perfect, I admit it. But then, name me a big corporation of their global electronics influence that is. We put up with them because we choose to; and we choose to because there's something about their products that keeps us hooked.

Anyone care to hazard a guess at what that mysterious something might be?

[johann1979]

Originally Posted by shadowritten

They're not perfect, I admit it. But then, name me a big corporation of their global electronics influence that is. We put up with them because we choose to; and we choose to because there's something about their products that keeps us hooked.

Anyone care to hazard a guess at what that mysterious something might be?

I know what you are saying and I'd rather not get into a full scale argument, but STILL denying there is a problem with the buttons of the HD5 after HUNDREDS if not THOUSANDS of complaints and still shifting stock and still no solution is plain ignorant and goes well beyond BAD customer service. It is dispicable.

[D2V2D]

Originally Posted by extremelydodgy

The H320 has an onboard mic but it picks up drive noise, display noise, etc. The Mic input preamp is also just a digital gain on top of the line input. I also find that it's very counterintuitive to use as a recorder and during time-pressed moments I've ended up recording at the wrong bitrate and the wrong input a few times too often. As a tech toy it's very cool.

(And I'm not a Sonyholic as many seem to be on this board these days. Hi-MD just happens to do recording right)

Can't agree, I've been using mine to record on line in at 64 & the quality is supurb, this is for talking on radio but music is also extremely good, at higher bitrates it is fantastic. There is no way you can put in the wrong bitrate anymore than make any mistake with a MD.

I've had mini discs since the format was released in the UK & have thousands of MDs now. I have had many Sony products & am very happy with them. I am not ashamed to also be a Sonyholic.

[extremelydodgy]

64K on the iRiver and the quality is superb?!?

[D2V2D]

Originally Posted by extremelydodgy

64K on the iRiver and the quality is superb?!?

Yep... Note it's with speach. I also record on 64 mp3 pro for music for my Rio Karma & no one has realised it was that low when they hear the results through various headphones. I have to point out these are ones I ripped from my CDs & not re encoded ones.

[extremelydodgy]

Tried it with a Mic? Compared it with the Hi-MD?

[123orth]

i am looking for a similar thing
any more suggestions please
would need to be able to record some lectures 3/4 hrs max at a time