Some electronics question

srikant1987 · Post by **srikant1987** » 28 Aug 2009, 07:55

Is their any device that can just record sound and store it in a computer-readable form?

You may also suggest devices that minimally exceed this need (may be play the sound, for example), but please nothing that can take photos and videos and play them all.

vasanthakokilam · Post by **vasanthakokilam** » 28 Aug 2009, 08:05

iPods can do that. Cheaper options are the devices from sansa including the Sansa clip which is quite tiny. http://www.sansa.com/players/sansa_clip/features The bigger form factor players from Sansa can record too. Sansa will feel a bit clunky if you are used to iPod like coolness. I have both and use Sansa for rough use.

laks1972 · Post by **laks1972** » 28 Aug 2009, 09:53

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iriver_E100

http://amazon.com/iriver-E100-Multimedi ... 343&sr=8-5

Nick H · Post by **Nick H** » 28 Aug 2009, 11:14

Heaps of devices!

There's only one rule: you get what you pay for, and quality is expensive.

I have a feeling that devices made by Samson have been discussed, and also that they are on the expensiv side.

tkb · Post by **tkb** » 28 Aug 2009, 11:44

I use Transcend 4 GB MP630 with provision to record with line-in facility with which i take the output of the audio mixture. I have been using this for at least 14 months now and the recording in my folder

(Link deleted)

I also recorded all the 19 concerts during April-May'09 abroad of Sathya's with this. The quality is really good and gives out in .wav format with bit rate of 128 - 259kbs. I bought it for Rs 2050/-including a charger.

vainika · Post by **vainika** » 28 Aug 2009, 19:43

I use a basic Transcend which records in .wav format. It can play .wav and .mp3 but will not convert from one to the other.

I didn't know iPods had built in mics..

sramaswamy · Post by **sramaswamy** » 28 Aug 2009, 21:47

I was using iRiver H320 for recording my classes till sometime ago. This records it in mp3 format. The recording used to be good. The only grouse I had was it takes long time to stop and start recording and I think that is something to do with the hard disc that the player uses. This used to slightly distracting during a class, if I have to stop when I have to switch over to a new recorded file when I complete one song and move over to next song. The mp3 player is pretty bulky for today and probably outdated at this time.

Now I have classes over Skype classes and the classes get automatically recorded through Skype add on - I think called Power Gramo (or something like that). I still use the iRiver for listening by transferring the recorded classes from computer but not for recording itself though.

vasanthakokilam · Post by **vasanthakokilam** » 28 Aug 2009, 21:49

>I didn't know iPods had built in mics..

You need an external mic for the iPods.

The iPod touch has an application 'Voice Memos', it organizes the recordings like a play list which you can tag with your own information. It also syncs them to iTunes. They all appear in a separate playlist. It is in m4a format but iTunes can convert it to mp3.( right click and select the convert option, in windows ).

rshankar · Post by **rshankar** » 28 Aug 2009, 23:26

Not just iPod touch, all the iPods have that utility. I use iTalk to record onto my iPod directly, and have found it to be more than adequate for my needs. Many of the kids in college use it to record lectures. You can set the quality of the recording (the format is .wav), and then, when you synch it to iTunes, use iTunes to convert it to mp3 format.

vasanthakokilam · Post by **vasanthakokilam** » 29 Aug 2009, 01:08

Right. Thanks Ravi. These iPod models support recording with the optional mic accessory:

iPod classic (120 GB)
iPod nano (4th generation)
iPod nano (2nd generation)
iPod (5th generation) (running iPod Software 1.1.2 or later)
iPod with color display (running iPod Software 1.0 or later)
iPod photo (running iPod Software 1.0 or later)
iPod (Click Wheel) (running iPod Software 3.0 or later)
iPod (dock connector) (running iPod Software 2.1 or later)

Ravi: I use mostly my iPhone these days which has a built-in mic. One annoyance I recall experiencing before with the iPod is, you can not play the recordings on the iPod itself unless you have
the mic attached to it. The Extras > Voice Memos option did not appear if you do not connect a Mic. Is that your experience as well? I recall feeling that it was quite a brain-dead decision by Apple.

shripathi_g · Post by **shripathi_g** » 29 Aug 2009, 03:18

I had a Creative Zen Micro mp3 player that had a pretty good recorder. I've been able to record some concerts without a major loss in quality. I recently bought an Olympus-DS 40 for my brother and the recording quality is impeccable.

sankirnam · Post by **sankirnam** » 29 Aug 2009, 05:15

I used to use the first-gen italk with my old ipod... it was sastisfactory for my needs. It recorded everything as a mono .wav file at 8 Khz.

The new iTalk for newer ipods, while somewhat better (it can do mono and stereo recordings at varying quality levels) uses up too much battery life... plus the fact that it uses the bottom of the ipod for connecting rather than the top means that you cannot charge with AC adapter and record at the same time (useful for music classes and such).

I recently invested in the Zoom H4n (the latest recorder released by Zoom, earlier this year), and it is worth every penny. Again, you get what you pay for... and this is approx. $300. It can do very-high quality recordings using the inbuilt stereo condensor mikes (up to 96 Khz/24 bit!!!) and also up to 4 channels on the line-in... so you can directly record concerts on the unit without downmixing to 2 channel stereo (assuming 2 channels for mrudangam L/R, one for vocal, and one for violin). I haven't really tested out the battery life on this. The box says up to 11 hours (with 2 AA batteries), but I guess we will see in december in chennai.

srikant1987 · Post by **srikant1987** » 29 Aug 2009, 06:13

I am looking for something rather low-end. More like Rs 300 (or 500) than $300.

gn.sn42 · Post by **gn.sn42** » 29 Aug 2009, 08:03

sankirnam wrote:I recently invested in the Zoom H4n (the latest recorder released by Zoom, earlier this year), and it is worth every penny...
I haven't really tested out the battery life on this. The box says up to 11 hours (with 2 AA batteries), but I guess we will see in december in chennai.

The Zoom sound quality is exceptional; I'm particularly pleased with how well it captures drum sounds (always a hard problem). Re battery life, with rechargeable AA batteries I've seen over 5 hours of recording, but have not been brave enough to test it further.

vasanthakokilam · Post by **vasanthakokilam** » 29 Aug 2009, 10:30

srikant: Rs. 300 is way too low to get anything. May be used ones. Given that these do not have any moving parts, it may do good work for you for a couple of years.

The lowest I have seen around here is some refurbished low end sansa for around $15-$20. There are some non-name brand ones, new for around $10. Interestingly, a lot of them support recording.
Who knows what the quality will be and how long they will last. You will have to budget for some more so it will last you for a while. I see these kinds of low end ones on http://ebay.in.

What are some good India e-commerce websites that sell electronic stuff, low or medium entry points, accept payment in rupees and deliver within India?

srinivasrgvn · Post by **srinivasrgvn** » 29 Aug 2009, 13:12

ganesh_mourthy · Post by **ganesh_mourthy** » 29 Aug 2009, 14:34

when you all talk about recording a concert , do you mean recording through a cord connected to the aplifier or just cordless.

Nick H · Post by **Nick H** » 29 Aug 2009, 15:36

Despite excluding devices that take photos and make phone calls --- have you tried the devices that you have already got? My phone makes much better recordings than I would have ever expected, although it needs to be close to the sound source to do so.

srikant1987 · Post by **srikant1987** » 29 Aug 2009, 15:44

I had a phone that could record, but that's now defunct and I have a skeleton of a cell phone now.

And they usually get tired in 15 minutes, and 30 minutes can probably turn them into wraiths. But yes, the quality is decent.

ganesh_mourthy · Post by **ganesh_mourthy** » 29 Aug 2009, 16:17

my sony ericsson k800i records badly. it is noise always. NIck, when you say sound source do you mean the loud speaker?

rajesh_rs · Post by **rajesh_rs** » 29 Aug 2009, 18:49

I use a Creative Zen MP3 player to do my recordings. In addition, I also have a standard good quality mic (Philips, I think), which I use for guitar recordings in Audacity (a software which can record and edit audio on Windows).

Nick H · Post by **Nick H** » 29 Aug 2009, 20:22

ganesh_mourthy wrote:my sony ericsson k800i records badly. it is noise always. NIck, when you say sound source do you mean the loud speaker?

No, I mean when uploaded to a computer and then played.

I don't usually record at concerts, but I took some video at one concert, and was really surprised at how well the sound came out. I was sitting next to a speaker though (It was one of Cool's concerts, so the speaker was reinforcing, not blaring, and sitting by it was comfortable)