Smartphone reording apps for journalists?

December 16, 2017 11:03 AM

What apps are used for recording quotes at press events?

In press conferences and other public events where reporters are thrusting their devices into the faces of a person hoping to record a quote, about half are dedicated digital recorders and the other half seem to be normal Apple or Android smartphones. Is there specialized apps for the phones for this purpose, or do journalists use the standard "audio recorder" apps available from all the usual suspects? Are any of them free? Mainly interested in android. Thanks!

posted by werkzeuger to Technology (5 answers total)

Best answer: They just use a normal audio recorder app that is free. I have one on my Android phone called Smart Voice Recorder that has really nice audio quality and is easy to use. That said, I have friends who have lost audio on their phones when an app froze or some other issue when they went to save it, and they lost an entire interview, or had issues when people tried calling/text whilst recording. I don't know what specific apps they used, but I know from experience cell phone apps aren't perfect and once you miss the audio, it's gone forever. I would use a digital audio recorder, like an Olympus brand one -- it's designed to do one job and it does it perfectly every time. Or, have a back-up -- I use two recorders always.
posted by AppleTurnover at 11:08 AM on December 16, 2017 [1 favorite]

I use my Olympus WS-801 recorder and an app on my iPhone as a backup, but the Olympus is what I really rely on.
posted by jgirl at 12:46 PM on December 16, 2017

I used to use an Olympus voice recorder from which I could download digital files (though they used to have some super annoying issues with proprietary software that would only work on Windows for some models; I'm not sure if that's improved). I've since used RecForge on Android.
posted by limeonaire at 1:07 PM on December 16, 2017

Just to follow up on that last comment, I used to have an Olympus that used propriety software too and it was awful. But that was a long time ago -- the newer models aren't like that. I just connect them to my Windows PC or my Macbook laptop and I can see the audio files like any other flash drive.

My two current audio recorders are a VN-702PC and a VN-722PC. The second one is the "better" model, but once I got some interference -- like some other device was distorting the audio on it. It was very strange and only happened once. But my 702PC has been wonderful and reliable and I highly recommend it. (I notice they are both really expensive on Amazon. I bought them for only $50 each, so I'm assuming they've been discontinued or something.)
posted by AppleTurnover at 4:14 PM on December 16, 2017

Just remember if you are using your phone to put it on Airplane mode - if someone calls you right in the middle of a vital recording, you're stuffed.
posted by penguin pie at 4:24 PM on December 16, 2017 [1 favorite]