Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with recorder

Mp3 recorder for kids

FidelDonson — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 13:11:27 -0800

My daughter would love a toy like the Fischer Price tape recorder from my childhood. A simple sturdy mp3 recorder with a microphone that can be operated by a small child. Does that perfect gift exist? My google skills turn op nothing.

Online pro audio sales forum?

Joseph Gurl — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 23:21:11 -0800

Where do pro broadcast audio professionals buy and sell their gear? I'm looking for a specific portable recorder (Sound Devices 788t) and would like to know if there's a board or online community for people in the industry to buy and sell gear.

Good WinXP sound recorder for bad eyes?

de void — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 11:25:59 -0800

What's a good Windows XP open source/freeware sound recorder that is easy for someone with vision deficits to use? Suggestions for a microphone also welcome. Details and... Stepdad's father will be doing a piano performance in a week. Stepdad will be flying with his Win XP notebook to attend and would like to record it, direct to MP3 if possible (but I can help him with .wav to mp3 conversion if necessary).

He has some significant vision deficits (nearly blind in one eye, huge amount of correction in the other) and uses the sight disability features in windows (large fonts, mouse pointer trails, screen magnifyer), so a complicated/cluttered interface would be a drag for him.

Money is an issue as well, so open source/freeware would be ideal.

Suggestions for a cheap-ish microphone with decent recording ability that travels well are also welcome.

A PVR which manages channels on a cable box?

imperium — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 09:27:10 -0800

I'm looking for a DVD/HDD recorder which can control a cable box. Does anyone have such a combo up and running? The aim is to record regular scheduled programmes from a PACE 4000 cable box. I don't really mind what kind of recorder I end up using, but I want to be able to archive selected programmes to DVD, and for the recorder to be able to switch channels on the cable box. Help!

DVD-R won't play discs, spins out of control!

l33tpolicywonk — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 13:40:36 -0800

DVD player door opens 3/4 of the way, then won't play discs - Help! I've got a Memorex brand DVD Recorder (MVDR 2102). Recently, when I try to play a DVD, the door opens about 3/4 of the way. When the DVD goes in and closes, I hear the drive start spinning for a second or two, then a second cycle where it spins much faster for a second or two, then it cuts out entirely. The player refuses to play anything.

I tried opening the case and blowing out the dust - no luck. Wanted to use a lens cleaner, but the player won't play it just like it won't play any other DVD. Really don't want to throw this out - is there any way I can fix this myself?

How can I listen to DSS audio files on my Mac?

toomuchkatherine — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 08:44:22 -0800

How can I listen to DSS audio files on my Mac? I have an Olympus DM-10 voice recorder that I use to record interviews. It's a nice little machine. The problem is, I lost the CD that came with it, which had a program to play the files that the recorder makes, which are DSS files.

There's a free "lite" version of the software on Olympus's website, but it comes in .sit format. I tried to download Stuffit Expander, but that initiated a process which seemed to have to end in my signing up for some annoying 'free offers' before getting the software.

Is there an easier way, either a free alternative way to play DSS, or another way to open a .sit file?

Podcast pointers and primers, please.

NikitaNikita — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 11:08:35 -0800

Podcast pointers and primers, please. Can you recommend a good "primer" for starting a podcast? This podcast in particular that I have in mind will consist mostly of interviews, and just a little bit of buffer music.

And/or: can you give me your tips for the beginner's guide to podcasting? For example, what gear should I have? What software for editing and voice equalization?

More background details: The interviews will take place over the phone (I already have a quicktap for this), as well as in person/at conferences. So, in the latter cases, recorder-portability is an issue. I have access to both PCs and Macs, so software can be for either. In terms of budget, I'd like to spend enough to have this sound professional and pleasantly listenable (no hissing, no wild sound variations between speakers) but I'd like to be frugal when possible, since I work for a non-profit.

Thanks!

Recording critters at the zoo, need a good recorder

krisjohn — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 18:57:13 -0800

I need recommendations for a digital video recorder designed for multiple video inputs, including sound, (four cameras point at an animal enclosure at a zoo) that's designed to allow for easy access to the videos recorded. Networkable would be really great, or standard removable storage (USB/SATA). I'd prefer it if the device recorded directly in a standard video format so no conversion from a proprietary format is needed.

Need Vista Compatible .wav to .mp3 converter software

Ironmouth — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 12:08:21 -0800

I need a Vista-compatable, cheap or freeware audio interface that can convert a .wav file to .mp3. I just got a nice 8-track hard disk recorder which outputs to a computer in a .wav format. The guy at [gulp] guitar center said that there are no good audio programs that work with Vista. Since I automatically don't believe anything that anyone who works at guitar center says, I'm here asking about it.

I'm planning on doing all of my mixdowns on the platform, not on the computer, so I'm not concerned with a program that does much more than convert the .wav files to .mp3 so I can put them up on the band's webpage and/or send around to the rest of the band.

Looking for the quick and dirty solution here and I'm not going to be using the software to do any real work, so no need for recommendations for a complete recording set up.

Transcribe to Mac

segatakai — Sat, 17 May 2008 00:17:41 -0800

Please recommend a solution for transcribing voice to text on my Mac. Ok. What I want to do is to have a (relatively small) device that I can carry with me, and, when the mood hits, speak into the device and have it record my voice. Later, I want to have my voice transcribed into editable text on my (PowerPC) PowerBook G4, which is running OS 10.5.2. Ideally (though perhaps unrealistically) I'd like to not spend more than about $250. Questions like this have been asked before, but are either outdated, inconclusive, or recommend $400 and up machines without really addressing the transcription issue (or all or the above).

I thought that this would be relatively simple (though I guessed the transcription might be somewhat less than 100% accurate), but I'm having trouble finding any clear-cut solution. I'm willing to be open-minded about solutions, including jerry-rigging (sp?) something. What exactly are my choices here?

First I looked at speech recognition/transcribing software for the Mac. It appears that IBM's Via Voice was discontinued some time ago, and anyway it seems to only be compatible up to OS 10.3 (maybe it was discontinued before 10.4?). MacSpeech seems to have replaced iListen with Dictate, which is apparently not-compatible with PowerPC macs (like mine). iListen, from what I can tell, would work with my Mac. However, my Googling has come up short; where can one find iListen for purchase (or steal)?

Next I looked at digital voice recorders. Wow, what a swamp! Only a few products specifically mention that they are compatible with Macs, but ultimately I'm not even sure what that means. Does this mean that the recorder and the Mac can't communicate at all (like the Mac won't recognize the recorder when its plugged into USB)? Or is it just that the included software is not compatible (i.e. the Mac will recognize the recorder, but you have to use some other software to listen/transcribe the files)?

One last side note: My wife has an old micro-cassette Olympus recorder. I presume that if I could get iListen (or something similar) working on my Mac, I could sit the recorder next to the built-in mic on my laptop (or buy a line-in adapter??) and proceed from there. Any thoughts on that?

Wind Instrument Try-Before-Buy?

The Confessor — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 19:20:17 -0800

Is it reasonable to expect to be able to try a wind instrument before buying it? I just bought a 'Gill' Wooden Sopranino recorder (Baroque fingering, of course) from a store in Boston without doing so, and got back to find that the lowest G and B notes (eq. to D and F# on C-tuned instruments) are so out of tune as to be unusable. I'll try to request a replacement since it was a $40 investment, but since I'm looking to purchase other such instruments in the future I'd like to know more about the ground rules.

How should I record and transcribe phone interviews?

incandescentman — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 10:42:54 -0800

What's the best solution for recording and transcribing phone interviews? And what kind of digital voice recorder should I buy? This question has been addressed before, but not recently, and there have been significant advances in (1) digital voice recorders, (2) speech recognition software, and (3) Web sites that will place calls for you, record them for you, and e-mail you an MP3.

The situation: I need to record and transcribe phone interviews. Right now I'm using an old-fashioned solution: Making the calls on a land line with an inline phone-to-audio device attached, recording them onto audiotapes, then transcribing them by hand. I'll also occasionally need to record lectures.

1. Should I buy a digital voice recorder, and if so, which one? If I were going to buy a digital voice recorder, I'd need it to have slow-playback capability, so that I could transcribe as I listened. The Olympus DS-40 and WS-300 both advertise this feature.

2. Is speech recognition software at the point where it can accurately transcribe a phone interview (rather than, say, slow and clear dictation)? Some of Sony's digital voice recorders come with Dragon NaturallySpeaking, but that's only a selling point if the transcriptions are fairly accurate.

3. What about computer- or Web-based solutions, such as GrandCentral.com or Skype? Do any of these services offer accurate transcription services? It would be great if I could occasionally do interviews from my cell phone and have a third party record and transcribe them.

Portable digital recorder with powered mic in and removable storage

neustile — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 07:58:36 -0800

Looking for a portable digital recorder that is as small as possible but has a powered 1/8" stereo mic in (for a binaural mic), records uncompressed PCM at at least 16-bit 44KHz, has removable storage, and does not need special software to transfer and deal with files on a computer (e.g. it should record direct to aiff or wav on the card.)

Help me use my cell phone to audiojournal.

twins named Lugubrious and Salubrious — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 11:58:26 -0800

How can I set up an audio-journaling scheme with my cell phone? I haven't been able to find a way to make this happen, but maybe you can.

I've been looking for a way to use my cell phone to record an audio journal. Basically, I want to be able to click a button (or dial a number) that would let me speak and have it immediately transcribed. So this will probably involve a phone with some kind of app that recognizes speech/transcribes/etc. Does that even exist?

Jott also sounds good, especially now that I can opt out of using human transcribers, but they only let you record in 15 second increments. Is there anything similar that lets you record in longer increments?

Accuracy isn't the biggest issue here. I only want some kind of written document that records what I was trying to say; scanning it will probably give me a quick reference to what I was thinking at the time.

So I'm looking for either:

- a PDA phone that works with speech recognition software (preferably, but doesn't necessarily have to work with AT&T)
- some kind of Jott-like service
- or maybe just go oldskool: digital recorder + daily uploads to a computer with speech recognition software

Which is the best way to go? Thanks in advance.

Internet Sound and Music Recorder!

Wayman Tisdale — Sun, 11 Nov 2007 19:54:30 -0800

Can you explain to a non-computer nerd the best way to record music from the internet? It seems to me that there must be a way of recording the sound from say, a You-tube clip or a music video that I play on the internet, and then it somehow gets converted to a mp3 or something that I can then play on itunes or burn on a CD. I call this device or program "An Internet Sound and Music Recorder." So, where can I get such a device/program? And also which one gives really great sound quality?

Yes, I am sure that this question has been asked previously. But I couldn't understand any of the answers I found, so I am asking you. I know nothing about computers or technology but I do know that I like music.

Where can I find a free sound card output recording software?

herbiehancock00 — Sat, 20 Oct 2007 15:54:47 -0800

Where can I find a free sound card output recording software? I'm trying to find a free software that will allow me to record the sound output of my sound card into wav or mp3 format. Please let me know if you know of one.

Thanks!

where should i put the holes on a recorder?

KaeporaGaebora — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 17:04:51 -0800

how can i figure out where i should place the holes and how large they should be on a bamboo recorder i am making? i am trying to make a bamboo recorder, and i have done everything up to the point of placing the holes in the correct spot. the recorder plays an "e" right now and is 25 cm long. the bore is 2 centimeters in diameter. can anyone tell me how i could figure out where and how large the holes should be? is there some sort of equation?
i have visited this site http://www.webspirit.com/fluteman/book/simple_bamboo_recorder.htm
but my recorder does not have the right dimensions for the diagram there.

Which digital video recorder for a helmetcam?

unSane — Tue, 05 Jun 2007 19:49:23 -0800

I am putting together a helmetcam system for mountain biking. Which digital (flash or HD based) video recorder should I use? OK, I'm going to use a camera simlar to this one with 520 line resolution.

I need something which will record the video.

I don't want a DV camera because of the pain of having to digitize everything in real time, and the likelihood of severe shocks when I fall off the bike.

So that leaves either a flash-based or HD based recorder. I think flash would be a better choice for me. The cheapest option appears to be the Aiptek MPVR which I like because it will record third-person video as well and is cheap enough not to worry about.

What other options are there for better quality in a similar form factor with or without lens? Do any other of the new HD/Flash-based camcorders offer video-in (which is the sine qua non here)? Bonus points for (a) a lens (b) toughness (c) quality (d) toughness (e) mac-friendly output format (eg .mov) (f) remote.

Obviously it must fit in a camelback and have a battery life of >1hr while recording.

Recording Phone Interviews

aaronwsj — Fri, 01 Jun 2007 01:01:07 -0800

Advice on a portable digital recording device. Mostly for recording phone interviews (and not for broadcast), but I'd like something easy to mic, Mac compatible, and not overly complicated or fussy. (Not the first time asked, I know, but the state of the art does change so fast.) I was leaning towards Sony Hi-MD. Should I pay for the RH1? Are there any big drawbacks in opting for an older model, given my fairly limited demands and expectations? Is Flash better than MD? If I ever wanted to edit the sounds files, does one device spit out a preferable file type?

-thanks-

voice recorder for Mac

phluke — Tue, 03 Apr 2007 15:38:57 -0800

A decent voice recorder for mac? Hi, I bought an Olympus (VN-960PC) voice recorder recently and realized that it won't work with my MacBook. Can anyone recommend me a decent voice recorder (I use it to record interviews and conversations with others) that would play nicely with Mac?

Thanks for your time.

Looking for a quality DVD recorder with built in VCR.

TwilightKid — Thu, 08 Mar 2007 16:19:35 -0800

Looking to purchase a DVD recorder with a built in VCR....need help finding a good one.... So, I have a bunch of VHS tapes I want to preserve onto DVD. I have checked with Amazon figuring they would have the biggest selection. I am looking to stay under $175 bucks as well...The only machines that I have heard of in that range and have the built in VCR's are from Panasonic, and all of them have gotten less then great reviews...Enough to scare me off for even giving it a shot despite the brand name and reputation....

Can anyone recommend a good machine, and where to purchase? simple as that!

much thanks

How to replace my Sky Plus box?

salmacis — Thu, 15 Feb 2007 05:39:05 -0800

How do I replace my Sky Plus box? I'm in the UK. For reasons of price I've decided to ditch Sky Plus. Since I already get my broadband from Virgin Media (formerly ntl) I can get a TV package with them for virtually no extra money. One thing I am going to miss though is the easy recording with Sky Plus. Virgin Media have a Sky Plus-type box which apparently has the same function, but it's £15 a month, which I will not pay. (Does the VM box work as well as Sky Plus anyway?)

What alternatives are there? I could go the old route and hook up my old VCR, but there must be a better way in this day and age. All hard disk recorders seem to have Freeview built in. Are there any which will work with cable? Is a DVD recorder going to fitthe bill? Failing that, is it possible to build a bare-bones system myself, and if so, where should I start?

Please do not asnwer this question if you're not in the UK and do not know about UK broadcasting or what boxes are available here.

lousy DVD recordings

judybxxx — Tue, 06 Feb 2007 13:11:37 -0800

Problems with recording DVD's. Do I need a cleaner? or a different machine? I get lousy recordings, some of the time. One and a half years ago I bought a reconditioned Toshiba DVD and VCR Recorder/Player. D-VR3SU/ I basically like it, it was relatively easy to learn how to use it, though that took a while. My old VCR had died, and it made sense to me to go digital, but I have a lot of tapes I wanted to copy. And I was busy. For a while, it seemed to work fine, but many of the copies i didn't watch, so it was hard to tell. I bought discs from Costco, TDK, and using DVD Media Inspector, as suggested by digitalFAQ.com, I found they are TTG02, supposed to be in the highest quality category.
But more and more often, when I watch something I"ve recorded, it is full of bad spots, no sound, picture breaks up, etc. But not the whole disc. And sometimes it's fine.
Finally , recently I got systematic about watching the discs I record, to get a real sense of what's happening. and I've switched back to tape for temporary stuff, since, inexplicably, the tape recorder stopped seeing all tapes as write protected.
The last two discs,
1-2.5 hours at LP, looks fine for 1st 2 hours, then last half hour breaks up 20 times, then 2 hours at EP, 1st 20 minutes ok, then every few minutes it breaks up, hard to watch tho not impossible.

2. Probably recorded at LP, i'm not sure and can't tell on the player.
1st 2 hours are fine, then the next two, blips started about 23 minutes into it, unwatchable.
So now I don't know what to do. I did some looking on the web and found some DVD player cleaners and also this
searchwin
which suggests they do little or no good.
And it seems like the beginning of the disk is better than the later part,
I can still return this player and start all over (I bought "extended protection" which turns out to be a refund) , but I hate to do it. I spent a lot of time shopping and then learning this one. Ideas,insights? Judy

What's up with my Archos Jukebox Recorder 15 ?

therealshell — Mon, 25 Dec 2006 17:23:07 -0800

How can I get my computer to recognize the Archos Jukebox Recorder 15 as an external drive ? I got the Archos Jukebox Recorder 15 a while ago, and, at first, I was able to transfer stuff to it easily, but now the computer doesn't recognize the Archos as an external drive.

How can I remedy this ?

Thanks.

PalmOS pda/phone w/ Voice Recorder?

Bradley — Thu, 07 Dec 2006 06:21:41 -0800

Looking for a phone/pda combo that has a Voice Recorder button (or a programmable button). PalmOS only. I'm a Palm addict since the Palm Personal first came out in 1997 or so. I currently use a Tungsten T3, and am on my 3rd one due to breakage. I just buy them used/cheap on ebay when they die.

I have been craving a phone/pda unit for quite a while. Treos are sexy. But the feature that I can't live without is the easy Voice Recorder. As a GTD guy, this is one of my easiest 'collectors'. Right on the side of my Palm, I press one button and within a second I'm recording. From all the reviews that I've read on different phone/pda's, the Treo and similar units don't have this. If they do have a Voice Recorder app, it's buried in a menu. If I have to dig for it, it's useless to me.

Does anyone know of a phone that runs Palm OS and has a customizable button that I can program to be a dedicated instantaneous voice recorder?