Author Topic: Voice recorders  (Read 1111 times)

Hawkmoon

  • friend
  • Senior Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 27,197
Voice recorders
« on: July 21, 2021, 10:31:32 PM »
I have one -- a Panasonic, which was a decent unit when I bought it several years ago. The problem with it is that it's entirely self-contained -- there is no way to download a recorded conversation (or meeting) off the device to a computer, USB stick, or anything else. And I may need to record a meeting and be able to preserve a record of it on the municipality's network server.

Does anyone know of an affordable (which to me means under $100) voice recorder that has capability to download the audio file? Preferably in some format that can be played back on a computer?
- - - - - - - - - - - - -
100% Politically Incorrect by Design

WLJ

  • friends
  • Senior Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 27,846
  • On Patrol In The Epsilon Eridani System
Re: Voice recorders
« Reply #1 on: July 21, 2021, 10:35:31 PM »
Aren't there voice recorder apps for your phone?
"Sometimes I think the surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that none of it has tried to contact us".
- Calvin and Hobbes

zxcvbob

  • friend
  • Senior Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 12,208
Re: Voice recorders
« Reply #2 on: July 21, 2021, 10:49:51 PM »
Aren't there voice recorder apps for your phone?

Yes there are.  There's one called "Easy Voice Recorder" that works okay and it's free.

The cheap Olympus voice recorder (model WS-500M) I bought several years ago to record church services has a pop-out USB-A plug for transferring files to your computer.  I think newer models also have a microUSB slot, so you could record to removable media and transfer it that way.
"It's good, though..."

K Frame

  • friend
  • Senior Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 44,009
  • I Am Inimical
Re: Voice recorders
« Reply #3 on: July 22, 2021, 07:52:29 AM »
Your phone.
Carbon Monoxide, sucking the life out of idiots, 'tards, and fools since man tamed fire.

cordex

  • Administrator
  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 8,570
Re: Voice recorders
« Reply #4 on: July 22, 2021, 09:01:27 AM »
Has anyone mentioned that your phone can do this?

Also, there are tons of sub $100 recorders with USB or SD card transfer options.  Sony makes some good ones, I believe.

Nick1911

  • Administrator
  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 8,486
Re: Voice recorders
« Reply #5 on: July 22, 2021, 09:40:50 AM »
Might try using your phone.  :laugh:

Ben

  • Administrator
  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 45,742
  • I'm an Extremist!
Re: Voice recorders
« Reply #6 on: July 22, 2021, 09:58:05 AM »
A smartphone will do it. Or else Linux.
"I'm a foolish old man that has been drawn into a wild goose chase by a harpy in trousers and a nincompoop."

TommyGunn

  • friend
  • Senior Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 7,956
  • Stuck in full auto since birth.
Re: Voice recorders
« Reply #7 on: July 22, 2021, 10:30:23 AM »
This makes me miss my old Sony TC-55 cassette tape recorder from 1975.  :'(      :old:  :old:
MOLON LABE   "Through ignorance of what is good and what is bad, the life of men is greatly perplexed." ~~ Cicero


K Frame

  • friend
  • Senior Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 44,009
  • I Am Inimical
Re: Voice recorders
« Reply #9 on: July 22, 2021, 02:47:15 PM »
Did anyone mention a phone?
Carbon Monoxide, sucking the life out of idiots, 'tards, and fools since man tamed fire.

Hawkmoon

  • friend
  • Senior Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 27,197
Re: Voice recorders
« Reply #10 on: July 22, 2021, 04:26:05 PM »
Did anyone mention a phone?

I think you did -- lemme check.

Yep. Pretty sure that was you, unless it was your evil twin, Skippy.

I don't want to use my phone, because it's MY phone, not a work-issued phone. If this little kerfluffle goes full legal (I'm hoping it won't), I don't want to have my personal phone involved because I don't want anyone to have an excuse to poke around inside my phone in the holy name of discovery.
« Last Edit: July 22, 2021, 09:04:58 PM by Hawkmoon »
- - - - - - - - - - - - -
100% Politically Incorrect by Design

Doggy Daddy

  • Poobah
  • friend
  • Senior Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 5,330
  • From the saner side of Las Vegas
Re: Voice recorders
« Reply #11 on: July 22, 2021, 06:27:33 PM »
I think you did -- lemme check.

Yep. Pretty sure that was you, unless it was your evil twin, Skippy.


Hmmm... "Skippy Frame".  Kinda has a ring to it.  Speaking of rings, have you considered using your phone?


(Just kidding.  I fact, you're on the ball there.  I've recommended to new employees to think twice about documenting incidents/accidents with their phone camera.  We have supervisors who come out to do that.  I tell them to consider the loss of their phone until a trial or arbitration is possible, so to think it over thoroughly.)
Would you exchange
a walk-on part in a war
for a lead role in a cage?
-P.F.

RoadKingLarry

  • friends
  • Senior Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 21,841
Re: Voice recorders
« Reply #12 on: July 22, 2021, 07:10:19 PM »
Hmmm... "Skippy Frame".  Kinda has a ring to it.  Speaking of rings, have you considered using your phone?


(Just kidding.  I fact, you're on the ball there.  I've recommended to new employees to think twice about documenting incidents/accidents with their phone camera.  We have supervisors who come out to do that.  I tell them to consider the loss of their phone until a trial or arbitration is possible, so to think it over thoroughly.)

Had a company phone for just such occasions. You need to take my phone? Here, let me get you the charger for it as well.  =D
If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or your arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen.

Samuel Adams

Nick1911

  • Administrator
  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 8,486
Re: Voice recorders
« Reply #13 on: July 22, 2021, 11:07:11 PM »
Oh, in the case how about a burner phone?

zahc

  • friend
  • Senior Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 5,791
Re: Voice recorders
« Reply #14 on: July 22, 2021, 11:36:57 PM »
I have a Roland R-05 that records mp3 or WAV to an SD card. Runs on AA batteries. I love it.
Maybe a rare occurence, but then you only have to get murdered once to ruin your whole day.
--Tallpine

Hawkmoon

  • friend
  • Senior Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 27,197
Re: Voice recorders
« Reply #15 on: July 23, 2021, 12:10:09 AM »
Oh, in the case how about a burner phone?

I'm considering that. With that in mind, this evening I tested six voice recorder apps for Android, all rated 4.6 or higher.

They all suck.

I really wish I could find a way to use my voice recorder device, but I can't find any way to download the recordings. I was wrong on the brand. It's actually an Olympus VN-7200. Memory is all internal, no micro-SD cards. No micro-USB ports to allow connecting to a computer. The manual doesn't even mention what format the files are stored in -- and, since there's apparently no way to copy them or download them, I suppose it doesn't matter what format they're in.
- - - - - - - - - - - - -
100% Politically Incorrect by Design

cordex

  • Administrator
  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 8,570
Re: Voice recorders
« Reply #16 on: July 23, 2021, 12:17:02 AM »
If it ever comes to discovery, why not just hand them the recorder and tell them they can pull what they need off of there and give it back when they are done?

It can be done (slowly) if there is a headphone jack. Just run a cable from headphones to the mic jack on a computer and start playing and recording.

K Frame

  • friend
  • Senior Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 44,009
  • I Am Inimical
Re: Voice recorders
« Reply #17 on: July 23, 2021, 06:58:31 AM »
I think you did -- lemme check.

Yep. Pretty sure that was you, unless it was your evil twin, Skippy.

I don't want to use my phone, because it's MY phone, not a work-issued phone. If this little kerfluffle goes full legal (I'm hoping it won't), I don't want to have my personal phone involved because I don't want anyone to have an excuse to poke around inside my phone in the holy name of discovery.


Gee, Scooter, you think that kind of information would have been good to share at the front of the conversation?

Carbon Monoxide, sucking the life out of idiots, 'tards, and fools since man tamed fire.

K Frame

  • friend
  • Senior Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 44,009
  • I Am Inimical
Carbon Monoxide, sucking the life out of idiots, 'tards, and fools since man tamed fire.

fifth_column

  • friend
  • Senior Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 1,705
Re: Voice recorders
« Reply #19 on: July 23, 2021, 10:13:03 AM »
I've got the same WS-500M that zxcvbob mentioned earlier although I haven't used it in many years. It's a great recorder; records in stereo, records in .wav or .mp3, uses a regular AAA battery, has a built-in retractable USB connector, has headphone and microphone jacks, and the fidelity is good. That particular model has limited storage, although I don't remember how much. Navigating the menus is a little tedious, but probably not any worse than others and easy to use. I'm sure the newer models have larger capacity, you might want to check them out.
Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will... The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress. ― Frederick Douglass

No American citizen should be willing to accept a government that uses its power against its own people.  -  Catherine Engelbrecht

zxcvbob

  • friend
  • Senior Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 12,208
Re: Voice recorders
« Reply #20 on: July 23, 2021, 10:46:43 AM »
"It's good, though..."

Doggy Daddy

  • Poobah
  • friend
  • Senior Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 5,330
  • From the saner side of Las Vegas
Re: Voice recorders
« Reply #21 on: July 23, 2021, 03:19:41 PM »
If it ever comes to discovery, why not just hand them the recorder and tell them they can pull what they need off of there and give it back when they are done?

FWIW, the older video systems on the buses here recorded to swappable hard drives.  It is my understanding that the reason we had buses going out with no video at one point was because so many of the hard drives were in custody for legal reasons that we didn't have enough spares to equip every bus.  For chain of custody reasons they wanted to preserve the drive the recording was made on... not a copy.
Would you exchange
a walk-on part in a war
for a lead role in a cage?
-P.F.

HeroHog

  • Technical Site Pig
  • Administrator
  • Senior Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 8,030
  • It can ALWAYS get worse!
    • FaceButt Profile
Re: Voice recorders
« Reply #22 on: July 23, 2021, 04:12:01 PM »
We got one off Amazon a while back (2018) that records in stereo and uses the voice recording format that results in small file sizes. VERY heavy duty unit but quite compact. See what is available now and comparable.

Quote
Digital Voice Recorder Pen Voice Activated Recorder 8GB Sound Audio Recorder Portable Mp3 Player Wireless HD Telephone Recorder Double Microphone For Meetings, Lectures, Interview, By T-area
I might not last very long or be very effective but I'll be a real pain in the ass for a minute!
MOLON LABE!