Sony dictation machine

I bought the 1gb machine, which matches on all features bar the storage capacity, as the above reviewer it's simple to use and pretty to look at, but the recording leaves much to be desired. If you are recording at close range the Sony does a great job, but with distance the recorded volume falls of hugely and is over shadowed with an annoying background hiss. This makes it too difficult, if not nearly imppossible, to hear through the in-built speaker or supplied headphones. The only way that I could make sense of things was to use a set of headphones with a volume control and the Sony's microphone sensitivty set to maximum. Given the price of these gadgets the Sony's performance is well below acceptable. I do not have experience of hard drive dictation machines, but my minidisc was far better than this. This item is going back and I'm of to Olympus, they enable the hiss to be turn down post-recording.

Depending on your needs, a solid product

I agree with the review already posted on this product, but thought I'd make some additional observations from my own point of view, as the"best" recorder for each person will depend on their tastes and requirements. Hopefully some of this will help people choose the right recorder for them.

OK...I ummed and ahhed for a while over which recorder to get, and narrowed it down to two choices: this one, and the M-Audio Microtrack 24/96 (a third recorder - the Edirol R-09 - also came into my thinking briefly). You can find excellent magazine reviews of each of these recorders online by a man called"Mark Nelson" (just Google his name along with the product name), which feature recordings of all three products for you to listen to.

My own personal reason for buying a recorder was for field recording, and hence I haven't used my Zoom H4 for multi-track recording at all. I wanted something portable that I could keep with me day-to-day, in order to capture interesting environmental sounds/voices which I could then import into my home studio and use to give my music some added depth and interest. With this in mind, ultimately the Zoom was the only answer, due to the built in stereo microphone set up. For the M-Audio Microtrack, I would have to carry around one or two microphones, along with a shotgun microphone holder and wind shield, and this just wouldn't be feasible in my day-to-day life, or when travelling.

With this in mind, the Zoom meets my needs perfectly. Being a music producer, the sounds I gather have to be of a certain quality to be of any use, and the Zoom is perfectly capable of achieving this as long as you set the levels correctly (which is actually very simple if you take half an hour to read the manual). You'll also need to buy a tripod for the recorder to cut out handling noise (as this isn't included). The thread to attach a tripod is actually the size used for camera tripods, so I was able to buy a small tripod from a camera store that does the job perfectly and fits in my pocket. Hence if I run it off batteries, all I need to carry to capture sounds on the go is the Zoom recorder (in its carrying pouch), the tripod, and the sponge windshield (which is provided). For my needs, this is absolutely perfect. Transferring the files to my computer is also very easy, as you can simply"drag and drop" them after attaching the unit via a USB port (cable included).

If your requirements are different to mine - for instance if you know for sure that you only want to use your recorder with external mics - then one of the other two products mentioned might be better (although I think the Zoom H4 is cheaper). Certainly the other two products might 'feel' like they are better when you hold them in your hands: the design of the Zoom is rather bizarre in that it looks rather cheap. This doesn't affect functionally at all (I find it very easy and reliable to use), but some people might want more aesthetically from something that cost them about £200! However, I have absolutely no complaints about this product personally, and it has opened up a whole new world of possibilities for me with regards to getting good quality field recordings, and at an affordable price. For this reason, I would certainly recommend it if you want to use it in a similar way. As a self contained unit (no additional mics are needed, just the tripod which is cheap) I imagine it is also a decent solution for most other portable recording needs, such as live gigs, podcasts etc.

A good quality Handy Recorder

The Edirol R09HR is a fantastic sounding recorder. It has a rubber feal to it which makes it very easy to hold. The screen is large and takes up most of the front face. The buttons are all large and make a nice sollid click when you press them. As far as the sound goes, it is wonderful. It gives a good clear realistic sound. It has eliminated more of the hissing that the preamps on the older model had which makes it sound really good especially for its price. It can record in both wave and mp3 and the mp3 sounds better then it did on the R09. I like the mics, it may not have the widest stereo seperation but the internal mics are good at handeling wind noise. Another big advantage it has is the little preview speaker at the back. You are not going to get the loudest sound out if it, it is quite week, but for what it is intended for it does the job fantasticly. I would like them to get rid of the sound of the preamps more because if they can do that it would be almost perfect. I would recommend this to any one who likes recording any thing from music rehearsals to podcasts and much more.

Sony's best kept secret

If you are at College, University or just need good note back-up for meetings etc. (Get permission first)

This is THE item for you - it actually does what it says.

It's quiet and discrete to use so will not annoy others in lectures, class or meetings.

The multi mic actually works, but will pick up paper rustling so careful when taking written notes.

Very well designed.

I hope Sony do another version with longer recording time capacity soon.

Beware! Not what I thought it would be!

I upgraded my old Olympus DS-150 for the DS-2 because of it's storage capacity, size and style. This little digital voice recorder is great for digitally recording voice...but that's all it will do. I got the DS-2 to allow me to dictate letters etc. But I found that it lacked the fundamental feature of being able to edit files i.e. rewind and overwrite from a certain point. This is essential for dictation and was surprised it was not a part of the DS-2.
NO to dictaion, YES if all you want to do is record.

Impressed

Lightweight and compact. Has in-ear phones and a clip-on mic which is useful at times. Four recording folders and a total of 3 hours recording time. Fast, normal and slow recording options. Readout options a bit fiddly to set, but it's a minor point. Good sound quality playback, with option to alter recording quality. Perhaps a tad heavy on batteries, so business or frequent users might want to be sure they have spares (AAA - 2 of) to hand. Nice little item though.

OK - Not Slim-line, & Quite Noisy

Firstly, this is NOT Slim-line, but to be fair to Sony they don't describe it as such, that's in the Amazon heading. It's actually wider than my old Walkman because of the speaker.

I chose this over the plastic-cased models as I thought it would be more robust, & it's certainly 'nicer' than the plastic model I tried. However, a lot of background noise from the unit's motor comes out on the recordings, which is a bit surprising as the motor doesn't sound loud when you are actually recording.

It's OK, I've kept it, but it's disappointing - I expected much better from Sony & for the price.

Oh, & it takes AAA batteries, not AAs as described in some write-ups.