How can I convert digital voice recorder output to a usable audio file?

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A Memorex digital voice recorder lacks direct computer connectivity but has an earphone jack that outputs an electrical signal. It is possible to use a device to capture this output and save it to a flash card in formats like mp3, wav, or ogg vorbis. However, building such a device would likely be more expensive and time-consuming than purchasing a new recorder with USB output. An alternative solution involves connecting the voice recorder to a computer's microphone input using a mini phono jack cable, allowing the audio to be recorded with software like Audacity. This method may result in some quality loss, as the entire audio must be played through the computer for recording. The built-in Windows sound recorder has limitations, but most sound card software does not. Historical context notes that custom recording devices have been developed since the 1960s, utilizing various methods to produce sound through computer speakers.
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Hi all,

I have a digital voice recorder from Memorex, the only problem being it doesn't hook up to the computer. It does have a earphone jack, though...through which it must output an electrical signal, which reaches the earphone and is converted to sound waves.

But, is it possible to have a device that receives the input similarly from the digital voice recorder, and then writes it to a flash card in a useful format - for instance, mp3 or wav or (probably more feasibly) ogg vorbis?

I'm a high school senior without much experience in messing around with hardware like this, but this *would* be possible, yes? How would I go around doing it?
 
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I just bought a voice recorder with USB output. Connects to the computer, problem solved.

About $99 bucks at your major computer outlets
 
Ah, but that would be no fun. :)
 
I could tell you go out and find a adc, microcontroller, flash controller, etc, etc, but there is no way your going to build this without:

1) Paying more than just buying the device
2) Spending lots of time trying to figure out how to put it all together

I would take The_Professional's advice and just go to the store and buy one.
 
all you need is a line in on your sound card, you will need a mini phono jack to mini phono jack lead, plug one into your digital voice recorder and other into the Mic in on your sound card. Start voice recorder on your PC at the same time you start the playback on your voice recorder.

A bit of quality maybe lost, but you will be able to save the voice as a .wav file on your PC and convert it to whatever u like..
 
yeah - get a program like Audacity (http://audacity.sourceforge.net/). Then hook up your voice recorder to your mic-in line and record it onto your computer (you'll need a male-male 1/8" jack, which many desktop speakers use, so you can just hijack it for a while). That program will allow you to compress your file to mp3. The only downside is that you must play the whole file onto your computer.
 
Anttech said:
Start voice recorder on your PC at the same time you start the playback on your voice recorder.

The built-in sound recorder in Windows can only record for a minute or two.

zoogies said:
Ah, but that would be no fun. :)

It may not be as fun but it sure as hell would save you some unneeded aggravation.
 
Last edited:
The_Professional said:
The built-in sound recorder in Windows can only record for a minute or two.
The recording software that comes with most sound cards have no such limit.

As a bit of historical trivia, since the 1960's, people have developed custom made recording devices that play back on computer speakers that were the equivalent of a PC speaker (square wave), simply by modulating the speaker on and off at the proper rate after determining how the speaker responds to such modulations. I was impressed the first time I saw a deck of about 300 punched cards (program and data) producing a recorded message on CDC 3150 back in 1970. A few games used this method to produce recorded sounds on PC speakers back in the 1980's, and I was still impressed. Sound cards came out in the late 1980's. Wiki article:

History_of_sound_cards_for_the_IBM_PC_architecture.htm
 

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