Voice Recorders: Cassette vs Digital - Is Quality Affected?

[pivoxa15]

What is the difference between cassette and digital voice recorders? Is the latter less powerful for lower end digital products? i.e the playback sound is not as good?

 

[mgb_phys]

It's usually limited by the microphone.
The record feature on low-end MP3 players isn't going to be as good as a professional tape dictating machine, but an Olympus digital dictating machine is going to be at least as good if not better than the cassette version.
The digital ones also make it easier to store and listen to the paly back on a computer.

 

[robphy]

With the increasing amounts of flash memory available, the recording lengths can be very long now. For example, see http://www.olympusamerica.com/cpg_section/cpg_vr_digitalrecorders.asp
Of course, one trades off recording quality (bitrate) for recording length... but you have options.
(Note that your battery might run out before you use up the available memory.)

In addition, with a digital recorder, you have "random access" to your separate recordings... not to mention fewer moving parts.

 

[pivoxa15]

So olympus is the best brand?

 

[JasonRox]

Why not just get a cellphone with one on it?

I got 4GB on my phone with an extra 1GB if I need it. If you got something similar, I highly doubt you'd run out of space.

 

[pivoxa15]

The recorders in cell phones may not be as good quality? Some MP3 players have this feature as well.

 

[JasonRox]

The recorders in cell phones may not be as good quality? Some MP3 players have this feature as well.

If you're recording audio in like a lecture, cellphones are good enough.

 

[pivoxa15]

What are proper recorders designed to do then? Yes I am planning to record lectures and take them very seriously. Plus I don't use a cell phone.

 

[dontdisturbmycircles]

Maybe you can shed light on a question I have had but have been too reserved to ask. Why do some people record lectures... why not just pay attention and understand what is said right then and there? I can't imagine anyone really has time to listen to a lecture twice. This is just my oppinion and I am curious as to why you want to record lectures. Sorry if it seems like I am picking on you. Anyone who records lectures can answer.

 

[pivoxa15]

Good point. The main reason is actually to record lectures that I might miss. Recording the lectures I attend is a bonus which may be useful for grad school as these lectures may be more packet and condensed and less frequent then undergrad lectures.

 

[JasonRox]

I'd like to take pictures of the board so I never have to write notes. I dread writing notes. I feel like I'm writing the next edition of the current textbook.

 

[Moonbear]

Maybe you can shed light on a question I have had but have been too reserved to ask. Why do some people record lectures... why not just pay attention and understand what is said right then and there? I can't imagine anyone really has time to listen to a lecture twice. This is just my oppinion and I am curious as to why you want to record lectures. Sorry if it seems like I am picking on you. Anyone who records lectures can answer.

When I was a student, I recorded lectures for some classes. It usually depended on the class and how jam-packed the content was. In my upper-level undergrad courses, it became almost essential. That's because I could EITHER listen OR take notes. It had to do with how much information was being tossed at us in a single lecture. If the pace was slow enough, or had enough redundancy to it, I could jot down notes and still pay attention, but if it got too intense, I preferred to listen and comprehend the big picture, and record the lecture so I could get the details into my notes later. It IS time-consuming, and wasn't at all necessary in my intro courses, and isn't at all necessary now since I only need to jot down a few key points here and there if I listen to a seminar or sit in on someone's lecture with teaching the course in mind. The other time it was useful was in the lectures where the professor sort of droned on and lulled me to sleep...let's face it, we've all been there. When my notes turned into a meandering squiggle on the page, having the recording as back-up was a lifesaver!

Of course, nowadays, students get spoiled with handouts of the powerpoint slides or being actually given the powerpoint slides online. That means most of the key points are already written for you, and you just need to jot some details here and there. When I was a student, that wasn't an option. If someone was tossing one transparency after another up on the overhead projector, and didn't use the board much, sometimes it was all one could do to just write the outline on the transparencies before they flipped to a new one.

At the med school here, we actually record the lectures for the students. We have equipment to do both audio and video recording and to then post those lectures online. Definitely good for the students who miss a lecture. The other way this is helpful is that sometimes gestures and demos convey far more than words, and the video captures that. As an example, in the gross anatomy lectures, when discussing the function of various nerves in the limbs, just putting it into words doesn't send home the message of what the gait deficits are compared to having the professor limp around the room showing which motion exactly is controlled by that nerve group.