I need to get a couple of gadgets to record voice conversations for my Chinese lessons. I see a nive Digital video recorder fro about $35 that will dump to a PC (olympus 4100PC). My other option is an MP3 player with voice recording capability. it would appear like the Mp3 is a better deal bevasue it has 2 gig memory. i just wonder oif the recording feature on these through the built in mic is good quality. the digital voice recorder has 4 levels of quality.

Anybody familiar with the sound quality from each? Just for voice recording , playing tunes is a nice extra for the Mp3 but if the voice recording is second rate then its no good for the primary purpose.

I've got the Sansa 2Gig player they sell at RadioShack. When I have a moment this morning I can check out the record feature, I've never used it.

-spence

I have an Iriver H10, and it has the record feature. Use it all the time, great quality.

Spence, That is the Mp3 player I am looking at. The big advantage is the 2 Gig.

The olympus dvr also has some nice features specific to recording classes or craeting files within files , etc. .

let me know what you think about the Mp3 sound quality in the voice record mode.
thanks.

Ok, I just performed a carefully controlled study using the most advanced and recently calibrated scientific equipment :rtfm:

I think it would work well for your intended use. I did a few test recordings at about 14" and 30" with a normal speaking voice. The recording was very clear and strong, although the mic is very sensitive. If you move the player around while recording you will get a contact noise like as if you were tapping a regular microphone.

It even picks up whispers, be careful what you say :lama:

Only negatives are the user interface which has a different menu for recording vs playback. And if you were in an area with a lot of background noise, I'm not sure if you could adjust the mic sensitivity to tune this out.

As an MP3 player I've been using it for a month to workout w/the Bose earbud headphones and the sound quality is excellent. For the money it's a nice little unit.

-spence

thanks for the test and review. Now I need someone who has a Digital voice recorder to respond for comparison. :)

This is just a recording of my sister and i a few months ago.. we were both a tad hyper..

can't hear it much if any, but we kept picking it up and down. the table was about 2 feet away from us.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WAYR0vxC2Mc

Thanks for all the input Spence and for the sample Katie.

I went with the Olympus 4100PC Digital Voice Recorder. Went through half the people working at Circuit City before I found one who seemed (seemed) to know something about them (at circuit city the guys in the green shirts (their version of Geek squad) knew the most) . He said no contest in sound quality for recording between the two. He also pointed out lots of other reasons having to do with file structure , sorting , editing , etc which I probably don't need but it just seemed like the machine specifically made to record voices was better at that than the MP3 which was made to play music. It cost $45 not $35 as I originally said. That $35 one was for a model which I guess is erroneously sold as having a PC interface but doesn't . The one I bought has a USB interface.

A good thing was that if you go to their online site , find what you want , then print out the shopping cart , you can then just go to the store and they will honor that price including discounts and internet coupons if any. the benefits of online pricing with the convenience of just going there and picking it up right away.

Anyway , Now I have to learn to use it.

Chinese is a tough language to learn because it uses exactly the same word for many meanings. the difference is just a slight up tone or down tone or even tone , or up down tone to distinguish the words. I hope the new recorder is good enough to pick up on the tone differences.

i want to learn chinese. i have read a little about the tones that you are talking about. i guess a lot of asian languages are like that. i think that thai has 7 tones.

anyway, what system/school are you using?

I have two private tutors. I am learning Mandarin.