Digital Recorder for Interviews?

[karinangelika]

Hello,

What digital recorders do members use to record live face-to-face interviews? I recall Yaro mentioning in a blog post that he uses an iRiver MP3 player for recording. If so, which model? My budget is limited right now and I'd like the best quality for the money.

[Machine]

Hi Karinangelika,

I came to a point where I needed to purchase a digital recorder for recording conversations and to use as virtual notepad for recording good ideas that popped up extemperaneously. So I did what a lot of Internet reliant people do. I went to Amazon to review some of them and I spent what seemed like an eternity reviewing different brands. I wound up purchasing the Olympus VN-960PC. I like it because it's simple to use, small, and tucks nicely into my pants pocket. That comes in handy when I'm in stealth mode. I can't compare the quality of the recording to any other brand due to the fact that the VN-960PC is my first digital recorder. But I think the recordings sound very good and I didn't have any problems with the software.

I don't, and never have used it for anything music related, so if you're a music afficianado, keep that in mind. I've owned mine for about two years now and it hasn't missed a beat. Use Google Shopping to find the best price. Be wary of merchants who sell electronic goods but don't have a telephone number for you to call which in turn forces you to email them. That's a big red flag in my book. And if they do list a phone number, you should call them before you place your order online, just to see if the phone number works. And to see if a human being answers the phone. A lot of phone numbers listed by Internet merchants don't work and that goes double for many of the merchants who sell goods on Amazon. Many of the phone numbers listed on Amazon don't work at all.

B&H is a pretty good Internet merchant when it comes to rendering decent customer service (although you should always take that on a case by case basis) and their prices are always among the lowest. And then there's Costco with their better than average 90 day return policy. Good luck.

Amazon.com: Customer Reviews: Olympus VN-960PC 128 MB Digital Voice Recorder with PC Link