Digital Voice Recorders Capture Clean Sound And Ease the Playback
It's probably the last device with cassette tapes you have left in your home: your old tape recorder. It's also probably the one you're least attached to, ever since the time you found you had captured 25 minutes of the coughing colleague next to you and couldn't make out a word of the seminar speaker -- and you didn't take notes.
That's why many people are moving to digital-based recorders. I tested some of the leading digital voice recorders and software, with an emphasis on the units themselves: their recording capabilities, sound quality and ease of use. Their software allows you to download voice files to a PC. Some also include voice-recognition programs, which turn speech into text, but these aren't at the stage yet where they can transcribe complicated recordings.
I focused on two digital recorders that are new this year: the Panasonic RR-US351, at a suggested price of $129.95, and the Olympus DM-20, which is priced at $289.
What's nice about the digital recorders is that every new segment of recorded sound is added sequentially -- so it's impossible to accidentally record over anything. Each time you hit the record button, a new file is created, which can then be moved from folder to folder to separate, say, meetings from personal notes. Playback starts at the beginning of a take, with no rewind. Also, the devices date each recording, and give its precise length. They even let you set alarms in your own voice, such as "Call for dinner reservations!"
Most important, the sound they reproduce is very clear.
I tested the devices during hours of interviews: in a home, in a silent conference room, in a restaurant and at an open-air cafe. I didn't lose a word, even when lots of background noise also was captured. Both units run on two AAA batteries.
The Panasonic RR-US351 has a clean, uncrowded look, though it could use a bigger "recording" light. It is 4.2 by 1.9 inches and ?-inch thick, and weighs about two ounces with batteries. On its face are a display screen and most of the controls. On the unit's side are the record and stop buttons and an old-style volume wheel.
This recorder can store 3.5 hours of sound on its long-play setting, but just over half an hour in the high-quality mode. Recordings can be organized into 99 sound files in each of four folders, labeled A, B, C and D.
The Panasonic seems designed to have its sound files played back on a computer, since the playback functions of the recorder itself are very basic. There is no repeat feature, or any way to set tabs in a long recording. And the package doesn't come with earphones, which realistically you need to transcribe from the unit.
The Voice Editor 3 software it includes is easy to use. It comes with a USB cable that connects the recorder to a PC. The program interface on the PC looks like folders in a file. You click on "transfer" to move a folder from the recorder to the PC. Then the file is ready for you to play, index, edit, store in your PC, or even e-mail, though the files get quite large. Yet at least on my PC, the sound quality wasn't nearly as good as it was coming from the unit, and I wouldn't want to use it to transcribe.
The Panasonic's plug-in microphone is a small, black clip-on rectangle designed to attach to a pocket or collar. If you set it for low sensitivity, it limits the background noise it records.
The Olympus DM-20 gives you a whopping 44 hours and 45 minutes of recording at its LP setting, and just under nine hours at high quality. It also has somewhat better sound than the Panasonic. These factors account for the big difference in price.
The DM-20 has five folders that hold 199 files each. It even lets you create a name for a folder, although it's a tedious process that has you clicking through an on-screen alphabet, numbers and symbols. More simply, you can just select a preset label, such as "things to do."
The Olympus also can store and play MP3 music files. It's a bit slimmer and longer than the Panasonic at 1.6 by 4.3 inches by ? inch, and feels more solid at 3.5 ounces. Its controls and speaker seem less conveniently placed on its front, back and side, but the numerous features are easy to navigate. The mic is a silver clip-on cylinder the size of a forefinger, and itself has basic function buttons. I prefer Panasonic's simple mic as a clip-on, but this makes a better hand-held.
This recorder makes it a cinch to transcribe notes from the unit: It has comfortable earphones, and the ability to set a repeat cycle for replay of a segment until you get it down pat. And its noise filter worked well to eliminate traffic sounds.
You can download the sound files to a PC via a USB cable either directly from the unit or by using the included cradle. I had difficulty getting the PC-based DSS Player software to recognize the device. Olympus says such a glitch can arise by a mistake in the installation sequence.
I'm sold on digital recorders, but less enthusiastic about the software. I like Panasonic's design, but the huge recording capacity and playback features give Olympus the edge, if you can afford it.
数码录音机方便好用
在使用盒式磁带的机器中，也许你最不愿意遗弃在旧房子里的就是那台老式盒带录音机了。不过，它也可能是你最不喜欢的玩意，因为有一次你发现你录下了邻座同事25分钟的咳嗽声，却无论如何听不清研讨会发言者的声音，更糟的是，你还没记笔记。
这正是为什么很多人转而使用数码录音机的原因。我测试了几种主要的数码录音机和录音软件，重点是机器性能本身：它们的录音能力、声音质量和使用的方便程度等。录音软件可以帮助你将音频文件下载到个人电脑上。还有些数码录音机包含音频辨认程序，能够将演讲转换为文本文件，但这些数码录音机还没有达到能够将复杂录音转换为文本文件的程度。
我重点测试了两款今年新上市的数码录音机，一款是松下RR-US351，建议零售价129.95美元，另一款是奥林巴斯DM-20，售价为289美元。
这两款数码录音机的优点在于：录音时声音的每个新部份都是循序添加上去的，这样就不会因为偶然失误而出现空录的情况。每次你按下录音键，都会创立一个新文件，这样文件就能在不同的文件夹之间转移，以把不同的内容（比如说会议和个人笔记等）分隔开。按"回放"键可以从每个片段的开头开始播放，不需要"快倒"。另外，数码录音机可以给每次录音记录日期和确切的长度。它们甚至可以录下你自己的声音以作定时提醒用，比如说："打电话订晚餐的桌位"。
更重要的是，这两款数码录音机录制的声音都非常清晰。我是在进行采访的时间内测试的这两款机器，包括在家里、在一个安静的会议室内、在餐馆和在露天咖啡馆里。我没有漏掉一个字，甚至在很多背景噪音被同时录上的情况下也不受影响。两款机器都是使用两节AAA电池。
松下RR-US351外形简洁，但"录音"指示灯可能可以换成更大点的。该机器长4.2英寸，宽1.9英寸，厚0.5英寸，装电池后重约2盎司。正表面是一个显示屏和主要的控制键，侧面是录音键、停止键和一个老式的音量钮。 这款机器在长时间模式(LP)下可以存储3.5小时的录音，但在高音质模式(HQ)下仅可以存储半小时的录音。录音经过整理后可以放入分别标著A、B、C、D的四个文件夹，每只文件夹可盛放99个音频文件。
看来，松下这款机器是设计成在电脑上回放音频文件的，因此录音机本身的回放功能仅是最基本的那种。这款录音机上没有重复播放功能，也没有办法在长时间录音状态下做标记。另外，机身上没有配耳机，而实际上当你从机器上抄录录音内容的时候需要耳机。
这款录音机包含的Voice Editor 3软件易于使用。它还配有USB电缆，能够连接录音机和个人电脑。Voice Editor 3软件在个人电脑上的界面看上去像是装文件的文件夹。你可以点击"发送"，把文件夹从录音机转移到个人电脑上。然后，你就可以使用文件了──运行、编目、编辑、存储，甚至当作电子邮件发送等等。当然，文件会变得相当大。但至少在我的个人电脑上，音质和机器上录制的原声并不完全一样，因此，我不太愿意用录音软件进行这种转移。
松下RR-US351的插入式话筒非常小巧，配有黑色的长方形夹子，可以别在口袋或衣领上。如果你把机器设置在低敏感状态下，可以限制录音时的背景噪音。
奥林巴斯DM-20可以让你在长时间模式(LP)下录音约44小时45分钟,在高音质模式(HQ)下录音接近9小时。它的音质在某种程度上也比松下录音机要好。这些因素使得两种产品价格有很大差别。
DM-20有5个文件夹，每个文件夹可盛放199个文件。你甚至自己可以创建文件夹名称，但这个过程非常繁琐，你不得不点击开屏幕上的字母、数字和标点符号表。如果要简单点的话，你可以直接选择一个预先默认的文件夹名称，像"等待处理的文件"一类。
奥林巴斯DM-20也能存储和播放MP3音乐文件。和松下那款录音机比起来，DM-20机身略显细长，长4.3英寸，宽1.6英寸，厚0.5英寸，重3.5盎司。看上去DM-20的控制键和扬声器位于机身正面、背面和侧面不是很方便，但众多的功能键还是使得机器易于操控。话筒是个银色的带夹式圆柱体，有小拇指粗细，上面有基本的功能键。我更偏爱松下那种简捷的带夹式话筒，但DM-20这种更便于拿在手上。
奥林巴斯这款录音机可以帮你轻而易举地从机器上转录笔记──机器配有舒适的耳机，并能设置成循环播放某个片段，直到你把内容记下来。机器上的噪音过滤器也能有效地消除背景杂音。
你可以将录制的语音文件通过USB电线传送至个人电脑上，或者直接从机器上下载，或者使用附赠的USB连接底座。我在进行测试的时候，基于个人电脑的DSS Player软件在辨认机器时遇到了一些麻烦。奥林巴斯公司表示，安装顺序的错误可能导致类似的问题。
我非常喜欢数码录音机，但对录音软件则没有那么热情。我欣赏松下那款机器的设计，但如果你能负担得起的话，奥林巴斯DM-20是不错的选择，因为超强的录音能力和回放功能使其更有优势。
