Digital Audio Recording Devices

By Thomas R. Wiles
Truckers Connection

2/19/2008

Are you old enough to remember reel-to-reel tape recorders?

When I was a kid growing up in the 1960’s, one Christmas I got my first portable tape recorder from a Montgomery Ward department store. It was almost half the size of a briefcase and ran on “D” cell batteries. It used three-inch tape reels and had a wired microphone equipped with a “remote” pause switch. I played with that recorder until I completely wore it out.

In the early ‘70s, I inherited a large tabletop reel-to-reel recorder that took seven-inch tapes and was able to record at multiple speeds. I remember spending endless hours making recordings and then playing them back, ever fascinated by the idea of being able to record all sorts of different sounds and play them back. That recorder eventually died as well.

Later in the early ‘70s, I got a cassette recorder. It was still a large, clunky device by today’s standards. I think I might have those old three and seven-inch tapes packed away somewhere. However, even if I could find a still-working reel-to-reel tape recorder to play them back on, it’s likely the tape oxide has long since separated from the plastic base. How things have changed. Today, digital audio recorders that are small enough to fit in a shirt pocket are capable of much higher recording fidelity and longer recording times than were ever possible with tape.

Recently I purchased a Zoom H2 digital audio recorder. Selling for $200 dollars, this recorder packs an amazing amount of functionality and quality into a small package about the size of a deck of cards. It records to common SD memory cards and can also plug into a computer via USB function either as an SD memory card reader or an external audio interface. It has very high quality built-in microphones capable of recording in mono, stereo or even surround sound. It also has external microphone and line-level in inputs, along with the ability to mount on a standard tripod mount just like most cameras. Duplicating every function of a once-massive mechanical device, it’s ironic that it will still work with 40-year-old microphones, the only thing I have left from that original tabletop reel-to-reel stereo tape recorder. The Zoom H2 is powered by 4 “AA” batteries or by the included AC power adapter. Check out the Zoom H2 Handy Digital Recorder at www.zoom.co.jp.

An alternative recorder comes from M-Audio, the MicroTrack II Professional 2-Channel Mobile Digital Recorder. Selling for $299, it has a built-in rechargeable battery and uses high-capacity Compact Flash or Microdrive storage. It also connects to computers via USB and can also function as a Compact Flash or Microdrive card reader. It has a variety of integrated inputs and outputs, allowing for plenty of flexibility. The MicroTrack II comes with a small external stereo microphone, as well as an AC adapter. The built-in battery can be recharged via USB. Check out the MicroTrack II at www.m-audio.com.

If you’ve already got a 5th generation hard drive-based Video iPod or 2nd generation iPod Nano, then for $70 you can add the Belkin TuneTalk. The TuneTalk is a device with built-in stereo microphones that plugs into the base of your iPod and turns it in to a high-quality digital recorder. It also includes an external microphone adapter for use with other microphones to eliminate possible mechanical noise introduced by the iPod’s spinning hard drive. Check out the Belkin TuneTalk at www.belkin.com.

How much would you give to be able to play back recordings of your parents, grandparents, or other relatives such as your children? How much would it be worth to be able to relive forgotten conversations from years ago, or listen to yourself when you were just a kid? Some of us may be able to do that, but the sad reality is likely that most of us cannot. Tapes aged, devices died, and technology moved forward.

With today’s amazing digital technology appearing in ever-smaller form factors with amazing capabilities, there’s no excuse for not capturing the sounds of everyday life.