Lecture Recorder

[pcguy2]

I was wonder what you guys top picks for voice recorders are. I am looking for one that has good PC connectivity and preferrable directional sound recording to minimize background.

I can work with different options

1. Stand alone
2. Attach to ipod
3. attach to laptop

What do you think? Easiest just to buy a good directional mic and attach to laptop?

Thanks a lot in advance!

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[soeagerun2or]

I was wonder what you guys top picks for voice recorders are. I am looking for one that has good PC connectivity and preferrable directional sound recording to minimize background.

I can work with different options

1. Stand alone
2. Attach to ipod
3. attach to laptop

What do you think? Easiest just to buy a good directional mic and attach to laptop?

Thanks a lot in advance!

Unless you want to be mocked relentlessly by the rest of your class leave it to the IT guys to tape the lecture so you can podcast it or view it at home.

 

[LJDHC05]

You should probably see if you have access to streaming audio/video of classes or to a transcription service before you go and drop $$ on recording equipment for yourself. I can honestly say that sitting through lectures once in person and then again on audio would be equivalent to torture...really, think about how much time you'll be stuck there taking notes...there are much higher yield ways to get the same information into your brain. And just imagine how cool you'd look deploying your directional microphone every morning...you'd probably be known as microphone guy or something like that. Plus you'll probably stop going to class at some point, and then you'll be stuck with a couple hundred bucks of recording equipment. But I digress.

I'm the tech guy for our transcription service and we rock a Sony ICD-P330F...it's definitely got a slow and clunky PC interface which takes about 5 mins/hour of lecture to upload via USB. The same system is used for all the Sony recording devices and is a major pain in my butt. I can't say how the mic works because we've got access to the classroom audio system and never use the mic.

One of the kids in the class uses a Panasonic recorder on his desktop and there's a crapload of noise, which I assume would be the plague of all desktop recorders (because the noise is closer to the mic than the lecturer). It's mostly due to the ambient noise of class (page flipping, snoring, whispering, the scratching of pens, typing, baseline hum of speakers/tv monitors/etc) which usually blocks out very important words, especially drug names and nuclei in the brain. Also, medical profs commonly have accents that make words indistinguishable on recordings, especially drug names and nuclei in the brain.

Good luck

 

[45408]

I'd go with the laptop option, but most schools record lectures for you anyways.

 

[Long Dong]

You should probably see if you have access to streaming audio/video of classes or to a transcription service before you go and drop $$ on recording equipment for yourself. I can honestly say that sitting through lectures once in person and then again on audio would be equivalent to torture...really, think about how much time you'll be stuck there taking notes...there are much higher yield ways to get the same information into your brain.

I'm the tech guy for our transcription service and we rock a Sony ICD-P330F...it's definitely got a slow and clunky PC interface which takes about 5 mins/hour of lecture to upload via USB. I can't say how the mic works because we've got access to the classroom audio system.

I'd say the major problem for non-central line recorders is the ambient noise of class (page flipping, snoring, whispering, the scratching of pens, typing) can block out some very important words, especially drug names. Also, medical profs commonly have accents that make words indistinguishable on recordings, especially drug names.

Good luck

Yeah I rocked the sony voice recorder too. I would put the recorder on the podium to get the best sound quality. My school didn't have a transcription service or an IT guy to record lectures so I recorded it for my classmates and would post them on our class website after I converted them to mp3. The pregnant girls and those who hated going to lectures in our class loved me for this cuz I did it for all of the first 2 years of lectures.

 

[pcguy2]

Sony huh? Thanks for the suggestion.

 

[sendwich]

if you end up at a school where they prohibit your from recording lectures.....eh,

 

[Tropic Risk]

If you still really want a recorder for some reason, make sure that in addition to a built-in mic, it has a dedicated microphone jack (NOT the same as a line-in jack). That way you can drop some money on a quality mic if you need it.

 

[pcguy2]

If you still really want a recorder for some reason, make sure that in addition to a built-in mic, it has a dedicated microphone jack (NOT the same as a line-in jack). That way you can drop some money on a quality mic if you need it.

Thanks for the tip

 

[Critical Mass]

I'd go with the laptop option, but most schools record lectures for you anyways.

True where I am.

You can always just follow the professor around with a microphone in your hand.