I originally had purchased the Olympus WS 700M. To decide between this Sony and the Olympus I read all the reviews and thought about it quite a bit. In all honesty they seemed to be about the same. So... I bought the Olympus thinking it wouldn't matter. I was wrong. I received the Olympus and it was so cheaply built that I felt it would break just by holding it in my hand. I also knew that one drop to the ground and it would be toast. Also, the on/off switch didn't function properly. I returned it and ordered the Sony. Functionally, they are basically identical. The quality of sound is also identical. However, the Sony is built to last (at least longer than the Olympus). If you're deciding between the two, get the Sony. You won't be sorry. Also, this recorder only requires one AAA battery (I think in the product description it may say that it requires two), and has a place for a micro SD card for additional memory. I bought this recorder to record riffs on the guitar. It records them far beyond my expectations. I can hardly tell the difference between an unplugged recording into this baby and plugging my guitar into a recording interface, which is plugged into my computer. Also, the USB plug retracts back into the device. Needless to say, I'm really happy with it.
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"Voice recorder" is too modest a description This is a very good music recorder. Every musician should have one of these knocking around in their pocket at all times! It's well-made, sounds excellent, and most importantly it's tinier than a cellphone. It's not a Zoom H4N, but in one very important aspect, it's far superior: This is the recorder you'll always have with you when you need it.I'm impressed by Sony's engineering cleverness. They thoroughly refined this design over the years, and it shows: It's a classic the easiest recorder I've ever used. The pop-out USB seemed like a gimmick at first glance, but I find it surprisingly handy. In essence, it's a USB thumb drive with (good) stereo mics and a (crappy) speaker built in. Pop it into any computer, and a folder of mp3's or wavs smiles back at me. Also, it charges while plugged in, so I might never need to fuss with changing the single AAA (!) rechargeable battery.
Amazon's description contains a couple of errors: First, as I mentioned above, this runs on one AAA; not two. Second: It will not record a 320kbps mp3 it only goes up to 192; but if that's a deal breaker, consider seeking help for your fetish. It will record uncompressed wav files (yes, with a .wav extension). Sony cluelessly calls it "LPCM" but don't worry.
I do wish it would record in 24 bits; it only does 16-bit. I also wish it had a lower mic sensitivity setting; I leave it in the "Low" setting at all times. "Medium" or "High" would really only be useful for lectures etc. In the "Low" setting, a loud band is still apt to trigger the (not very musical-sounding) analog limiter. So if you're a rocker who needs to record mostly band practices or shows, you might want to plunk down the extra $$ for a Zoom or Tascam. But for the money, you cannot go wrong with this one. Consider if you actually need the features of a bigger and more expensive recorder, because the relatively tiny size of this guy is without a doubt the most valuable feature of all.
I love love love it. I have it with me wherever I go. I'll never lose a musical idea again!
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I bought this to replace my Olympus VN-7000. I wanted a digital voice recorder that had a USB DIRECT connection to transfer audio recordings to my laptop and while connected would recharge. Well, this does that and SO much more. At first, I was a bit disappointed in its appearance. It was smaller and lighter than what I was used to and it just felt cheap in my hand--looks great but I guess I was judging it by how light it was and thought that its weight meant it couldn't do much. Boy was I wrong--it's such a handy little thing!My purchase came with headphones, a USB cable (in case you don't want to or can't connect recorder directly to your laptop, the cable acts as an intermediary connection), rechargeable battery and instruction manual. It has a slot for a memory card too but mine didn't come with the actual memory card. I haven't played with it too much since I only use it for recording classroom lectures, but some little features that I like worth naming are: recharges while connected to my laptop, labeling my folders and audio files, flexibility of moving audio files around, add/delete folders, listen to mp3s, transfer mp3s from PC to recorder, and when erasing audio it plays it for you to make sure you are deleting the correct file--as soon as you know it's the file you want to delete you can delete away. The manual says it does a ton of other things but I haven't gotten a chance to explore those yet.
I didn't give it the full five stars only because the playback sound on its speakers is low. I use it to study so while listening to lectures out loud I noticed that--even though the recording was done while sitting at the front of the class with the mic set on high and I'm in absolute silence in my room when playing it back--even at full volume the sound is low; my Olympus was definitely louder. However, when I listened to the audio on my PC or directly from the recorder WITH the headphones the sound was great--loud and clear. I don't even have to turn the volume up too far in those cases.
Also, My Olympus wasn't stereo so when I would use headphones with it I would only hear it in one ear--not the case with this recorder. Since it's stereo you can hear it in both ears. Oh! And another minor annoyance: I don't like the fact that you have to hold down the power button for about 3 seconds to turn it off--I would've liked better to just quickly press and release the button and have it turn off. Another dislike is that while recording it doesn't display mic strength. Anyway, these dislikes probably have more to do with what I was used to with my old recorder.
In summary, this is a fabulous purchase and I'm LOVING it!
Revision: Forgot to mention that I hate that it doesn't come with a case but it does come with software (which I haven't gotten a chance to install and use).
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I record interviews and speeches with this little guy and I am thrilled with the quality. No need to complement the built-in mics with an external one, because the built-in mics pic up everything you want. Easy to use, easy to place unobtrusively on the table or desk, unlike some of the more expensive ones with big intimidating mic "horns" sticking out.The handling of files and folders on this is also convenient. Pop out the USB plug (which is built right into the unit) pop it into your computer and up pops the friendly window asking what you want to do. You can play, transfer, etc.
I haven't explored all of the many other things this recorder can do. I just know that I set the mic on the strongest setting, laid the unit on the back of a seat in front of me and recorded a rather soft-spoken speaker with clarity and volume that impressed me immediately upon playback.
As for those who say the internal speaker leaves much to be desired, I'm really not sure what they were expecting in a unit this size. The speaker does okay for personal listening with the unit held or laying close to your ear, or on max volume and a strong recording you can even lay it on the table. The unit comes with a set of earbud phones for noisier environments. Hard to ask for more in such beautifully functional recorder that goes anywhere.
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