Review on 🎙️ Optimized Sony ICD UX533BLK Digital Voice Recorder by Eric Jackson

This voice recorder offers amazing sound quality with good sensitivity for voice recording. I tried using a Sony powered external microphone but found that the recorder itself gives better recording without using an external microphone. There are sensitivity levels to play with. Dictation or personal notes will probably work slightly better with low sensitivity since you're speaking directly into the microphone. A high sensitivity is good for shooting indoors, e.g. B. at lectures, meetings etc. In addition to the sensitivity, you can choose the recording quality or resolution up to LPCM 44/16. The trade-off is that lower quality recording uses less chip space and slightly less battery, but on an 8GB chip at full 44/16 LPCM you can record for around 12 hours, which is the limit of a good rechargeable battery. I recommend the highest quality recording, if only for your notes, but the highest quality recording easily exceeds 25MB for even a short recording, which may limit your ability to send it as an email attachment. If you want the file to be smaller so it can be emailed, you can use the recorder to record in different MP3 resolutions. You can also convert the .WAV file to MP3 or .WMA using Windows Media Player, and the software that comes with the recorder will let you convert the original .WAV file to an MP3 file. I used to have an Olympus digital voice recorder that recorded in a proprietary format. While you could work with and send files, you needed proprietary software to play them. These recordings are in .WAV or MP3 format so they can be instantly copied or emailed and played on any computer. This is a major advantage over a proprietary file system like Olympus. It has a speaker and headphone jack so you can start playing right away. You can use a patch cord and play through your car's AUX input to listen to your recordings on the way home. Playback through a computer or sound system is better than what you hear through the recorder's own speaker. Since this is a digital file, you can easily skip to the next file. There is no need to navigate through a linear record like you would on tape. You can use five folders to store files, making it easier to find what you need. For example, you can use a separate file folder for each item. It comes with software that lets you split tracks, so you don't have to save the entire recording if you just want to keep a specific part. You can also combine tracks with software. It has its own USB port, so it can be plugged directly into your computer's USB port to import files. If you have rechargeable batteries you can also use the USB charging port but you will need to tell the recorder to charge the batteries (and of course do not charge non-rechargeable batteries). I recommend rechargeable batteries. if you use it a lot. You can buy rechargeable batteries with a slightly higher capacity than the batteries that came with the recorder and a good battery will last 10-12 hours at the highest resolution. This works well for phone recordings if you get a patch cord that plugs into your phone line and set the input to an audio input. If voice activation is configured, it will stop after about five seconds of silence. Voice activation recordings are one continuous track with no blocks of silence. I wouldn't recommend voice activation for anything important, as you might miss the first half second before recording starts, and recording might stop if the subject is at a very low level, even if you still have one if installed permanently received recording. write down. You have the option to turn off the LCD backlight and the red recording light, which saves battery power and is also less noticeable. You can format the chip directly from the recorder, use a low-pass filter for noise reduction and play at variable speed if you wish. The recorder is a solid state recorder (no moving parts) so it is completely silent during use. However, be sure to keep the volume down and slide the hold switch up while recording, as this may stop the recording and start the playback function. I'm not rating or recommending this for recording music as good quality music recording is another matter, but it's great for voice including students, professionals and researchers. This is a high quality, versatile and compact recorder at an affordable price for any voice recording use. You can find it cheaper in a different color if you check out Revain but be wary of the ones that ship direct from Japan as they may have a Japanese menu (see photos).