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Best 7 Digital Voice Recorders for Digital Transcription

Digital Voice Recorder Reviews

By , About.com Guide

To be featured in one of these digital voice recorder reviews, a digital voice recorder needs to deliver quality sound recording, voice file management and editing features – in short, the kind of features that facilitate digital transcription. These digital voice recorder reviews will help you find the best digital voice recorders when you need to use your digital voice recorder for digital transcription as well as for voice recording and playback. Some include transcription software as part of the package.

1. Olympus DS-71 Digital Voice Recorder

Olympus DS-71 Digital Voice RecorderPriceGrabber.com
Sometimes it's the little things that get a recorder onto my best digital voice recorders list. With the Olympus DS-71 Digital Voice Recorder, it's several little things that make digital transcription easier. One is Intro Scan playback mode, which lets you quickly scan through a recording and find a specific file. Another is slow playback, which lets you play back recordings up to 50% slower than real time without distortion. And yet another is this recorder's 16 bit/44.1 kHz Linear PCM recording capability for superior sound quality. And did I mention the 4GB of internal memory and DSS Player software that's included? The price is reasonable compared to comparable digital voice recorders.
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2. Olympus DM-2 Digital Voice Recorder

Olympus DM-2 Digital Voice RecorderPriceGrabber.com

Why is this one of the best digital voice recorders around? Because of its combination of usability and flexibility. The first thing you’ll notice is that this digital voice recorder has 4GB of internal memory which provides more than 1000 hours of recording time – and there’s a microSD card slot so you can add even more. The second thing you’ll probably notice is the 2.2 inch color LCD screen and Voice Guidance that will lead you through the recorder’s functions. What you might not notice right away is that the Olympus DM-2 Digital Voice Recorder supports multiple formats, has 12 recording and playback options and comes with Olympus Sonority sound editing software.

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3. Olympus DS-2400 Digital Voice Recorder

Olympus DS-2400 Digital RecorderPriceGrabber.com

This is one of Olympus' top of the line digital voice recorders intended to meet professional dictation and digital transcription needs and it shows, from the customizable navigation pod through the excellent sound quality and file management abilities. Features I especially like include the large backlit LCD, file edit function (which lets you insert and overwrite on an existing recording file), the ability to place index marks (up to 32 index marks per file!), and being able to end one dictation and start another by just pressing the 'New' button. Being equipped with a 1GB SD Card and DSS Player Software are also definite pluses.

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4. Sony ICD-SX700D Digital Voice Recorder

Sony ICD-SX700 Digital RecorderPriceGrabber.com

I really like the versatility of this digital voice recorder; you can create a podcast, play music or transcribe your recorded voice files into text easily (Dragon NaturallySpeaking Speech Recognition software is included). Sony's ICD-SX700 digital voice recorder also provides lots of recording capability with large built-in stereo microphones, multiple recording modes and up to 372 hours of recording time in LP mode. One GB of flash memory and features such as Overwrite (which let you correct dictation after playback), Add and playback speed control make this digital voice recorder ideal for academic or business purposes.

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5. Sony ICD-BM1 Digital Voice Recorder

Sony ICD-BM1 Digital RecorderPriceGrabber.com

Voice email function, add/overwrite functions, digital pitch control, incremental rewind; this Sony digital voice recorder is packed with features to make dictation and editing voice recordings easier, and Dragon NaturallySpeaking Preferred speech recognition software is included to meet your digital transcription needs. This recorder's professional quality sound, though, is its main selling point.

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6. Sony ICD-MX20 Digital Voice Recorder

Sony ICD-MX20 Digital Voice RecorderPriceGrabber.com
This digital voice recorder has plenty of features that will aid digital transcription, including voice-activated recording, automatic download and auto-pitch compensation. I am not a big fan of the Memory Stick media card system in general, though, preferring to have lots of memory already built into the recorder. The Sony ICD-MX20 Digital Voice Recorder comes with 32MB of internal memory and USB 2.0 flash memory, but Sony notes that Memory Stick media cards "provide virtually unlimited capacity". Note that this recorder is compatible with Dragon Naturally Speaking software, but it is not included.
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7. Olympus Digital Recorder PC Transcription Kit

Olympus PC Transcription KitPriceGrabber.com

Turn your Olympus digital voice recorder into an even more efficient transcription system with this digital voice recorder accessory kit. The kit includes a footswitch, headset and software and is compatible with DS, WS, VN-3200PC and VN-5200PC recorders from Olympus.

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