Armed Polite Society
Main Forums => The Roundtable => Topic started by: Hawkmoon on July 21, 2021, 10:31:32 PM
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I have one -- a Panasonic, which was a decent unit when I bought it several years ago. The problem with it is that it's entirely self-contained -- there is no way to download a recorded conversation (or meeting) off the device to a computer, USB stick, or anything else. And I may need to record a meeting and be able to preserve a record of it on the municipality's network server.
Does anyone know of an affordable (which to me means under $100) voice recorder that has capability to download the audio file? Preferably in some format that can be played back on a computer?
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Aren't there voice recorder apps for your phone?
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Aren't there voice recorder apps for your phone?
Yes there are. There's one called "Easy Voice Recorder" that works okay and it's free.
The cheap Olympus voice recorder (model WS-500M) I bought several years ago to record church services has a pop-out USB-A plug for transferring files to your computer. I think newer models also have a microUSB slot, so you could record to removable media and transfer it that way.
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Your phone.
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Has anyone mentioned that your phone can do this?
Also, there are tons of sub $100 recorders with USB or SD card transfer options. Sony makes some good ones, I believe.
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Might try using your phone. :laugh:
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A smartphone will do it. Or else Linux.
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This makes me miss my old Sony TC-55 cassette tape recorder from 1975. :'( :old: :old:
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https://www.walmart.com/ip/16GB-Digital-Voice-Activated-Recorder-Lectures-EEEkit-12Hrs-Sound-Audio-Dictaphone-Recording-Device-w-Playback-MP3-Player-Noise-Reduction/567920160?wmlspartner=wlpa&selectedSellerId=503&adid=22222222222364037622&wmlspartner=wmtlabs&wl0=e&wl1=s&wl2=c&wl3=74904373482245&wl4=pla-4578503905953934&wl5=&wl6=&wl7=&wl10=Walmart&wl11=Online&wl12=567920160_10000000422&wl14=hidden%20voice%20recorder&veh=sem&msclkid=3ba1aa4ed09813978eaccab75cbe469f&gclid=3ba1aa4ed09813978eaccab75cbe469f&gclsrc=3p.ds
This looks like a cheap option that is not a smart phone.
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Did anyone mention a phone?
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Did anyone mention a phone?
I think you did -- lemme check.
Yep. Pretty sure that was you, unless it was your evil twin, Skippy.
I don't want to use my phone, because it's MY phone, not a work-issued phone. If this little kerfluffle goes full legal (I'm hoping it won't), I don't want to have my personal phone involved because I don't want anyone to have an excuse to poke around inside my phone in the holy name of discovery.
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I think you did -- lemme check.
Yep. Pretty sure that was you, unless it was your evil twin, Skippy.
Hmmm... "Skippy Frame". Kinda has a ring to it. Speaking of rings, have you considered using your phone?
(Just kidding. I fact, you're on the ball there. I've recommended to new employees to think twice about documenting incidents/accidents with their phone camera. We have supervisors who come out to do that. I tell them to consider the loss of their phone until a trial or arbitration is possible, so to think it over thoroughly.)
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Hmmm... "Skippy Frame". Kinda has a ring to it. Speaking of rings, have you considered using your phone?
(Just kidding. I fact, you're on the ball there. I've recommended to new employees to think twice about documenting incidents/accidents with their phone camera. We have supervisors who come out to do that. I tell them to consider the loss of their phone until a trial or arbitration is possible, so to think it over thoroughly.)
Had a company phone for just such occasions. You need to take my phone? Here, let me get you the charger for it as well. =D
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Oh, in the case how about a burner phone?
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I have a Roland R-05 that records mp3 or WAV to an SD card. Runs on AA batteries. I love it.
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Oh, in the case how about a burner phone?
I'm considering that. With that in mind, this evening I tested six voice recorder apps for Android, all rated 4.6 or higher.
They all suck.
I really wish I could find a way to use my voice recorder device, but I can't find any way to download the recordings. I was wrong on the brand. It's actually an Olympus VN-7200. Memory is all internal, no micro-SD cards. No micro-USB ports to allow connecting to a computer. The manual doesn't even mention what format the files are stored in -- and, since there's apparently no way to copy them or download them, I suppose it doesn't matter what format they're in.
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If it ever comes to discovery, why not just hand them the recorder and tell them they can pull what they need off of there and give it back when they are done?
It can be done (slowly) if there is a headphone jack. Just run a cable from headphones to the mic jack on a computer and start playing and recording.
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I think you did -- lemme check.
Yep. Pretty sure that was you, unless it was your evil twin, Skippy.
I don't want to use my phone, because it's MY phone, not a work-issued phone. If this little kerfluffle goes full legal (I'm hoping it won't), I don't want to have my personal phone involved because I don't want anyone to have an excuse to poke around inside my phone in the holy name of discovery.
Gee, Scooter, you think that kind of information would have been good to share at the front of the conversation?
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Here. $18 from Walmart. Supports downloads via cable to your computer.
https://www.walmart.com/ip/16GB-Digital-Voice-Activated-Recorder-Lectures-EEEkit-12Hrs-Sound-Audio-Dictaphone-Recording-Device-w-Playback-MP3-Player-Noise-Reduction/567920160?wmlspartner=wlpa&selectedSellerId=503&adid=22222222222364037622&wmlspartner=wmtlabs&wl0=e&wl1=o&wl2=c&wl3=74904373482245&wl4=pla-4578503905953934:aud-807615483&wl5=&wl6=&wl7=&wl10=Walmart&wl11=Online&wl12=567920160_10000000422&wl14=removable%20storage%20voice%20recorder&veh=sem&gclid=b8c1166ef65a10e305ba76944a6a87b6&gclsrc=3p.ds&msclkid=b8c1166ef65a10e305ba76944a6a87b6
Should work... unless you have a fuckton more hidden requirements, restrictions, suplmentations, additions, retractions, must haves, must not haves, and desires. ;/
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I've got the same WS-500M that zxcvbob mentioned earlier although I haven't used it in many years. It's a great recorder; records in stereo, records in .wav or .mp3, uses a regular AAA battery, has a built-in retractable USB connector, has headphone and microphone jacks, and the fidelity is good. That particular model has limited storage, although I don't remember how much. Navigating the menus is a little tedious, but probably not any worse than others and easy to use. I'm sure the newer models have larger capacity, you might want to check them out.
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I would probably buy this if I needed a new one: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1187240-REG/olympus_v415121su000_ws_852_digital_voice_recorder.html
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If it ever comes to discovery, why not just hand them the recorder and tell them they can pull what they need off of there and give it back when they are done?
FWIW, the older video systems on the buses here recorded to swappable hard drives. It is my understanding that the reason we had buses going out with no video at one point was because so many of the hard drives were in custody for legal reasons that we didn't have enough spares to equip every bus. For chain of custody reasons they wanted to preserve the drive the recording was made on... not a copy.
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We got one off Amazon a while back (2018) that records in stereo and uses the voice recording format that results in small file sizes. VERY heavy duty unit but quite compact. See what is available now and comparable.
Digital Voice Recorder Pen Voice Activated Recorder 8GB Sound Audio Recorder Portable Mp3 Player Wireless HD Telephone Recorder Double Microphone For Meetings, Lectures, Interview, By T-area (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0772XLKMT)