If you’re on the go a lot, then you should consider purchasing a portable digital audio recorder. These devices have great benefits for a wide variety of people, with a set of features that make them reliable and a great value. We’ll even give you a few tips about which brands are the best to consider when looking to buy your own.
Who benefits from a portable digital audio recorder? Musicians, for one. Often, a musician or songwriter will be rehearsing and will discover a new riff, tune, or idea quite by accident – only they won’t have a piece of paper handy to write it all down. A portable recorder comes in great, because you can just record the music or the idea and play it back later at your leisure. These devices are also great for students, who can record lectures instead of trying to keep up with some fast-paced professor and then come back to it later when they have more time. If you’re a journalist, you could record your interviews. If you’re a writer or a businessman or anyone who is constantly coming up with new ideas, you could use one to make memos to yourself instead of scrambling to find a piece of paper to write down any inspiration that comes to you.
Ideally, you’ll get a recorder that is small in size and lightweight. A minimum requirement for recording quality is 24-bit digital audio at 44.1KHz. You should also consider options for multiple microphones and various sound file formats (the standard recording file type is WAV, but a device that can record MP3′s has a lot more versatility). Good connectivity is essential: Bluetooth is the best, although USB connections will work just as well, but you should avoid recorders that are still relying on cassettes and other analog options.
The very best brands are Zoom and Tascam. These two are by far the most popular when it comes to portable digital audio recorders. Even so, you should also consider options from Edirol, Olympus, Sony, Alesis, and Marantz. All of these companies will have options ranging from the consumer-quality at $80 to the professional-quality at $1700. So keep an eye out for one of these useful and versatile devices; it’s almost guaranteed to pay for itself in saving ideas from memory loss.
