"Sony ICD-AX412 Digital Flash Memory Voice Recorder"
by Sony
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Category: CE
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Digital Photo Product Details
Manufacturer: SonyModel: ICDAX412
Color: Black
Product features:
- Built-in 2 GB flash memory
- Records in MP3 (320 kbps-8 kbps)
- Over 500 Hours of Maximum Recording Time
- Approximately 72 Hours of battery life (recording)
- Memory Card Expansion Slot (microSD/M2)
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of "Sony ICD-AX412 Digital Flash Memory Voice Recorder"
Customer Review: The best voice recorder I've owned yet.
Summary: 5 Stars
I use a voice recorder extensively for my work in on-the-road sales as an important supplement to my regular note-taking. I also use it extensively for personal reminders and other personal matters. I used an RCA voice recorder prior to this for a number of years before it bit the dust. The Sony AX412 puts the RCA to shame in all respects. Recording quality is excellent and it does a pretty fair job of blocking out road noise and noise from my noisy a/c unit. I've even used the Sony to record sounds that I use in my 3D animations and they've turned out extremely well. Since my primary use of this recorder is for note-taking, I have not tested this device yet in meeting/lecture situations, therefore my review is admittedly somewhat limited in terms of it's effectiveness in other situations.
For my purposes, which is primarily riding around in a van all day, I started checking out the various voice levels to see which ones would be best suited for my needs. The device has various recording "scenes" to choose from such as Voice Notes, Interview, Lecture and Meeting. After some experimentation, I decided the Interview scene mode worked best for my situation. The Meeting scene also worked almost as well, but I believe (and I could be wrong about this) that the Meeting mode actually requires more memory. Voice Notes, which you would logically assume would be the best choice, was actually the least desirable in terms of volume level on playback. The volume was way too low and because I'm hard of hearing, that just made it totally unacceptable.
The manual is pretty clear on most things but it got a little hard for me at first to understand when it came to adding files to existing files, but it turned out to be pretty easy once I began experimenting with the software that comes with it. I like the fact that this software allows me to combine separate but related files into one file. In fact, the Sound Organizer software is really quite excellent overall and provides a wide range of tools that can be used to manipulate your sound files. Beyond that, the manual is very well written and very clear. Transferring files from the device to the computer was very important to me and this works flawlessly.
The sound quality, whether the recorded voice or music,is outstanding when played back through my computer speakers. It serves as a very respectable MP3 player. Of course, it records in stereo MP3 format. I will say that because I deal with a lot of road noise, I do have to hold the microphone(s) fairly close to my mouth when recording if I want nice and crystal clear recordings, which is just fine with me. I have done quite a bit of experimenting holding the device away from me and below my mouth level, etc and find that sound quality suffers pretty radically, so I simply keep it close to my mouth when recording and it does the job just fine. Again, bear in mind, that my van is noisy, there's a lot of traffic noise and the a/c is very noisy. It would take a pretty expensive and sophisticated mic setup to overcome all that. We're talking about a device that sells for under $100 here and, keeping that in perspective, the AX412 does a remarkable job.
There are some features that this device has that I have not really tested. One of those is voice-activation. Personally, I don't have much use for it at this time. The AX412 also has a plug-in for an external mic which I think is another very cool feature to have as an option. An external mic coupled with voice activation could be very useful in meeting and lecture situations. Obviously, it has a headphone input as well. Memory can be expanded by use of micro SD cards. You can slow down or speed up speech and/or playback. It has a noise cut filter than can be turned on or off. I usually leave the noise filter on for all of those reasons previously stated.
The unit is very durable. I have dropped it a number of times and it had held up very well. Now I'm not saying it could take a lot of punishment, but it has survived my clumsiness so far. By the way, it comes with a nice protective draw-string bag to keep it in. Very helpful for people like me.
One very nit-picking complaint I have is that the erasure procedure is somewhat more cumbersome than i would like. However, it is probably a good thing that you can't easily accidentally erase your files, so maybe it's actually a good thing that you have to go through a series of procedures first before the file can be erased. Again, it isn't that big a deal; it isn't that hard. With my previous RCA recorder, all I had to do was hold down a button and it would erase the recording.
If I had to single out any real complaints, it would be that the playback volume on the device itself is not as loud as I would like when using it in the company van. Even at the maximum volume levels, I have to hold it pretty close in order to hear it, but again, bear in mind that I am hard of hearing. Also, I have discovered that most of the problems I've had with playback volume can be solved by simply remembering to hold the microphone closer to my mouth. Battery life is pretty decent. It uses 2 triple A's. I like the fact that the device will turn itself off if no recording activity is detected after a period of time.
In spite of of these nit-picks, I have to give the AX412 five stars because I believe that, for this particular price point, it may just be one of the hidden jewels and best deals around. "At rest" sound quality is outstanding. That it records as well as it does in the noisy environment that I use it in is remarkable. It's easy to use and versatile. It can even act as a flash drive for those that need that capability. To be quite honest, this device is probably more than I really need, but I certainly don't regret having purchased it. I can highly recommend this to anyone looking for a reasonably priced, but powerful little digital recorder.
Description of "Sony ICD-AX412 Digital Flash Memory Voice Recorder"
Sony Digital Voice RecorderDigital Cameras and Photo Categories
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