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10 best dictaphones
There's nothing worse than realising your phone or laptop hasn't recorded that important interview properly – stick to the tried and trusted technology of a dictaphone with our top picks
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Dictaphones are brilliantly useful – whether you're a journalist recording an interview, the person tasked with taking minutes of a meeting or an actor learning a tricky dialect.
Many people use their smartphones now. The iPhone's Voice Memos app, for instance, is very good and is about to get a design and feature upgrade this autumn.
Or you can match the iPhone with a broadcast grade microphone from Sennheiser, the ClipMic Digital, which plugs straight into the phone and is perfect for interviews.
But for many situations, nothing beats a physical unit with buttons you can click, and a time stamp to show that you really are recording.
Some recorders have two microphones, and many have settings to vary recording quality, with higher resolution usually at the expense of audio storage capacity.
Finally, the very worst part of any recording is the transcription task that follows it. A brilliant new service called Trint will turn your audio into interactive text in minutes for low fees.
You still need to tidy up the text once it has transcribed it for you, but it does a lot of the heavy lifting.
Browse through our top ten dictaphones below.
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Sony SX2000 Digital Voice Recorder 16GB: £200, Amazon
Sony makes brilliant, solid-state voice recorders that are hard wearing, reliable and feature packed. This model has twin microphones which can be adjusted into three different configurations as the situation requires.
There's also a microphone cover for windy environments. Recording quality is strong, up to high resolutions that approach broadcast levels.
Recharging is simple thanks to a USB connector which slides out of the bottom – you can use this to transfer recordings easily. You can also control it remotely from a smartphone app if you need to start and stop recording discreetly.
Philips VoiceTracer DVT1150 4GB: £29.99, Amazon
This is a simple, relatively basic and highly affordable recorder. It works best for those “note to self” moments, rather than for a student recording a lecture from the back of the hall.
There's a useful index key which lets you set a bookmark while you're recording – this is handy for noting those moments when something interesting is said.
Despite being low-priced, it includes voice activation for recordings, which will pause after three seconds of silence and resume when you start speaking again.
The highest quality recording setting still has 24 hours capacity and is straightforward to export recordings – so in most situations it's worth using this HQ format.
Olympus VN-741PC 4GB: £38.39, Dictaphones.co.uk
Another relatively basic machine, and one that's designed for beginners thanks to a Simple Mode, which uses a larger font and essential information only – though the more advanced mode is also available.
Like the Sony above, it has a retractable USB connector making it easy to transfer files to Mac or PC. It automatically adjusts the recording level according to the loudness or of the person speaking.
It also comes with Dragon Naturally Speaking software to turn voice into text (though I find Trint to be even more accurate).
Nagra Pico 4GB: £226.80, Richmond Film Services
Nagra is exceptional quality, revered by broadcast professionals, and this model is designed for radio journalists (though they will probably add a separate microphone).
The operating system is really not as intuitive as others here, though it's still usable. But you'd choose Nagra because the recorder is brilliantly reliable – it performs as it should every time.
The recording quality is excellent whether you're in a large room or up close to the speaker. It has two high-quality microphones and it's variable-speed playback helps with transcription.
Sony TX650 16B: £89.99, Argos
This recorder is designed for meetings and is a neatly designed, well crafted gizmo. It has a clip to attach to your top pocket, or your notepad, perhaps, and is lightweight and easy to use.
The mono microphone is effective and though there's no possibility to expand the memory, the built in 16GB is enough. A micro USB connector and supplied USB cable are used for charging.
It's small and light too, 10.2 x 2 cm (4 x 0.8 inches). Like the pricier Sony here, there is a crucial hold button which prevents accidental operation like, oh dear, inadvertently erasing your recordings.
Philips VoiceTracer DVT6010 8GB: £98.34, Amazon
Designed to be good for distance recording, this recorder is ideal for lectures, for instance. It has multiple microphones and software to reduce noise such as rustling papers, so the speaker's voice is clearer.
A built-in motion sensor means it knows whether it's on a desk or held in the hand and adjusts which microphone it uses accordingly. And there's a very clever pre-record function.
The VoiceTracer records without saving for five seconds before you press the record key, so if you suddenly realise something great is being said, you press the button and those five seconds are saved as the beginning of the recording.
It's also available in a 4GB version, but there is little price difference between the two. The 8GB version can record for up to 2280 hours, which is around three months!
Sony ICD-B140 4GB: £29.99, Argos
Unlike some models here, there's only a mono microphone on this recorder, making it great for note-taking but not as strong for meetings, for instance.
The maximum recording time is huge, but recordings are so much better at the higher-quality settings that you're unlikely to use anything else.
Although the functions are basic it has all the essentials, including a hold switch to protect recordings against accidental erasure.
Olympus DM-720 4GB: £127.99, Onedirect
Three microphones, angled in different directions, make for strong stereo sound capture. You can control it even without looking at it, thanks to voice guidance which reads out the menu – handy for those with vision issues.
This recorder has clever playback features, too, like the facility to only play back voices, not the bits when nobody's speaking.
You can also use scene selections to optimise recording for a conference, meeting or dictation as needed. A retractable USB connector slides out of the base when you need it.
Livescribe Echo 2GB: £161.99, Amazon
The Livescribe is a different way of doing things. The microphone is in the pen and as you record, it ties each moment to your writing.
This means that afterwards you tap the pen on the word that you just can't make out in your writing and it'll replay exactly that moment of sound.
This is brilliant for navigating extensive notes. You can save the notes and audio in the cloud. Note that for it to work you need to use special Livescribe paper with its tiny microdots – a 50 page notebook is supplied.
Olympus LS-P1 4GB: £99.99, Argos
The LS-P1 records at very high quality, in stereo. Big buttons make it very easy to operate, although the erase button is a little too prominent for my liking (don't worry, there are warnings before you wipe anything).
Other features include voice-activation, a slide-out USB connector and neat metal styling. Though it has a USB, this is not for recharging as it uses a single AAA battery which should last up to 39 hours.
The Verdict: Best dictaphones
In terms of ease of operation, versatility and storage capacity, the Sony SX2000 is hard to beat. But for simple recording of meetings, its mid-price sibling, the Sony TX650, is potent enough.
If your recordings need to be broadcast quality, the Nagra Pico is best, though not quite as easy to use as the rest.