Cheap USB voice recorders?

[JohnGypsy]

Anyone have any experience or recommendations related to the cheap USB voice recorders that are available?

I like the tiny Sansa Clip recorders, but I've lost a couple of them over the last year or so. (Set them down in a hallway only to have them be discovered.) The problem with those is that they are fairly OBVIOUSLY a recording device when you find one. People know what was going on, of course. However, with a USB key device, it isn't nearly as obvious -- people might just think that someone dropped one.

There are a few of them on Amazon for under US$15:
http://www.amazon.com/Rechargeable-Driv ... 008KEX8ZW/
http://www.amazon.com/Ur-08-Digital-Voi ... 006YMO70M/
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006X7NNAI/

For that price, it wouldn't be so bad to have to abandon one now and then if it was accidentally discovered.

I know that the audio won't be perfect -- but, really, I don't expect much from a hallway recording and I'm not willing to leave anything worth significany money sitting around, of course.

Anyone use a specific one that they can recommend? They all seem similar, but just slightly different builds and firmware, so I am hoping someone can recommend one over another before I grab a couple.

[sc0tt-uk]

No experience yet John, but I'm in the market for the same thing. I'm just scouting around to see whether anyone sells one that records to an encrypted drive before I buy a few cheapos to test out. The advantage to the encryption being that even if the drive is picked up by the wrong hands, they wouldn't suspect it'd been left there to record.

That said, either Google has failed me so far or the damn thing doesn't exist.

Keep us posted man...

[yeppie]

Same thoughts here. I´m looking for an usb device that doesn´t look like a recorder, it shouldn´t even look like an usb device and it has to have some sort of encryption. Searched for this on google, chinese electronic online marketplaces (even thought of ordering a custom-made batch for sexsoundlovers), no result so I gave up.
So if somebody comes across a device that meets these specifications, give us a shout.

[findu]

Had a look at your suggestions above and have just purchased this one. Recorded some next door action when staying at a hotel last month using my mobile phone but litterly can't hear a thing. I don't visit hotels too often and don't live in a complex with young couples or anything but have booked a few hotel stays and hoping to get lucky again soon!
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B007SK4QHI/

[JohnGypsy]

I just picked up a couple too -- I'll let you know how they seem.

Yeppie: I actually prefer that they look like USB keys. My thought is that if someone DOES see one sitting there, then their first reaction will be that it is JUST a USB key that someone lost/dropped. But if something UNKNOWN is sitting there, then they will be curious and mess with it and try to figure out what it is.

In other words, I think I'd rather them assume they know what it is (a USB storage drive) and be WRONG -- than to NOT know what it is an investigate further.

What would be nice would be one where we could modify the firmware slightly. The default is to have a directory named "RECORDINGS" (or something similar) and then .MP3 or .WAV files within. That's obvious, of course. I'd like one where I can have the directory be something like ".java_cache" and then the files within be named without an extension or anything -- so that if someone does pick it up and put it in to see what is on it, it would look like junk.

It would be great if we could find one that takes firmware updates -- so that we could make such changes easily...

[yeppie]

Good thought about the design, I agree to your point.

[findu]

I already thought about creating plenty of subdirectories on the stick and put the RECORD file in there. Would the unit still find the folder or should it be in the root folder?

[JohnGypsy]

My understanding is that it will only put it in <root>\RECORD. So, moving it or putting another "RECORD" directory anywhere else on the unit won't get found -- it'll still write to <root>\RECORD\file no matter what you do. If the RECORD directory isn't there, it'll create a new one.

But, yes, filling the root directory with other random files and directories makes sense to at least help make it just look like a USB key. So that RECORD doesn't stand out, of course.

[sc0tt-uk]

So I picked up three of these to see whether they'd be handy to have. From testing tonight, my answer so far is no. Although they vary in external appearance, I'd guess they've got the same hardware tucked away inside. The sample rate of the files they record is really low, and they all seem to have a threshold set for voice activation that's way too hot... I don't find any mention of that in the blurb nor any way of adjusting it.

Fun experiment, but these are going back tomorrow for a refund as I can't imagine them doing much good in the locations I'd want to leave them.

[JohnGypsy]

I've seen models with both VOX and without VOX -- and models that do higher bitrates. A couple of the reviews on Amazon mention this -- that they otherwise LOOK identical, but were doing different bitrates. So, it might be a bit of "try and see" with these.

I also don't plan to use this type for VOX stuff. I'd go with something else for long-term VOX recording, I think.

[JohnGypsy]

Oh -- and the ones I ordered almost two weeks ago now still haven't arrived...

[findu]

The one I have ordered came 2 days later but I am also sending it back. Thought the quality of the recording was ok but it'd stop recording withing the minute every time I tested it , even when fully charged..

Shame

[JohnGypsy]

Mine arrived. Looks like this for those interested:



Some quick recordings show decent results -- good enough for what I was looking for.

I'm going to try a longer (like an hour or so to test it) recording now and see what I get.

[JohnGypsy]

30 minute test worked fine. Kept recording and final quality seemed pretty good. (This was just sitting on my desk, of course.)

I'm happy with it. For under $15, it is just fine -- and should I lose it, no biggie.

[Audio]

personally i would not use such cheap usb recorders because of the presumable low quality of the recording.
here is a shop which specialices in professional surveilance stuff:
http://www.shop-alarm.de/alarm_Audioueberwachung.html
However, most of this items are quite expenssive, so maybe its the best to buy a dictaphone of prominent manufactures like Olympus (eg. the VN
-713) which costs only 50eu but has a high quality recorder:
http://www.amazon.de/Olympus-VN-713PC-D ... 925&sr=8-1