Digital voice recorder technologies have advanced rapidly in the last couple of years. There are lots of new digital voice recorders on the market. Because of the large selection of digital voice recorders available it is necessary to choose the recorder that fits you or your business needs. Many individuals will use a digital voice recorder for simple things such as meetings/memos whilst others may need a digital voice recorder with transcription capabilities. This is a short guide to help you pin point things you should think of before purchasing a digital voice recorder.

Digital Recording vs. Tape Recording: Digital Voice Recorders will be the new standard in voice recording. No longer do you have handle buying multiple tapes, a broken tape, or poor audio quality. Digital audio lasts longer than tapes and also you also can't feed a tape in to a PC. Many tape recorder models are increasingly being phased out and development has slowed down. A digital voice recorder is definitely the way to.

Connecting a Digital Voice Recorder to your PC: Most base model digital voice recorders don't make it possible for you to connect to a pc for downloading audio files. On the contrary, you don't have to pay an arm and leg for a recorder that has PC connectivity. The vast majority of the mid to upper range voice recorders enable you to connect to a PC via USB cable, docking station or direct connection. I would highly recommend buying a recorder that has PC connectivity.

Data Storage of Digital Voice Recorders: Most digital voice recorders currently can handle storing other sorts of data together with recorded audio. Most recorders have integrated flash memory and can also double as a USB mass storage device just like a jump drive that one can store files like documents or images. The Olympus WS series voice recorders actually split apart and one half may be used as a jump drive.

Consider What Features You may need: Will you use your recorder for professional transcription purposes or use it to record memos? You shall normally pay more for digital interview recorders which have transcription features and much less for digital recorders that do not. Compare the digital voice recorders that you'll be considering and focus on which features you need and don't need.

Recording time for Digital Voice Recorders: Most digital voice recorders advertise their highest possible recording time; some boast just as much as 555 hours with 2 GB's of memory. Don't put too much stock within this as this recording time is only on the lowest quality setting, which is awful, in fact I don't know why anyone would ever choose to record at the bottom quality. On the highest audio quality setting the same 2 GB's of memory will record only 35 hours of audio. Make sure to verify how long you can record in most the quality modes prior to deciding to purchase. In addition, if you're planning on transcribing your recordings with voice to print software or voice recognition software it's going to require high-quality audio recordings.