I own an Olympus WS-802 which I use to record college lectures. With the permission of the instructors, I place my unit on their podium and set to record. Would the quality of a recording using this mic justify the cost vs. simply relying on the built-in mic of my WS-802? I own an Olympus WS-802 which I use to record college lectures. With the permission of the instructors, I place my unit on their podium and set to record. Would the quality of a recording using... » Read More I own an Olympus WS-802 which I use to record college lectures. With the permission of the instructors, I place my unit on their podium and set to record. Would the quality of a recording using this mic justify the cost vs. simply relying on the built-in mic of my WS-802? « Show Less
1112047
I used it for exactly this reason in undergrad and the mic makes a TREMENDOUS difference in sound quality.
1112048
to me it is a hit and miss on the olympus ME-51S stereo Mic. I used it on my Gopro hero 2 and had problems with it recording. I might have gotten a bad unit. I have not tried the ME51S on any other devices/recorders that I have but I will try it some time in the future.
1112049
TO be honest, I have not done a comparison between the two. But what I have found is that the built-in mic is of good quality for voice recording, even in a largish room. It has worked fine for me. I recorded in the mode where it just records when it has a voice to record. Been happy with this product.
698384
I would get the highest quality you can afford. This is fine for hobbyist quality but if you want professional type recording I would think you need something better
84686
I tried recording from about 12 feet away and it did pick up the sound, but it was at low volume and I recorded in a quiet room. I suspect that in a lecture it would pick up lots of background noise. For your requirement I think you'd be better with a dedicated voice recorder, and perhaps one with a directional microphone.
1798295
I think there are better alternatives for your hobby, I am using this one for sports and sometimes for inside meetings that I record. Hope to be helpful. Good luck ;)
1544242
It works great! Try to sit as close as possible bc it does pick up a lot of background noise like papers shuffling. But even with that the clarity was great and I was happy with my purchase esp for the price. Side note. I would write down the time of the recording every 15 mins or so that way I can skip ahead to the time of where my notes were so I didn't have to listen or try to find where I wanted to review! Good luck!
1696668
I don't know -- I have used it exclusively for webinar recordings, which it is spectacular at and sounds better than mics that are 3-6 times the cost.
202951
From my experience with any kind of Mic, trying to record clear sound at a concert is damn near impossible. I've occasionally used the Mic to record movies played in class that were louder than the lecture overall and it still came out Crystal clear. I'm not sure of the quality with concert music though. Definitely use that black puffy protector that the product comes in. It'll filter out some of the noise. Sorry that I'm not much help.
476823
I believe in keeping it simple. If it has a mic input, you can't go wrong. I shoot with a Nikon and the audio quality of my videos is great. As the saying goes: "I never leave home without it!"
1908795
I wish I could help, but so far I've only used it for dictation. On the other hand, Sony's description says it can be used to record lectures, which would imply considerable distance.
2209497
The voice recorder is easy to use. You use the menu button or the scroll wheel to navigate to the 'voice' area. Then you just press record (on the side of the device). I liked the set up better than the items from creative labs. It was much easier to access. The sound quality seems pretty good, when listening to the recording from headphones. I was about 6ft away from my test subject, and I could hear everything nicely. If you are using it in a lecture hall, I would recommend putting it as close to the instructor as possible. I don't think an external mic is possible, but I could be wrong. There is only an input for headphones. I bought it for recording speech samples in people, and I think it'll do that quite well. It sounded much clearer than my tape recorder and was easier than the digital recorder I borrowed from someone.
973283
Quality-wise, the SX1000 is as good as it gets at this price and this form factor. As far as better than the 712, I can't say as I haven't heard one of those, but this one has a limiter and a low-cut filter, which will save your life sometimes in certain situations (i.e. you have manually set the recording level for a live band in a club, but they get a little bit louder sometimes and you don't find out till later). And as Jay Jay Jay said in one of his replies to a question about lectures, the stereo mode with appropriately-set mic sensitivity was far superior to trying to use the monophonic and directional lecture mode with this device. Quality-wise, the SX1000 is as good as it gets at this price and this form factor. As far as better than the 712, I can't say as I haven't heard one of those, but this one has a limiter and a low-cut filter, which will save your life sometimes in certain situations (i.e. you have manually set the recording level for a live band in a club, but they get a little bit louder sometimes and you don't find out till later). And as Jay Jay Jay said in one of his replies to a question about lectures, the stereo mode with appropriately-set mic sensitivity was far superior to trying to use the... » Read More Quality-wise, the SX1000 is as good as it gets at this price and this form factor. As far as better than the 712, I can't say as I haven't heard one of those, but this one has a limiter and a low-cut filter, which will save your life sometimes in certain situations (i.e. you have manually set the recording level for a live band in a club, but they get a little bit louder sometimes and you don't find out till later). And as Jay Jay Jay said in one of his replies to a question about lectures, the stereo mode with appropriately-set mic sensitivity was far superior to trying to use the monophonic and directional lecture mode with this device. « Show Less
909821
I've used it at board meeting at times but the mike I've used and is incredibly good is the Olympus ME-51S Stereo Microphone. Yes it cost more but at a board meeting with someone sitting almost 30 feet away I still get a good recording, I just turn the volume up a bit.
1453947
Hi Sharon, I've only recorded a couple videos right after I received the camera and those were only for testing the record function. I didn't record any audio but I do remember some slight wind noise. I just did a quick test recording the tv sound and it was ok. If you decide to purchase the camera, keep in mind the microphone is located on top close to where you would hold it with your left hand. Also, it is not stereo. The camera has served my needs and I've been very pleased with it. Photos are not DSLR quality but pretty good nonetheless. Wi-fi backup and sending via email on my home network work great. Sorry I don't have a better reply regarding the sound quality. Hi Sharon, I've only recorded a couple videos right after I received the camera and those were only for testing the record function. I didn't record any audio but I do remember some slight wind noise. I just did a quick test recording the tv sound and it was ok. If you decide to purchase the camera, keep in mind the microphone is located on top close to where you would hold it with your left hand. Also, it is not stereo. The camera has served my needs and I've been very pleased with it. Photos are not DSLR quality but pretty good nonetheless. Wi-fi backup and sending via email on my home... » Read More Hi Sharon, I've only recorded a couple videos right after I received the camera and those were only for testing the record function. I didn't record any audio but I do remember some slight wind noise. I just did a quick test recording the tv sound and it was ok. If you decide to purchase the camera, keep in mind the microphone is located on top close to where you would hold it with your left hand. Also, it is not stereo. The camera has served my needs and I've been very pleased with it. Photos are not DSLR quality but pretty good nonetheless. Wi-fi backup and sending via email on my home network work great. Sorry I don't have a better reply regarding the sound quality. « Show Less
1148237
It will depend upon what you need it for. I do all spoken word work so the Spark is ideal for me with a single polar pattern as a portable recording solution. The Yeti has more options for a variety of recording scenarios. (Dialogue/Interview, a whole room; all based on switching the pick-up pattern of the mic) Again, as a portable solution, the Spark is excellent: Great sound, great portable recording options. (laptop, iphone, ipad) The Yeti is, perhaps, a better multi-use mic. (can't speak to the audio quality personally, but I know many who love it.)
550275
Well, this has really good built-in microphones. So, if you don't have a good mic to record with for the computer, then that is one major pro. Otherwise, this is a field recorder, so it is made to be taken to record audio on location or portably.
550273
It really depends on what computer you have, what you're using to get your mics into the computer, etc. It also really depends on what you're recording and what it's for. It all depends on the situation really. I know when it comes to doing film and on-set dialogue I definitely want to use the recorder. It's portable, lightweight, and it's basically direct input from the mic. When it comes to most everything else though: instruments, vocals, voice overs, etc. then I'd go with the computer. I like being able to see the waveform, which you can't do on the DR-40. You can see when it clips and then general level but not the waveform. It really depends on the situation as I said. For instrument and vocal recording, get a mixer and run everything into the computer, recording with Pro Tools or Audition. I'd say this device is most optimized for film work. It's great for getting mics into a pocket recording device. It's portable and easy and lightweight. Without the mics it is also really good for getting spacious sound environments.
1702258
I was worried about that also. However I have needed up using it differently. I record training conferences and what I ended up doing was recording in much smaller sections, 1) for ease of location of material that I needed and 2) the finished project was little videos on an intranet site. So while I record over 5 days worth of content stretching over 9 hours a day, I never ran into this problem since I found it easier to make the files smaller for ease of use and finding the exact content I needed. I know this does not help exactly, but look at how you will actually do the recording it may become moot as it did for me. Great device though, very handy.