mongomad1's Full Review: Sony ICD-SX57DR9 (128 MB, 47.5 Hours) Handheld Dig...
In a long string of easy come’s, easy go's in my life, this is the device that most recently played this humbling role. Why must I be cursed with these movie star good looks and a conscience beyond reproach?!?! ;) My wonderfulmother-in-law, I truly mean that or it would still be mine, gave me this because she fiddled with it and the Sony ICD-SX57 would not work for her needs, OR so she thought. She wanted to download Christian themed music, a noble endeavor assuming we still have rights, and be able to take it to church for others to hear. However, she was disappointed with the speaker on playback, as would anyone trying to listen to music from the device alone. This multi-tasker WILL do exactly what she wants and so much more, provided she plays it through a decent sound system with the "AUX" plug for the stereo and the headphone jack to the recorder. The church, of course, has this… It does take a thorough analysis of the directions OR the game of hit and miss I played to figure it all out.
Recently, I reviewed a lower end Sony Model of this genre, the Sony ICD-B500 Handheld Digital Voice Recorder, and you can read my “recording people and the care that should be taken so as not to anger the authorities of your state or the Feds" there, if you like. Just a word to the wise. I remain steadfast that the other model CAN meet your needs at a significant savings, BUT, if you have the means, I highly recommend you pick one of these up. Why? Bueller? Bueller? It is still a handheld recorder right? Well, it is but also serves as the Swiss Army Knife of these contraptions. Before I give it back, (sniff, sniff), let us rejoice in its many splendors, one by one.
As a Handheld Recorder…
It gets an A plus here. Not only does it do this, but also with TWO microphones built-in to give you true stereo playback if you choose one of the three higher quality modes of recording. The microphones can be set to “High” so that you can record a meeting in a quiet room or “Low” in the event you are dictating in a noisy environment. The former will pick up every sound around it and the latter only captures words spoken directly into the mic when you step up and MC.
Stereophonic duplication not important to you? Great, this means you can get more hours of recording at one of the two lowest quality levels of recording. Also, of those two mics, you can set which one you want to do the recording when not using the “stereo-type” modes and face it towards the source of babble you wish to memorialize. That is all well and good, but how much of a difference is there in the time available to be recorded in the FIVE modes available?
Stereo High Quality (STHQ):……....4 hours 10 minutes
Standard Play Stereo (ST):……….11 hours 10 minutes
Long Play Stereo (STLP):………...21 hours 35 minutes
Standard Play Monaural (SP):…...34 hours 15 minutes
Long Play Monaural (LP):………...91 hours 20 minutes
As with the cheaper, excuse me, less expensive device I reviewed previously, the segments you record can be stored in four folders, A, B, C and D. There is a twist here, though, in that you can create sub-folders under each like: Main Folder A – Subfolder: Biology Lectures – Subfolders: Lectures Test 1, Lectures Mid-Term, Lectures Test 2, Lectures Final. Three subfolders is as deep as you can go and the display will be in all caps on the device’s screen. The maximum for folders is a mere 500 and recordings in each folder can only total 999 or less. I should say that is ample.
If that is not enough to get you through Biology 101, you also can set a “Bookmark” in each recording AND set priorities for specific spots with no *, one *, two **, or three ***. Do you need more than one Bookmark in a recording? Just split the recording in two. Nothing is lost and you will not notice if you have it set to “Play back all” versus one section. Oh, and let us say you have that jerk of a professor for Biomedical Engineering 96250 that likes to talk SOOOOO fast for the purpose of acting irritated when people ask him/her to slow down. You just sit back with the comic book hidden within your textbook and when you get home, you can slow down the playback WITHOUT distorting the pitch – the voice does not get deeper. Yes, and make it play faster without it sounding like the Chipmunks, Alvin, Theodore and Simon. This is also a major plus for musicians that need the right pitch of notes but more slowly until they have the song down and then worry about tempo. I have tried it with both voice and music. It truly does work. How? I have no idea. A combo of Elfun Magic and Lucky the Leprechaun, I guess. It is magically delicious.
Of course it comes with the Voice Operated Recording (VOR), which records when there is noise and pauses whilst an uncomfortable silence overtakes the room to conserve the batteries. Nice segue way…
Battery Life and Options…
You have the choice of using rechargeable batteries – not included, some assembly necessary, or normal batteries – included, also must be inserted. There is no recharger, but there is a USB port and while plugged into your PC, it charges them right up. Four hours it supposedly takes from a dead battery.
Here are the estimated times for battery life for playback and recording if you use the AAA included Sony batteries:
Stereo High Quality (STHQ):……...13 hours 30 minutes………...16 hours 30 minutes
Standard Play Stereo (ST):….…….14 hours 30 minutes………...17 hours
Long Play Stereo (STLP):…...…….16 hours 30 minutes………...17 hours 30 minutes
Standard Play Monaural (SP):…....17 hours………….……..........19 hours
Long Play Monaural (LP):……........19 hours………………...........19 hours 30 minutes
There is a power input, but the AC Adapter is sold separately. Now the show is over, right? No, this little beauty CAN record and play music, unlike its less expensive little brother, and also has a final surprise.
”Is That Freedom Rock? Crank It Up…”
You can record live performances, BUT, unless it is a piano recital, ballet or a symphony where everyone is quiet, expect just to hear the fella in front of you singing off pitch at the rock concert, all hopped up on some type of Goofenol. You CAN record directly from a stereo using the external microphone plug and taking the other end of the cord into the "mic" to the Victrola of your choosing. Move it to the "line in" for playback from the recorder, in order to hear it through quality speakers. This line is not included, but they are dirt cheap at Radio Shack and other places. Also, if it is not a 1/4 in. plug on the stereo, there are adapters that will make it fit.
This is a way to get wax into electronic format as well as cassettes – please tell me 8-Tracks no longer exist – HOWEVER it takes tweaking to get it to sound just right. The volume on the source must be set at an optimal level so that it is neither too faint (soft) nor distorted (loud). The device does have a stereo display with graphics showing the highest levels the input is hitting on each speaker (in stereo) and you can get a decent sound if you set it properly so the indicators do not go above a certain mark. Better too low than too high from my brief experiments.
For superior quality, the best way to place recordings onto the device is via the included software. A note here, before attaching the device AFTER you have installed the software, disable the "recharge" option that defaults to "charge" in the event you are not using rechargeable batteries. Only you can prevent home fires.
After you have taken that precaution, plug the small connection end of the supplied USB wire into your device and the standard A plug into your PC/Monitor/USB Hub. It will be immediately recognized and an Explorer Window will pop-up, not Internet Explorer, the type that displays folders and files. You can certainly use this and pull up another window of the same kind and navigate where you want to place files from the recorder on the PC or move PC files to the recorder, like MP3's. If you do move MP3's and expect to play them via the recorder in any way, YOU MUST open "Digitial Voice Editor", part of the included software, in order for the database on the SX57 to recognize it as a playable format.
Once you open it, the following message will appear: “Message Has Been Updated/Updating The Message List File”. Just hit OK and it will be ready for play once it disconnected from your PC. This necessity is not mentioned in the instructions. The MP3 is still there, regardless, should you not open the program, it also can be moved to another PC, but it will not play on this recorder unless the “Digital Voice Editor” is accessed. To disconnect the apparatus, you need only pull the plug of the USB connection since this device is hot swappable. That is nice feature versus ending the session before unplugging that some USB devices require.
If you are not a fan of going back and forth between windows and dragging and dropping, you also have the option to complete all or most of what you want referenced above from the "Digitial Voice Editor" component. It allows you to accomplish the same things in a single window. Said window has 4 panes. The two top panes display the folders on your device and PC, left to right, respectively. The below panes show the files in the folders that are in focus in the pane directly above. You can navigate to PC and recorder folders, as well as drag and drop from one to the other.
What else does this thing bring to the party? Hmmm.... Oh yeah, quite a lot!
USB Mass Storage Device!!!!
“Mass” is a relative term, but it does have 238MB of space and will act just as a thumb drive, provided the PC you want to put it on has the software installed and an available USB port. It is claimed to be 256MB, but it has a built-in database that they must include in that figure. I looked at it by right clicking the drive letter it was assigned and the ENTIRE drive was listed at 238MB's.
Place any type of file or files on it from JPEG’s to Excel Spreadsheets and it will be there when you open it on another PC. You will not see them on the device, but they are there. Since the software is free and easy to install, there should be no issue getting this done unless you are trying to do it at work and are not an Administrator on your PC and/or executables are not allowed to be run on your machine based on a policy set.
Size…Looks
In case that matters, the Sony ICD-SX57 is about:
4.75” long
1.25” wide or a hair over
0.5” thick
It is entirely silver but for the display, speaker covers, 4 buttons and the side where you input the power/USB cable which are all gray. The mic covers are black. The battery is located at the bottom and slides off, though is secure when closed.
Final Take…
This really is a handy contraption since it is able to accomplish a variety of tasks all fairly well. Based on its learning curve for the average person, I deduct one star. I deduct one half star for the price versus what you get, but this still rounds up to 4. The device is formatted in FAT16, not FAT32 or NTFS. This is actually a good thing based on its size of 238MB. You could store one file that takes up all that space. Remember, smaller drives are better formatted FAT or FAT32 for maximum efficiency so there is no need to slap NTFS on it. I am not sure what might happen!!!!
There is a specific headset you can purchase for recording phone calls, but I am not even going to discuss that - ECM-TL1 type is needed. It will also transcribe voice recordings to a word processor if you have Dragon NaturallySpeaking v 5.0 Preferred/Professional or a more recent version. Where was this when I was in school? Ahh... The abacus was the latest rage.
USB2.0 Compatible for Hi-Speed Transfer - Rate to a PC via USB port on a PC. Compatible with Dragon® - NaturallySpeaking® Preferred Voice to Pri...More at Amazon Marketplace
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