smoke11's Full Review: Sony ICDB600 (512 MB, 301.5 Hours) Handheld Digita...
I bought the Sony ICD-B600 out of necessity. It would not have been my first choice, but it turned out to be my only choice. However, after using this digital voice recorder at a conference, I have to say that it met my expectations.
I work as a reporter and use Sony digital recorders on the job. My two workhorses right now are the ICD-P520, a mono system and ICD SX57, a stereo digital recorder.
I forgot to pack my recorders for a conference trip near Walt Disney World just outside of Orlando. A nearby Wal-Mart had a Sony ICD-B600, a mono recorder, for about $40. It was the only normal electronics store I could find near the conference and I just wasn't familiar enough with the roads to keep driving around. It was also Sunday night! There were a ton of touristy electronics shops still open but the first recorder someone showed me in one of these stores cost $200 and was a model I had never seen before. I was out the door fast.
The ICD-B600 was the best digital recorder sold by this Wal-Mart. It has 512MB of memory which gives 61 hours of recording time at the highest setting, HQ. That's a lot of recording time.
This recorder's major drawback is its inability to connect to a PC. There is no USB connection and consequently no means to download the voice file to your PC. One of the best things about Sony's digital voice line is its software interface, which allows you to save voice files and use the keyboard to control playback. I almost didn't buy ICD-B600 for that reason, but decided that having something was better than nothing.
In form and feel, the ICD-B600 is little different from its more advance cousins that include a USB, such as the P520. The button layout is similar.
The lack of PC link meant using buttons to control playback. That took some practice before it became second nature. If you have a 20 minute recording, for instance, and want to move ahead to something that is about 15 min deep into the recording, the longer you hit the fast forward button the faster it advances which can make it difficult to precisely hit the counter spot that you want. It was that problem which made me appreciate the use of the divide button.
The divide button helped to make for the lack of PC link. All the Sony digital voice recorders have this button, but on this model it's a big help.
If you are recording a speech and want to mark a particular place just hit divide. It's a bookmark. It will end the file you are working on and start a new one, making it very easy to zoom to that spot. There is no interruption in the recording.
You can also use the divide function when playing back a recording, however, it will reorder the file: If you hit divide while listening to file 8, for instance, it will create a new file 9, and then file 10 will become 11 and so on.
Using the fast forward/rewind was a matter of practice. It got easier overtime to navigate a recording.
The recording quality is very similar to Sony's other sub-$100 mono digital recorders that I have used. It's a directional microphone that does a good job if it's pointed in the approximate direction of the sound source. The quality of recording is crisp and clear enough provided you record at the highest quality level HQ. There's really no reason to use any other level of recording quality.
Recording quality is always the big issue, especially for students trying to record the unamplified voice of a classroom professor. Higher end systems, such as the stereo have higher sampling rates and consequently better recording quality that makes it easier to enhance difficult-to-hear sounds. Sony and other makers have stereo models that cost in the $100-$200 range, especially online.
But generally, the rule of thumb on recording quality is this: If you have to strain to hear someone, then the recording will be difficult to listen to as well. In my experience, I've never found a digital recorder that's better than my two ears.
If you are using the ICD-B600 to check quotes, then this recorder will meet your needs. But if you are planning on making transcripts of an interview, this is not the recorder for you.
The ICD-B600 is a fine recorder, but for $20 more you can get a similar system with a PC link. If I had the choice, I would have spent the extra money.
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