Digital Flash Voice Recorder (ICD-PX312)

(Actually 4.5 Star review) I bought this recorder because I wanted a voice recorder to record my conversations with my grandfather, but it has become so much more. In one of my classes, I began recording the lectures, and it picks up on everything said, even very quiet, almost whispered comments. My teacher has complimented the quality of it several times, and even intends to purchase one for himself. It is easy to operate and download the files to the computer, and it automatically records the date on the file, so it is easy to determine which one you are looking at. People complained about the software, and I didn't use much of it, but I did use it to cut the files up into "bite-sized" pieces, so I don't think it is worthless as people claim, it just isn't anything fancy or expensive, but then it was free. Also, I LOVE the battery life this thing gets. I have been recording to the point that I have almost filled the entire internal memory, and the first notch of battery life just went down (out of four). I only have 2 issues with this recorder: 1) It makes an initial beep when you first begin and end a recording, and I cannot find any option to turn it off, and even turning the volume all the way down does not lower the volume on the beep. This can be bothersome when trying to record in a quiet or more formal situation. I have found, though, that if I just have headphones plugged into the earphone jack, it takes care of this problem. 2) The second problem is that I dropped it off of a desk onto a carpeted floor (less than 3 feet), and now the display has dead pixels. I feel like it ought to be slightly more durable than this, but it doesn't affect the recording quality or anything. This might also be due to the fact that it was refurbished. Overall, I have found this recorder to be worth every penny of what I spent on it; it has been an amazing tool, and one which I am coming to appreciate more in various situations.

I am very impressed with this little recorder. I had read the manual online at Sony's website before buying it and was disappointed that it says its best quality is 192 kbps Mono even though the microphone input is stereo. I decided to buy it anyway. I am mainly going to use it for mono recordings with a lavalier microphone and decided I probably wouldn't use it for stereo line-in recordings much anyway even if it was stereo. But it DOES record in stereo. I have a 1/8 in. stereo microphone and it records in stereo that way ... and it records in stereo using the line-in feature. Just a few minutes ago, I decided to experiment a little. I have a Voice Live 2 harmonizer that I use in churches. I connected an MP3 player to the Voice Live 2 and played one of my recordings that I use as a track in churches. I connected an XLR microphone to the Voice Live 2 for singing and playing the trumpet with the MP3 song ... and then connected the output of the Voice Live 2 directly to this little Sony ICD-PX312. The results of the sound quality were impressive. The actual MP3 file I used to sing and play the trumpet with came out sounding virtually the same as the original. You can listen here: [...]. I wasn't trying to make a professional recording, just experiment with the sound quality of this Sony recorder. It was done in one take, no editing. After the recording, I just connected the Sony recorder to my computer with the supplied USB cable, copied the MP3 file over to my computer's hard drive, changed the attributes of the file itself, like the name, album, etc. and uploaded it to my website so you could listen to the quality. For under $40, it's an outstanding value. I'll also mention, the recordings I've made using the lavalier microphone create a good sounding MP3, and even the built-in microphone does a really good job. The ability to divide a file to edit out unwanted parts, or to make several smaller MP3s out of one large one ... to do this right on the Sony unit itself ... is quite convenient. Tony McCanless

The Sony PX312 works just fine for what I use it for. Often, I am unable to listen to my favorite talk radio shows live so I download their podcasts to my computer using the included software . I then transfer the broadcast to my PX312. Takes only a couple of minutes. Then I can listen to my talk shows whenever I have the opportunity. There are a few things that I would improve. The small text on the screen is kinda tough for my old eyes to see. That's a minor complaint as I can put it under a light and read it sufficiently to operate it for the simple recordings I do with it. What really needs improving is a more intuitive system of putting files in their proper folders and marking them. Luckily, my recordings are simple and I just hit the record button when I'm using it for other than downloading podcasts. It simply puts my voice recorded files in the first folder and so on. Were I needing to organize the files and mark them, I'd be lost without spending considerable time reading the manual. Maybe this is not a real problem for someone that really gets into the manual and learns the process. I don't need that. Also, I have to turn the volume up quite high to hear the speaker. Again, this is a minor problem as I am a tiny bit deaf so I use earphones to listen anyways. I like the size of the unit as it fits in shirt pockets very comfortably but it probably would be better with a pocket clip to ensure it stays in when bending over. I also like the "lock" feature on the Off/On switch. I did record some music as a test and it did surprisingly well. But, it is a voice recorder and not really designed for music. All in all, the PX312 is worth the extra bucks one has to pay to get the Sony quality and features. I've owned the $20 models before and I was never satisfied with the quality or functionality (is that a word?) of the cheaper models. I would recommend it for voice recording and definitely if you download podcasts like talk radio shows or lectures.

very usefu. Sound quality very clear. nice.

works incredibly well, even if you're at the back of the room

If you need a small convenient and easy to use recorder with expandable memory this ones for you, would certainly recommend.

The sound quality and ease of use makes this purchase a great value. I would highly recommend this digital recorder for personal use.

great thing