THE BETTER DEVICE FOR RECORDING INTERVIEW – Digital Voice Recorder  (DICTAPHONE) V/S SMARTPHONE

Nowadays there are a lot of options available for everything we do. Similarly, for recording an audio also there are many devices available out there. Most common options are Dedicated/Digital voice recorder (Dictaphone) and Smartphone. We’ll discuss these devices in terms of recording an audio for transcription. Let’s check step-by-step which device is better.

  •  Purpose & Format:

Dictaphone is digital voice recorder & as the name suggests it is made for recording only. Smartphone, again as the name suggests it is a phone which is for different purposes like calls, texts, internet surfing, photography and recording as well. Smartphone mostly support 2 formats which are 3GP & MP4 whereas various digital recorders are available which support different formats like MP3, MP4, WAV, MPEG, etc

  • Simplicity & Quality:

For transcription, we need a device which is easy to use. Dictaphone is as simple as record, stop & play whereas Smartphone usually don’t allow you to get to a recording app quickly. Also, most of these phones are not made for multi-tasking so while recording an audio if you get a call and you want to receive it, you are at a risk of losing your audio. When it comes to high quality audio, digital recorders come along built in microphones which are dedicated to professional recording only and thus provide high quality audio as compared to the Smartphone.

  • Duration & Affordability:

Audio that we need for transcription is sometimes very lengthy and Smartphone is designed to record between 30-60 minutes at once whereas digital recorders allow you hours of recording in one go. For recording such lengthy audios, recording device should have a decent battery life and again Battery life of a digital recorder is higher than that of a Smartphone. When it comes to pricing, digital recorders are more affordable whereas a Smartphone with a high-end built-in recorder comes with a big price tag.

Which device serves as better voice recorder, completely depends on the purpose that you are recording the audio for. For business purpose you may want to invest in a digital voice recorder whereas if you want the audio just for personal use then Smartphone could be your best option.