Looking for a voice recorder with reasonably loud playback

[progree]

I've searched hard several times for a good voice recorder for recording things I don't want to forget, which is a lot of things and I take it with me everywhere. I've become totally reliant on them over the years.

What I'm having trouble finding is one that has loud enough playback is the main thing. I don't want to plug in earbuds to listen to playback every time or hold it up to my ear because I'm usually typing/transcribing during playback. Sometimes I put it on a stack of 2 tall cans (the 2 tall cans are taped together) to raise it to near the level of my ears while typing. But then the screen and buttons are too close.

And I'm worried about if, even with earbuds, will I be able to hear e.g. a lecture. I've not been too happy with 2 of my 3 recorders when I record a TV across the room.

I'm not at all hard of hearing that I know of.

Over the years I've had 3 recorders:

Olympus VN 7200 (my only working recorder now) -
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B005756GYM
GOOD:

* Easy to use.
* Loud playback ( ) with volume control to get it just right,
* Regular (AAA) batteries.

CONs:

* They don't make them anymore. $130 and up for new and only from 3rd party vendors at Amazon which I have trust issues with after getting screwed (later: looks like that's something I'm going to have to get over with - seems like they're all that way now). I don't trust used -- on all recorders buttons eventually wear out, and no way of knowing how far along in their lifecycle they are. Likewise rechargeable batteries wear down on recorders with rechargeable batteries.
* [edited to add] It has behaved erratically several times in the past with buttons sometimes being hard to press or not pressable at all. I've WD-40'd many times with varying success. Magically, it's been working just fine for the past few months, but I am not counting on that to continue.

Olympus WS-852 (dead: buttons no longer work) -
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B014658DS0
GOOD:

* Easy to use.
* Regular (AAA) batteries.

CON: Playback is too low volume. A deal killer. Also I think buttons became problematical earlier than what I've experienced with my other 2 recorders

SONY ICD-UX570 (it drowned a month ago when spilled water on it)
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B005756GYM
GOOD:

* A rocket scientist's dream (which I'm not). I'm sure it can do anything and everything if one spends hours learning and remembering the complicated sequence of non-intuitive instructions
* Small size (yet buttons and screen are almost the same size as the other two recorders)

UMMM:

* irreplaceable rechargeable batteries that don't last very long between charges. But I'm sure it saves money over AAA batteries. Unless battery life (too many recharges) is the thing that eventually kills its usefulness first

CONS:

* Hard as hell to learn to use (but now that I figured it out, not a problem for me anymore), but anyone interested should be forewarned. I am amazed how complex they made it.
* Expensive $79
* Playback volume too low. A little better than the WS-852's volume but not much.

I've read countless Amazon reviews over the years and its hard to tell from the reviews when they indicate playback volume issues, how bad it is. Less than ideal or really sucks?

I'm curious too about whether others use these things or not.

Cellphones also have voice recorders built in or in apps, but I really don't want to be holding my phone as often as I use these recorders. And the recorders are quite a bit smaller and lighter than my phone. Aside from that, the apps are overly inferior in my very limited experience.

Thanks in advance for any ideas

[ret5hd]

1. deleted because you answered my questions...

i should read to the end first!!!

[yonder]

2. I was going to suggest something from Olympus but

sounds like you've been there.

Mine is an old DS-30 I use for field recording. It's tiny, simple, loud enough, records stereo in a couple of formats, talks to a PC (with cord) and I've had it for 15 years or so with no trouble.

Zoom and Tascam are a couple of other brands but more expensive. Tascam has a small one DR-05? that might work. Good luck.

Edit: Marantz used to (still do?) have small field recorders. I had one that gave good service but finally broke after a rough life.

[progree]

3. Thanks! I'll look into. With my 2 Olympus recorders, I've had good and bad experiences with playback

Both are simple to learn and operate.

The 3rd recorder, the ultra-complex one, is a Sony and it has less than desirable playback volume.

So I'll be more focused on Olympus than on Sony. And I'm certainly open to other brands.

[yonder]

4. I edited the first post to add Marantz.

Last edited Sun Jun 2, 2024, 08:04 PM - Edit history (1)

Simplicity/small size over complex operation with too many features is a winner in my book. I wouldn't hesitate for another Olympus when the time comes.

[CloudWatcher]

5. Headphones Jack aka 3.5 mm mini-jack

If you don't want to plug in earphones, seems like you could always plug in a set of cheap desktop speakers. Self-amplified with 3.5 mm audio input. They're very old-tech so not very expensive and loud enough (with their own volume control) to blast out the sound.

Your existing unit has the audo jack output, I suspect new ones could be found easily as well.

[progree]

6. Thanks. I'm trying to avoid having to plug something in everytime I listen to playback

since playback and transcribing is something I do multiple times a day, where each session is maybe 2-3 minutes. Another point of failure in my experience with an arm band radio is constant plugging/unplugging. And simply a pain that shouldn't be necessary.

Finding a recorder with decent playback volume shouldn't be pie-in-the-sky given that the Olympus VN-7200 (the top one in my list in the OP) has plenty of volume. But I don't want to pay $130 for something that has been erratic in the past (button issues). Though the $130 is better than what I've seen before, more like $250 ... I was surprised to see a $130 price today.

What I didn't put in my OP but will fix that soon is that it has behaved erratically in the past with buttons sometimes being hard to press or not pressable at all. I've WD-40'd many times with varying success. Magically, it's been working just fine for the past few months, but I am not counting on that to continue. I need another recorder.

Thanks again

[AllaN01Bear]

8. good luck. i have a digital recorder some where in my mess.