Best Digital Voice Recorders for Capturing Great Sound

To start, the VN-702PC offers over 800 hours of record time on 2GB of memory, one of the longest record capabilities available of any device on the list. You record lecture notes, store personal memos, and take down thoughts at the touch of a button. The included microSD slot lets you expand your memory up to 32GB further and you can conserve space with the choice of recording in either MP3 or WAV formats.

An important component you'll want in any good recorder is USB connectivity and the VN-702PC  makes file transfer quick and easy from the device to any computer. Recording your content is also pretty simple and you can adjust the settings to reflect the type of audible environment you're in.

A built-in stand keeps the device upright to minimize sound interference from where the recorder has been positioned while keeping the large LCD display in full view for easy reference. There's even a voice activation feature to keep you from draining the battery too quickly as it automatically engages and disengages the record function when no one is speaking.

With an available built-in 4GB of storage capacity and a microSD card slot for expanded storage capacity, the Philips DVT1400 offers a virtually unlimited amount of record time. You're looking at around 44 days of recording on the long play mode setting, shorter at other speeds obviously.

There's a lot to like about this device, including a dual microphone setup to capture superior speech clarity, even in noisy environments. Your recordings are captured in MP3 format and you have a choice of one-touch recording with the push of a single button, or simply go hands free with voice-activated recording. All you need to do is start speaking and the unit does the rest.

Playback can be done right from the device itself or through any PC via the built-in USB connector. The time stamp feature lets you navigate and locate any recording with ease and it only requires just 2 AAA batteries to operate. One shortcoming, this is not a rechargeable unit.

The ICD-UX533 has 4GB of internal memory and comes with a storage expansion slot for up to 1,000 hours of recording time; there's also a microSD memory card for even more time if you need it. You get an internal dual-element cardioid microphone for capturing audio content with three sensitivity settings to adjust for the surrounding environment. There's also a speaker at the front of the device or you can use headphones to listen to your recorded content.

Your recordings are made in MP3 or LPCM and you can choose the bitrate resolution for sound quality, from 8k to 192k. You can also configure the unit to automatically set your record levels or do it manually to minimize distortion from loud, incoming sounds. Additionally, this recorder features file erase/protect, a hold function, a bookmark function to keep your place in any file, and a five-band EQ for MP3/WMA/AAC playback. The ICD-UX533 also lets you sync up with any PC or Mac.

You're trying to jot down important notes while the lecturer continues talking and you inevitably forget something or scratch it down improperly. Fortunately, Livescribe makes a line of smartpens based around the premise that none of us can write very fast. Available in 2, 4, or 8 GB memory sizes, the Sky works like any ball point pen but also records audio at the same time.

While you can just play back the recording and listen to the lecture over again, what's even better is the pen can remember what you wrote down when during that recording. All you need to do is touch the tip of the pen to a certain part of your notes and it automatically plays back the audio portion recorded from that position on the paper. This recorder is also Wi-Fi enabled and automatically sends your notes and the full recording to an Evernote account if you have one set up. And don't worry if this pen runs out of ink as it comes with replaceable ink cartridges.

The DP-201 gives you almost 200 hours of recording time with a storage capacity of up to 2GB; pretty good, though you'll find units with larger storage on our list. However, this recorder is our top pick because of its ease of use as well as creating great sounding thanks to noise cancelling filters which minimize background noise around you.

Finding your audio files is extremely easy with the recorder's Calendar Search Function. Simply do a search for the appropriate file by name or date and the unit will tell you exactly where it’s for immediate playback. The large LCD front display and basic function buttons are easy to read, so operation is effortless even for those who have a little trouble with their eyes.

One great feature with this recorder is you get about 70-80 hours of battery life on just two AAA batteries. There is one drawback as this recorder doesn’t plug in to a PC so you can't save audio files for posterity. Once your memory is full, you need to delete or erase over previous files.

The VN-7200 comes with three recording modes. HQ gives you the highest quality possible, while SP and LP extend your recording times of up to 1,100 hours of audio at the lowest mode. Dual playback modes let you play your recordings back at 25 percent slower speed or 50 percent faster. Creating a recording is as simple as speaking thanks to the unit's voice-activated recording function.

This recorder comes with a helpful indexing feature allowing you to bookmark specific points of an audio file for easy access. Large, clearly marked buttons let you stop and record with just one touch while a directional pad gives you total control over your files with play, skip and forward functions. There's no USB hookup on the VN-7200 but files can be transferred to any PC through headphone and microphone jacks with any sound recording software such as Audacity or Sony ACID.

Voice recorders don't get much more basic than IGearPro's mini USB flash drive recorder. It has up to 16GB of internal memory and offers bitrate quality of up to 384 kbps in WAV format. Since this is a flash drive, the unit plugs directly into any PC or Mac to play back your audio files through just about any sound software. No need for any downloading of drivers with this unit, just plug it in and you're ready to go.

This recorder works on a rechargeable battery that requires a USB for recharging, but it cannot charge while in use so you have to pick between one or the other and unfortunately it isn’t a voice activated recorder. But for around $20, you could probably look past those issues considering how much storage and recording time you get in this tiny device.

The WS-823 is one of Olympus' most versatile models and it's hard to believe they packed so many useful features into this little device. For starters, record functions are fully adjustable with a zoom capability on the microphone that lets you enhance or decrease directivity to focus on a source of audio in an environment with excessive ambient sound. You can steer the microphone to a speaker that’s located far away or surrounded by other people talking. With the WS-823 it's much easier to pick up the sound no matter where you are in relation to it.

This recorder also can react accordingly to loud or soft recording environments, providing a voice balance function that accommodates multiple voices in a room so each can be heard clearly. Playback offers a number of options as well including a voice playback function allowing you to skip all non-vocal portions of a recording, 99 index marks for each file, and a pitch control that can change the sound and speed of your file.

With all of these functions, you may think this is a complicated device to use, but the interface couldn't be easier to understand. The WS-823 records in PCM, MP3, and WMA formats which can be easily transferred to your PC or MAC through the integrated USB port. You get 8GB of memory and a Micro SD card to expand the size of your storage all the way to 32 GB. Even more interesting here, the device has an FM radio tuner which lets you listen to and record broadcasts from any station you choose.

There are so many things to like about the DVT6500, it's no wonder this unit made our list. First, the 3mic high-fidelity microphone array picks up sound from three directions using one omni-directional main mic and two side mics to read left/right and front/back sound to create multi-layered surround sound recordings. Second, the unit has a motion sensor to detect whether the device is standing up or lying horizontally. This helps the device adjust microphone sensitivity in order to provide you with the best possible recording quality.

Functionality is what makes this device a top pick; it's equipped with a USB port to transfer your files easily, you can record in MP3 or WAV and MPEG, there's variable-speed playback, a pre-record function that can pick up five seconds of sound prior to full depression of the record button, and voice-activated recording to conserve battery life. You also get 4 GB of built in storage capacity and a micro SD slot that can accommodate up to 32 GB of additional memory. There's one other thing you get here that the other guys don't offer - a wireless remote. That's right, you can start, pause, and stop recording even when your device is on the other side of the room.