Recording Lectures with iPhone 3GS Voice Memos

[dilbaggins]

I was just wondering , for those college students out there with an iPhone, how much of a quality is the recordings of lectures via iPhone Voice Memos? Do you guys save the lecture files on your computer HD? In a standard lecture hall, does the lecture appear faint when heard on the iPhone and is the iPhone able to pick up the voice of your professor well?? Is their anyway I can amplify the sound/voice??

 

[NeuralControl]

It really depends on the size/shape of the room and how loud the professor speaks. If he/she uses a microphone it will greatly help the iPhone capture the sound. It works best if you sit close the to lecturer. You can either listen to the recordings on your iPhone or through your iTunes library.

 

[ChrisA]

I would like something that can record voices from one end of a room to another. I tried the iphone voice memo today in one of my lectures.. but I couldn't even hear the lecturer it was just all the crackling noise. So it would be very useful if someone can recommend a really good voice recorder that has preferably been tried and tested.

The weak link is the microphone. Any recorder that allows use of an external mix would work. But all his means is that you'd be asking "which mic to buy?". Answer depends on budget and how large of a system you are willing to set up. You will never get really good sound from the back of the room using a mic that accepts sound from a wide angle.

That said any of those handheld recorders like the zoom will beat a cell phone hands down. They have better internal mics and they record stereo. Stereo allows the listener on playback to pick out the sounds from background noise better then a mono recording