Voice recorders come in pretty handy for musicians, if you have a song you want to lay down and remember later, but sound quality is usually not that great unless you shell out a ton of money. Well, JVC Japan is tossing their hat into the ring with the XA-LM1 LessonMaster.

This one features stereo mics, a digital audio recorder supporting PCM wave files (48kHz/16bit) or MP3s (up to 192KB), a 2GB microSD card, 23mm speaker, metronome, and a chromatic tuner. If you want to use the tuner, you’ll need to be able to read Japanese though. It will arrive in early October and cost about ¥26,250 or €195.

Olympus kicked out a number of new products today for consumers, including some new VN-Series digital voice recorders. The VN-5000 and VN-5200 PC will be available this fall for around $40 and $60, respectively.

Both the VN-5000 and VN-5200 PC offer 512MB of internal memory, allowing for 300 and 221 hours of recording time, respectively, as well as a large LCD screen, multiple recording modes and battery lives reportedly over 30 hours. The VN-5200 PC can also be connected to a host computer via USB 2.0, letting users back up their recorded audio files to a PC or Mac for later access. The VN-5000 comes in a silver gray body, while the VN-5200 PC is colored brown.

Olympus

If you are in the market for a professional dictation recorder, especially if you are transitioning from analog to digital, Philips has a line of products to consider. Its newest is the Digital Pocket Memo 9500.

The Philips Digital Pocket Memo 9500 is equipped with the serious voice recording person in mind, offering a four-position slide switch, a large LCD display screen, full metal casing and USB recharge ability. Recordings are stored on removable SD memory cards.

Sony has officially launched a new line of multi-purpose voice recorders that we had heard about last month, of which Sony is bragging up with words like “Hybrid” and “Swiss Army knife of digital recorders”. While we think these descriptions might be a slight stretch, we also can’t deny they that the new UX series of recorders have some impressive features (for a voice recorder).

The ICD-UX70 and ICD-UX80 records will pick up voice like many others, but will also record direct into an MP3 format, not unlike many media players launching these days. It allows you to record music in stereo and transfer the MP3s to a PC or Mac to edit up or just listen to later on. Owners can also listen to downloaded MP3s on the player through headphones and view the artist and album info with the built-in ID3 tagging.

The Tascam DR-1 may not seem very different from other digital recorders, but it has a few unique qualities. Being able to record WAV / MP3 straight to SDHC for instance. That’s right, it can save 24-bit, 48 kHz WAV files directly to SD or SDHC.

It also features a built-in Li-ion that will last for around seven hours, a simple LCD and inclusion of Variable Speed Audition, which enables it to playback recordings slower than they were in real time without augmenting the pitch. Aside from the features, it’s a pretty nice looking device, though I think I can do without the bullseye like record button.

Sony has just announced the arrival of the ICDUX70 and ICDUX80 voice recorders that double as digital audio players (DAPS). They feature 1GB and 2GB internal storage space and play back for MP3 files and also record in MP3 stereo format, can capture 290 and 581 hours of audio in LP mode and are powered via a USB port.

The design isn’t too secretarial looking as such devices have been known to be in the past, which is a big plus. The USB connection also enables direct battery charge. The ICDUX70 comes in black and pink, while the ICDUX80 can be had in black and silver.

This watch not only looks stylish, but it could theoretically help you save the world from an evil mastermind. Even James Bond needs the help of gadgets from time to time.(Every movie) It includes 1GB of flash memory and a mic allowing it to record up to 500 hours of audio. So when the conversation with the villain goes something like, “Do you expect me to talk?”, “No Mr. Bond, I expect you to die!”, you can record it all and share it with your CIA or MI-5 friends.

The rechargeable battery is rated for about 9 hours of recording time, but it only takes 2 hours to fully recharge. To transfer files and charge, it uses a mini USB port and it also has a headphone jack for playing back audio.

How badly do you want to make digital recordings of lectures you hear? Are you willing to shell out around $400 for the product to do this? That is the cost of the new Marantz Professional PMD620, which its maker says has been developed for “professional recording quality in a small, convenient package for hobbyists and professionals alike.”

The Marantz Professional PMD620 is a handheld digital recorder which is small and makes use of SD memory cards for data storage. It offers direct-to-MP3 recording in three quality settings as well as a fully uncompressed WAV format. There’s two built-in condenser microphones and also other input and output options to help you record and manage audio.

There’s a million digital recorders out there on the market but the H2 Handy Recorder by Zoom is trying to capture the disposable income of those that need to record sounds coming from a variety of directions.

Unlike other recorders the H2 has three microphones, one in the center and two on either side, allowing for stereo imaging of the sound. You can also record from the front or rear of the H2 at 90° or 120° or in full 360° depending on what format you like your file to be (WAV, MP3 or Surround 5.1).

It comes with a 512 MB SD card but the makers suggest getting a 4 GB one to record up to two hours at 96kHz, six hours at 44.1kHz, or a whopping 138 hours in MP3 format. The controls are pretty easy to figure out and get going …

It’s always been hard to remember the small details wherever we may be. While some prefer to write it down, Sony has recently released a new line of digital voice recorders allowing you to store all the juicy details whatever the situation.

Totaling 6 models, each offers special features for a specific purposes as well as being ‘perfect’ for taking dictation. These special features include: capturing high-quality sound, creating MP3 files, and converting voice to text. Naturally all models will allow recording and playing records back without having to connect to a PC.

All 6 models come with 5 different modes. This includes Stereo High Quality (STHQ), Stereo (ST), Stereo LP (STLP), Standard Play (SP) and Long Play (LP). Each mode can be suited for your purpose. The nifty thing is that recording stops during those silent pauses, and automatically reactivates …

Voice recorders had a time when I thought they were pretty cool because they had those tiny little cassette tapes. I remember going to the doctor’s office (for routine visits, of course) and seeing many little tapes lying around with different files where the doctors would dictate on them and file them away.

Well, voice records have come a long way, and dictation is not recorded onto little tapes anymore. If you are in need of a good voice recorder for dictation or anything else, Olympus has a sweet one. The Olympus WS-320M is a digital voice recorder with a few extra features. Aside from being able to record up to 277 hours, it can also be used as a music player supporting MP3’s and WMA files, and will work as a storage drive with up …