Minidiscs, Net Minidiscs iPods and digital recorders

2005 (?).

Mr Graham Rice, CCPD, explores some of the pitfalls of the strategy of recording lectures.

The underlying strategy in this case is to allow the student to take basic outline notes during the lecture (which they can undertake using spider notes or mind mapping) and to embellish these notes subsequently with recordings of the lecture. In the past (and still for some students) students were given tape recorders to record lectures. As a recording device, tape recorders are relatively simple to use and they have the added benefit of a visual clue to there operation unlike digital recording devices and that it was possible to attach a foot switch to help with the transcription of the lecture.

The importance of the footswitch is seen when you attempt to transcribe text from the tape, most students with a working memory deficit (students with dyslexia) can only hold a few words in their heads when transcribing, so without a foot switch they have to listen to a few words pause the tape, then type the words, then release the pause and listen to some more words. With a foot-switch (and the ability to use it) the student can keep both hands over the keyboard and control the record with their feet, this helps speed up the process and aid the concentration process. The snag of course with tape recorders is the quality of the recording, especially when using an internal microphone and the length of the tapes. It is doubtful whether a lecturer would be prepared to stop mid-flow while some one changes a tape. So when Minidiscs became available we changed our recommendations from tape recorders to minidiscs simply because the improvement in sound quality and the fact that you could record 144 minutes (2.4 hours) on a disc, present models can record over 420 minutes (7 hours) on a disc. At first the minidiscs recorders were quite large (relatively) but with separate buttons for each function, as the size of the recorders have got smaller of the years so has the size and number of buttons to control the recorder, which can present a problem for the less dextrous user. Another problem was that until the arrival of the Sony MZ B100 and later the MZ B10 was there was no facility for using a footswitch.

Recently Sony (now followed by sharp) produced a type of minidisc called a Net minidisc, probably just to confuse all of you and make your lives just a bit more complicated.

What is a net Minidisc player?

For a long time students have remarked that it would be very useful if you could transfer lectures from minidiscs to their computer for storage and easy play back. Alas, at the moment Net minidiscs don’t allow this to occur. Net Minidiscs recorders allow the student to copy recorded sounds from the computer to the Minidisc via USB lead quickly. Until the introduction of the Net Minidisc the only way to transfer sound files from the computer to a minidisk was in “real-time” via a line to line lead. Real-time if the CD has 60 minutes of music on it will take 60 minutes to transfer the music to the Minidisc. With the advent of the Net Minidisc it is possible to transfer the same 60 minute disc in 5-6 minutes. Currently, you cannot transfer recorded information from the Minidisc to the computer quickly via a USB lead. Which begs the question "why do students want a Net Minidisc recorder"? Possibly so that they can copy MP3 music files or CDs from their computer to their Minidisc. The only way to transfer recorded lectures to the computer is via a line to line lead and in real-time, therefore a 2½ hour lecture on minidisc will take 2½ hours to transfer in its entirety to the computer.

The only possible reason for a student to have a net Minidisc player would be if they were to use it in conjunction with Read and Write 7.1 Gold or Claroread. These programmes have features (“Speechmaker” in Read and Write and “make audio files” in Claroread) that allow text from documents to be converted displayed text into a sound file which can be downloaded onto the minidisc in the same way as music. This can allow students to scan in text, convert the text into sound files, copy those sound files onto their minidisc to listen to while travelling to and from college in the same way that other students might listen to music.

The Sony MZ-N710 should be recommended only for students with a high degree of manual dexterity and good vision. The reason for this is that the buttons are small and require two separate key presses for some functions, with the size of my fingers and thumbs I find some of the buttons quite small. Equally the display is smaller than that of the MZ-B10 as well as the writing. Neither the Sony MZ 710 nor the Sharp DR420 has built in speakers or internal microphone so students need to use the supplied in ear headphones and ECMZ60 microphone to record and playback their tutorials or lectures.

The Hi-MD Minidisc recorder

Sony has recently introduced a totally new type of Minidisc, The Hi-MD Minidisc, as well as being able to record and play standard Minidisc discs. The new Hi-MD Minidisc recorders can use discs with capacity of 1GB. This also the allows Hi-MD Minidisc recorders to transfer recordings and Data in both directions via the USB cable.

Unfortunately this isn’t as good as it sounds. When the Hi-MD format first appeared Sony seemed to want to restrict the use and therefore the ability of people to transfer files recorded using the Hi-MD format, files that are created when your recording is transferred to your computer are saved as .omg files, and until very recently there has not been any way to change files created as .omg into any other file format. Although you may be the person talking files that are created on Hi-MD Minidisc recorders you don’t necessarily own copyright on the material so the software on the computer won’t let you transfer to other media. You could record your lectures, and transfer them to your computer but then you couldn’t then do anything else with the files. Sony has recently relaxed this a bit it is now possible to convert .omg files into wav files that then can be transferred onto other media such CDROM, but resulting .wav files are huge: a 50 minute lecture became a 502MB wav file after transfer from .omg

Important Note:

At the moment no minidisc is compatible with Apple Mac, software may become available but at the time of this going to print, USB up download (and upload using Hi-MD) is for Windows PC’s only.

Apple iPod

NOTE (added by Ian Francis October 5th 2006: Check current iPods are compatible with voice recorder hardware before discussing or recommending. At this time, 5g iPods are not compatible with voice recorder hardware. )

The iPod comes in 3 sizes 15, 20, and 40 gigabytes (GB) of storage and this will be extended further in July with the introduction of the Mini-iPod. In Essence, the iPod is a portable hard drive that be attached to a computer - music (MP3 files) and or data can be transferred to the iPod and the data transferred to another system if necessary. As a form of data transfer between Apple systems at home and at college they are a legitimate if expensive option. Apple markets iPods as an MP3 player and makes much of the fact that you can store over 10000 tracks of music on an iPod.

We will only be interested in the 15 and 20 GB iPod as these are the only two that will allow for additional hardware to enable the Ipod to be used as a “voice recorder”. Unfortunately, Apple onlty envisaged the iPod as a personal voice recorder rather than a full recording device such as a minidisc. Though this is only a choice of term it restricts the functionality. The design and manufacture of the iPod is primarily for the playback and the transfer of music data between Apple systems. The fact that 3^rd party organisations are producing these add-ons to enable voice recordings and their descriptions on what can be achieved rather than apple say is achievable.

What the manufacturers say about their product:

Belkin voice recorder

“The Belkin Voice Recorder presents a great solution for iPod users who have something memorable to say. Now you can record memos, lectures, interviews, or conversations – simply by plugging the Voice Recorder into your iPod”

I found the Belkin voice recorder worked, provided I held the voice recorder and iPod i.e. as an aide-memoire. It will work in a small tutorial environment but not much more once the microphone is a metre away the source of the sound. I have found that the microphone seems to pick up all sounds not just the voice of the lecturer. I would advise that any sound playback should be after transfer to the computer, playback via the built in speaker is pretty poor and gives a poor indication of the recording.

Griffin iTalk

“With iTalk you can record seminars, meetings, classes, notes in your car, songs, whatever you want - up to 100 feet away. Its built in microphone was designed to record crystal clear audio and iTalk's Automatic Gain Control assures you have the best possible signal level recorded. You can even connect an external microphone directly to iTalk for even more recording options.”

Similar in many ways to the Belkin voice recorder, it is the same width as the iPod so it looks more integrated. The problem with this is that when attached you can no longer alter the hold function (this enables /disables the iPods buttons), if the hold is on, then you can’t start recording, if the hold is off you need to be careful not to stop or pause the recording by accident.

I disagree with the idea of the microphone range being 100 ft, I found it to be more like 10ft also the microphone socket doesn’t enable the use of mono microphones. Griffin confirmed that they have a solution for this but I haven’t seen the updated iTalk.

http://www.griffintechnology.com/products/italk/

Belkin Universal Microphone adaptor

“The Universal Microphone Adapter from Belkin connects to your iPod and to any audio microphone with a 3.5mm plug. You can use the iPod player's abundant storage capacity to store hundreds of hours of audio, and easily review your audio notes using the built-in 3.5mm jack with headphones or your computer. Copy recordings to your computer for easy storage, editing, or to send in e-mail”

With this device you must have an external microphone as unlike the Griffin or the other Belkin recorder it doesn’t have its own microphone. For recording anything larger than a tutorial it did work though the recording I made were often poor especially when the lecturer moved around, coming closer and then moving away. This would work in a meeting setting.

In my opinion the iPod is still only adequate for recording personal thoughts and ideas, and maybe small tutorials. Beyond this, it is impossible to record over any distance using any of the gadgets that are available in the UK. every time I have tried using our iPod for lecture recordings I have simultaneously recorded the same lecture with either a DM20 or a Minidiscand it is these recordings have proved to be clearer and easier to right notes from, which is after all the whole point in comparison the recordings I have made using the iPod have.

Olympus DM20

This is at the moment a potential ray of light in recorders. Although I only had a 2 days to play with the DM20 I found it a productive tool. My first impressions of the Olympus DM 20 were good. With the DM20 I was even able to record and playback without having to look at the manual, it was quite intuitive for me to use.

The DM20 is a Digital voice recorder that can also work as a Digital music player, this would allow students to record lectures in near CD quality (up to 8 hours) before transferring the recordings to the Pc or Mac via USB, for play or storage. While still being able to download and play MP3 files from the internet.

The DM 20 has a built in microphone and speaker for personal recording and playback, it also comes with its own external microphone built into the remote and the ability to add other external microphones such as Sony Z60. The DM20 can also allow transcription of personal recordings when used with Dragon Naturally Speaking Preferred (PC only). It isn’t obvious and it means changing many of the settings on the DM20 but it is possible and once setup it works fine.

The DM 20 can also be used a data drive when linked by the USB cable, this works for both Mac and PC for the movement and storage of files up to 120Mb between home and college. The DM 20 also has a clear LCD screen with a backlight unlike many minidisc recorders.

NOTE: Added by Ian Francis October 5th 2006 - A footswitch/transcription kit is available for the DM20 that allows the user to control playback of audio recordings transferred to a PC. I strongly recommend this should be discussed during the assessment and recommended for most students who are expected to write or type notes from audio recordings.