Audio recorder

Portable digital audio recorder Zoom H2 of 2010, for several hours shooting in a quality technical (96 kHz sampling frequency at 24-bit) with the standard for audio CDs is

Analog recording coil tape recorders were in the 20th century for a long time the most common variant of the audio recorder until the 1960s cassette recorder came on the market.

Telegraphone by Valdemar Poulsen, 1898

An audio recorder (from the Latin audire = listen and recordari = recall ) is a recorder for recording of acoustically perceptible sounds to enable the future, multiple playback. In a narrower sense, digital devices for sound recording are now known as audio recorders. Audio recorders can be permanently installed or provided for mobile use. The history of the audio recorder is closely linked to the development of information and communication technology , entertainment electronics and, more recently, digital signal processing .

historical development

The first audio recorder was the phonograph of Thomas Edison . With this device it was possible for the first time to record sounds and play them back at a later point in time. Later the device was made using the gramophone records for gramophone and using the vinyl recorder to record developed.

With the advent of magnetic data carriers around 1900, the telegraphone , in the 1930s the tape recorders and in the 1960s cassette recorders or radio recorders for the compact cassette could be developed. The video recorders designed for recording moving images , which initially worked with magnetic tapes, mostly have an integrated audio recorder function.

To record speech - the term voice recorder is also used here - the parlograph was first built at the beginning of the 20th century . With the optical sound method developed in the 1920s , sounds are optically captured on photographic film .

With the advancement of digital technology , digital audio recorders have been able to establish themselves since the 1980s, for example using the digital audio tape or the MiniDisc or as a CD recorder .

Todays situation

Today, speech is recorded, for example, with dictation machines or answering machines .

Digital recorders record the acoustic signals using a digital process, such as in MP3 format, with Advanced Audio Coding or in WAVE file format . When audio recorders use digital pulse code modulation (PCM) for recording, the corresponding devices are sometimes called PCM recorders. With the appropriate software, digital recordings can be processed on the computer, e.g. cut, filtered, rearranged or shortened. Audio recorders are an essential part of so-called digital audio workstations .

Portable devices

Today, portable devices are mostly equipped with flash memory and memory cards , are battery-operated , mostly have built-in microphones and are sometimes also referred to as field recorders . As a rule, they also have a headphone output and a USB port , so that they can also be used as MP3 players and in connection with computers . Many devices have a tripod thread so that they can also be used stationary .

In the mid-2000s, portable audio recorders with integrated microphones with high recording quality became affordable for private users as well. Their recording quality, with better devices with 24 bit resolution and 96 kilohertz sampling frequency, is usually even sufficient for use as a recording device for broadcasting . The best-selling segment of higher-quality devices was in the price range between 150 and 200 euros at the beginning of 2012.

Well-known suppliers of portable devices are Kenwood , Marantz , Olympus , Philips , Roland , Sony , TEAC , Yamaha and Zoom .

The following accessories are often used beneficially for portable audio recorders :

• Microphone windshield to avoid wind noise
• Table tripod or tripod for stationary installation
• Adapter for microphone holders (can also be used as a handle)
• External microphones for special sound recordings
• Headphones to control the sound recordings
• Remote control to avoid structure-borne noise on the recording device or for more convenient operation
• Power supply unit for long-term operation or for continuous use
• Batteries or accumulators
• Music software for changing, cutting and editing the sound recordings

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  Edison phonograph from 1877

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  Parlograph with a recording on a wax cylinder, 1913

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  Peirce wire recorder from 1945

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  One of the first cassette player from Philips , 1963

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  Portable mini tape recorder Kudelski Nagra Type III from 1967

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  Tape machines with tapes on Bobby wraps 1970 in a broadcasting studio

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  HiFi cassette deck from Technics from the 1970s with classic analog VU meters

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  Denon cassette deck, 1980s

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  First Sony MiniDisc recorder , 1992

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  DAT recorder ( Digital Audio Tape ) from 1993 for recordings in CD quality on magnetic tape

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  Professional stereo digital recorder from Nagra with exchangeable hard drive or CompactFlash memory card as storage medium, around 2002

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  Modern digital dictation machine from Olympus

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  Handy stereo PCM digital recorder with up to 24 bits at 96 kilohertz, with internal memory and SD memory card , 2009

literature

• Audio recorder - Handy sound storage . In: Stiftung Warentest (Ed.): Test . No. 1/2012 , p. page 51 ff . ( test.de ).

Web links

Commons : tape recorders  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Commons : Sound recording devices  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• What is an audio recorder and what is the history of its development?
• Audio samples , accessed December 12, 2011

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Memory card recorder - small all-round recorder. In: test.de. Stiftung Warentest , accessed on February 1, 2013 . 
2. ↑ Broadcast material , accessed December 12, 2011
3. ↑ Audio recorder - Handy sound storage. In: test.de. Stiftung Warentest , p. 51 , accessed on February 1, 2013 .