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Hardware Review: RCA model RP5030A Digital Voice Recorder

The device we evaluated for Episode 3: Member Services was the RCA model RP5030A Digital Voice Recorder. This can also be purchase at your local super store. The microphone we used was $10 karaoke microphone by Philips also from the super store.

The digital voice recorder retails for about $49. This is a common recorder use for school lectures, meetings or interviews. The digital recorder records from 4 to 18 hours depending on the sampling bit rate. We used the highest quality setting of HQ, this gave us a sample rate of 32 bps. This is just short of radio quality and difficult for most to tell the difference. Remember, most MP3 songs record at a minimum quality level of 128 bps. There were two other settings of 8 and 16 bps that provide a longer recording time and lesser quality.

This device was chosen for its USB wire type connector and its ability to record in MP3 format. It fits nice in your pocket and is about half the size and weight of a bar-type cellphone. Because the model records in MP3 format, it's compatible with all operating systems. This way we did not have to worry about the Windows Media Audio codec (WMA) incompatibility problems and format conversions.

We recorded the third and forth interview with Eric Nicklas and Nancy Piringer using the digital recorder without a microphone. The digital record was placed on the table between us. We noticed distortion as loss of the top and bottom range of the audio sessions. The other segments used the digital recorder with the microphone and this provided an acceptable quality.