electronic help needed - digital voice recorder

[Kali]

Hey great DUers,

I have a little RCA digital recorder I use to record meetings. Today I went to load 5 files to my computer and listen to them. The first two were fine but the last three have a horrible buzzing kind of interference noise. I checked all the settings and played around with it but the noise continues. I tried making some new recordings both before and after deleting the old files and everything I put on there now has this horrible loud "background noise"

I don't remember dropping it or anything so I am at a loss. The strange thing is the two earliest recordings were fine. All in the same "folder" in the device (it has 5 seperate folders, but I haven't ever figured out how to use them. I usually record a meeting or three then put them on the computer and delete from the recorder).

Anybody have any ideas? Or just time for a new recorder? It is only a couple of years old, I only use it a couple of times a month. :mad:

[FredStembottom]

1. If it has a Reset button......

...a lot of times it's a tiny hole that you stick a pin in and push gently..... try that. It will re-boot the whole thing. That may well fix it. Dump it first though as you'll lose all recordings when you Reset.

[Kali]

5. dang - don't see one

[FredStembottom]

10. Just to be clear......

This would be so tiny and unmarked of a hole that it would look almost like just a flaw in the plastic. Most likely on one of the thin sides of the device.

Just sayin.......
:hi:

You could also look up your device by brand and model number on the maker's (was it RCA?) service page and reload the firmware. Usually this is easier than it sounds. Just like grabbing a small download with your computer then dumping it onto the recorder. Most companies spell out exactly how to do it.

[Kali]

14. no holes

having trouble finding much about it on the google, still looking

[Vickers]

2. Put a fresh battery in it, and wait ten minutes between battery changes.

Good luck.

[Kali]

6. I am trying that now - did remove and replace while I was playing around with it

but didn't wait ten minutes. Thought it might have started at a battery change (I use rechargables) but it was still doing it with a different set)

[Richard D]

3. Might it have been next to

something electronic that was creating interference? Sometimes things like cellphones put out enough signal to interfere with recording equipment.

[Kali]

7. yeah that occurred to me, but it was different times, places

and also right here at my desk today

[OneGrassRoot]

4. I sure was surprised to see this question....lol

I was contemplating posting a question about digital recorders here but didn't...was wondering if all have the capability of saving files in .wav format.

Does anyone know the answer to that question?

Good luck, Kali. :)

[Soylent Brice]

8. i use Mooooooo recorder

seriously. i don't know exactly how many o's are in it. a friend of mine showed it to me. downloaded it from the tubez. works like a charm. i got my mic set up, and i can record it as MP3 files also.

i'll look at it when i get home. email me a reminder to my inbox, and i can shoot you something back. :)

[originalpckelly]

11. I use a Sony IC recorder to capture musical ideas on the fly...

it stores it in a closed Sony format on the recorder, but then allows you to convert it to a wave with the "Digital Voice Editor" program on a computer. I have the highest model, which was about $200 and it's worked fairly well, although I think I might have had a better quality audio from a little more expensive recorder not oriented toward the business market.

They have models ranging from the highest at $200 all the way down to a $60 digital one. I can't say how the lower models sound, but if you're going to use it for business, the model I have (ICD SX68DR9) would definitely fit the ticket. It even comes with this soft from Dragon, which I have yet to use, that's supposed to be able to transcribe your voice without you having to type.

I got it from Office Depot:
http://www.officedepot.com/a/products/411775/Sony-ICD-SX68DR9-Digital-Voice-Recorder/

Here are the other Sony recorders:
http://www.officedepot.com/catalog/search.do?N=5+537+302899&Ne=301401

[Fumesucker]

17. Probably not in WAV format..

WAV is a very wasteful format, no real compression at all and the files become huge very quickly.

Converting from format to format is easy though, there are lots of programs that will do it.. I use Audiograbber for this function, it's freeware and can be found with a Google search.

[originalpckelly]

27. There are ones that do wave, but they're meant for audio professionals:

http://www.guitarcenter.com/Sony-PCM-D50-Portable-Linear-PCM-Digital-Recorder-241731-i1371376.gc

[Kali]

9. kick

any more ideas out there?

[Vickers]

12. Is it one that you plug into a USB port to download the files?

Does your PC see it as a hard drive, and if so can you format it?

:shrug:

[Kali]

13. pc sees it as "Removable Disk (F:)"

I don't know if I can format it. How do I tell? (and how do I do it?) I'm kind of a moron, but I am trainable:rofl: (I can follow instructions)

[Vickers]

15. Well, first of all, make sure you have any files that you need transferred

over to your C: drive (drag and drop).

Then right click on it under "My Computer" and select "format."

MAKE SURE YOU ARE FORMATTING THE F: DRIVE, or whatever it shows up as (it may very well change if you have plugged other stuff in there, as that is a dynamic assignment).

[Kali]

18. ok I can get to there, but what do I do now? (see screen cap)

note: that option to "quick format" was the only one I could check - the other two were light grey and I couldn't click on them. The warning comes when I click the start button. Will it do something automatically or will I be needing to enter some kind of info?

[Vickers]

20. You just click "OK" at that point. You can actually deselect the Quick

Format thing I think.

The two greyed-out options might not be available to an external drive.

The O/S for the unit should be on non-volatile memory on another chip inside, so you aren't going to lose the capabilities of it.

[Kali]

24. Oh. That was easy.

I got all paranoid I was going to have to enter things.:P

Tried it both ways and the problem is still there. I do thank you for the attempt, though. Any other ideas?

[XOKCowboy]

21. Love your desktop picture....

My granddad was a "Mule Man" in his retirement.

[Kali]

23. thanks

Those were "Joe's mules" and I really miss seeing them standing under that tree when I go for the mail. He was a good guy. I have never really been around them, but always wanted to try. They are expensive!

[XOKCowboy]

26. Mules are incredibly intelligent...

Grandpa was a natural born trader and when he stopped trucking he started trading in mules. He had 3 20something grandsons to break them and show them to buyers so labor was cheap. He'd go hundreds of miles to horse and mule sales in OK, KS, MO, TX and get them at rock bottom prices, break them, put them on pasture and fatten them up then sell them to the next sucker he met. :) We had matched teams with full harness and wagons and even one that got quite a reputation as a roping mule.

As I said mules are very intelligent. They won't overeat and founder themselves like a horse will. They have an incredible survival instinct also. We were riding a ridge in New Mexico once, 3 horses and two mules. Just riding and talking when simultaneously the mules ears shot forward, took a big sniff and froze in their tracks. The horses went right on ahead and about 20' up the trail a young black bear jumps out of the brush and runs up the hill. Scared the heck out of the horses. From that point on our mules lead the way. :)

Those two mules are buried on the ranch now. Pancho died 2 yrs ago at the age of 28. The last of grandpa's mules. I miss them too.

[blogslut]

16. Do you want to repair your distorted sound files?

If so, then you might want to download an audio program like http://audacity.sourceforge.net/download/windows">Audacity and open your file into the program. Audacity has effects filters such as click removal and noise removal that might generate sound files that are at least listenable.

As for why your files recorded funny, could be many things. Perhaps you accidentally set the device to a lower recording quality by accidentally touching a button. Read the manual. And if you don't have it, do a google search on the model and see if you can find it online.

[Kali]

19. yeah, I have Audacity and I will try to clean up the two files that "mattered" but I would really

like to have the thing back working right. No settings were changed, and I played around with it a bunch yesterday to see if any other settings would help. Nothing helped. All playback had the noise. Strange.

Also I searched for a while to get info on it and there isn't much. I found what seemed to be some kind of cops forum where they were talking about recorders and one guy was disgusted with his. Said it kept corrupting files and he spent like two weeks trying to fix or get a replacement from customer service. I can't even find that! Also mine is not under any kind of warranty anymore. I was hoping for some kind of easy fix, but I will probably just stop by and get a new one. (after checking customer reviews on line for something different!)

[Vickers]

22. BTW, I have a refurbed MP3 player from Creative that can also

record voice. The 2Gb version is only like $20, USPS delivery should be $5.

I have two of them, and all of my kids have them. All have been refurbs, and all have been bulletproof.

Edit for link:

http://us.creative.com/products/product.asp?product=16313

[Kali]

25. Might give that a try. I need the darn thing this evening, but I guess

I can try to clan the files up. Not that I have much more time for this little project today! :rofl:

[blogslut]

28. Here's a page of RCA Models

http://www.rcaaudiovideo.com/categories.aspx?product=368&post=49

Click on the one that matches your model and you'll find a pdf for the manual below the image/description