Dictaphone

Voice recorders are audio recorder for analog or digital recording of voice and provide the user agent willing to further process these recordings suitable. By using a dictating the tasks of formulating and writing are separated and can be performed by different people.

Functions

To distinguish it from other recording or playback devices Dictaphones usually have the following characteristics:

• Limited sound quality, comparable to the frequency response of the phone
• Possibility for rapid change of audio medium
• Robust sound carrier, which remains intact in the office everyday
• Various remote control functions: on the microphone next to a Record button usually a rewind and play button
• For the writing office footswitches to play and rewind

Early dictating

The dictation of Thomas Alva Edison was invented as a variant of his phonograph ( Edison Business Phonograph ). It was sold by the end of the 1930s as Ediphone. A competing product on the same principle of the acousto- mechanical acoustic recording on wax cylinders called Parlograph. Compared to modern micro- devices that are installed in pens about it, these machines were still very clunky and unwieldy. Nevertheless, they revolutionized the processes primarily in the executive offices. For now it was possible, regardless of the currently present staff to dictate and to have to write down the notations at a later date. The devices were ( with Edison by air pressure from a balloon, on the one had occurred) equipped for special facilities such as start-stop switch by foot- and Hörschläuchen ( for easy listening in noisy typewriter halls ). The wax cylinders have been deleted using special equipment, each abschabten a thin layer of the roller and thus the grooves contained in it (English shaver called ).

Types of dictation

Magnetizable storage media

A key improvement was the magnetizable recording on storage media of plastic. First on tape ( developed by BASF 1935) or on magnetic disks having a diameter of 20 cm ( model AEG courier ). Later, compact cassettes, mini - or micro- cassettes were used in band- operated dictation. To achieve longer recording times, the usual case of compact cassette tape speed of 4.75 cm / s is reduced when using mini or micro cassette -powered devices on 2.4 or 1.2 cm / s. Thus, the frequency response is concentrated and the sound quality of the recordings is limited. Analog voice recorders are therefore not suitable for music recording. They offer, however, compared to digital devices the advantage of simple potential spooling and ease of playability About band passages. At times, were available for use with micro cassette devices that were barely larger than a microcassette itself, even with auto-reverse versions were available.

Due to the displacement by digital devices analog voice recorders are still in use today, however, have only a small commercial importance.

Digital

Digital voice recorders record audio data through a lossy compression method on a digital data storage. These digital data can be copied, archived and processed. In particular, by the technical progress of speech recognition systems have reached a far greater capacity than analog digital solutions.

Depending on the price range and user group of the device, the properties of a digital voice recorder are very different.

Storage technology

In general, integrated flash memory are permanently installed in the device, but come in quality appliances removable memory cards used, which allow much greater capacity. A special position have devices with mini disc as a storage medium. These devices were almost exclusively manufactured by Sony. About a niche these devices are, however, never left.

Compression method

In order to make the capacity of their equipment reasonably usable and further processing - such as archiving or sending via the Internet - to simplify, manufacturers use different compression methods. In most cases, proprietary audio codecs are used in quality appliances manufacturer- independent method DSS and DSS Pro are used.

Ergonomics

As professional users of dictation may perform on their devices hundreds of operating steps a day, very high demands on ergonomics, high-quality voice recorders. To satisfy these, for example, be Slide switch is used, optimized housing shapes and materials or frequently used features made ​​especially easy to reach.

Functions

Depending on the structural complexity of the device can cause a wide range of functions are supported. Professional devices allow, for example, to speak or to delete them partially dictation or provide a more efficient management of the recordings (date and time stamp, author ID, ​​index marks, etc) ready.

Interface and Software

Only entry-level devices waive a PC interface, since there can be no electronic processing without it. A common use would be for example the connection to a voice recognition software.

For high quality device write desktop software and workflow management programs are offered. It is also expected of such devices often that special accessories - such as foot switch - is available.

Smartphones

Smartphones also can record verbal messages using special software. The outstanding benefit is that the dictations can be sent directly to a typist at any time, from any place by mobile phone. As a rule, these recordings can be listened with the standard transcription systems of the known producers and written. As a universal device smartphones, however, do not have clearly for dictation certain controls and ergonomic features mentioned above, enable the serial dictation.

Historical types

In the 1950s to 1970s, there were also Gadgets, who recorded on Magnettonplatten. In the system, " Assmann " about a groove was used with an applied magnetic track on the floor as a sound carrier on a plastic plate on each side. The early devices looked like turntable, except that the tone arm, a magnetic head was mounted in place of the needle system. Later devices possessed a lid covering the plate is about two-thirds, and was installed in addition to the actual pick-up arm system, a special mechanism. This drove a pointer ahead to the surface of the lid slid over a scale. The scale surface was formed as a recess and thereby such that there also printed with the same scale paper strips were inserted. The pointer could be depressed electromagnetically and then punched a mark in the paper. In this way the individual dictation were labeled on the plate. The paper strip was finally labeled and handed over together with the plate of the typist who could drive by means of the strip, the dictations individually and work through.

Dictaphone recorded on an A5 Tonfolie, Rols recorded on a tear-off disposable Diktierfolie on. Stenocord, Philips, Sanyo, Sony, Olympus, Grundig, Assmann, Compur, Olympia and Lanier were all working with a Diktierkassette.