It is important to acquire the best sound possible for transcription accuracy. Not all recorders are made equal, in fact most are poor choices, including relying on your smartphone. Please consider recording on one of the following devices for better quality. The main difference is the larger and higher quality microphones built into these recorders.

We recommend investing in a MP3 recorder and or decent microphone for your existing recorder..

Portable Recording Devices for Digital Transcription

Currently we recommend only the Zoom H2n, Zoom H4, or the Tascam DR-05X. This set of devices when used with our recommended settings have the potential of recording ‘Type-1’ audio for interview transcription. We think the Tascam DR-05X is the best choice overall in terms of price, performance and size followed by the Zoom H2n.

Totally Pro	Highly Recommended	Recommended	Camera Mic	External Mic	MultiTrack Recorder
Zoom H4N	Zoom H2n	TASCAM DR-05X	Rode VideoMic	Sony MS907	Zoom Multitrack

The Zoom H4n recorder includes professional XLR inputs. To take advantage of this you would need XLR microphones and cables.

The multi-track recorder is better for focus groups as it can record up to 8 seperate microphones simultaniously. (You would need to purchase microphone separately.)

The Sony ECM-MS907 listed above will not work with the Zoom H4N.

We do NOT recommend any device that records in the DSS or DVF format. They sound horrible and will NOT qualify for Type-1 billing. The featured recorders record in the much higher quality MP3 and WAV format.