Menneisyys
05-15-2005, 04:19 PM
A quick test of Vianix Pocket Talk Enterprise Pro
In my last article on Pocket PC recorders ( http://menneisyys.freeweb.hu/mp3/ ; it's linked from/discussed at http://www.pocketpcmag.com/newsl_jkwg/JKWG_02-22-05.htm , http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/index.php?action=expand,37799
and http://www.pocketcasting.com/archives/2005/02/21/recording-on-the-pocket-pc/ , just to name a few), I've compared the three most important alternative audio recorders for the Pocket PC, Resco Audio Recorder, VITO SoundExplorer and NoteM.
Now, I also compare Vianix Pocket Talk to both NoteM and Resco Audio Recorder, the winners of my previous test.
First, as with my original recorder comparison, I also provide some examples. These examples were recorded under exactly the same circumstances, with the same distance between the loudspeaker and the PDA etc. The length of the recordings is exactly 1 minute. I've, again, chosen the audio book version of the Lord of the Rings in Finnish, book 4, chapter one. The example files can be downloaded from http://menneisyys.freeweb.hu/mp3/PocketTalkCompare.zip .
First and foremost:
1. its sound quality is not really on par with the standard Speex encoder used by Resco Audio Recorder at roughly comparable encoding speeds (12 kbps vs 18 kbps). You may want to give a try to it, however, to see whether it fits your needs. I wouldn't use it, personally, because the 32 kHz quality 2 Speex mode of Resco (running at 18-19 kbps) is pretty good at encoding voice.
2. its proprietary sound format is not as widely supported on other platforms as MP3 or even Speex.
3. it consumes about the same battery power as Resco (the CPU utilization while encoding is almost the same) - another area it doesn't really excel at. If it consumed far less power than Resco (say, comparably to NoteM), then, even with the much worse sound quality, it could be an alternative for people that need long battery life. But, this is not the case, unfortunately.
In more details:
Homepage: http://www.vianix.com/pocket_talk.html
Sound quality:
- "high quality" settings: much worse than that of Resco encoding to Speex at 32 kHz / q=2 (18 kbps). No highs at all; I'd bet the sampling frequency is 11 or 8 kHz (as opposed to the 32 kHz of Resco).
- default (q=2) settings: even worse.
Encoding bit speed:
- "high quality" settings: about 11.7 kbps.
- default (q=2) settings: about 8.7 kbps.
CPU utilization while recording (see my previous article for more info on my CPU utilization measurements; these new measurements were done under exactly the same circumstances as with the old):
- "high quality" settings: around 50%, independent of whether there is anything to record or not.
- default (q=2) settings: between 20 and 50%; with input, around 50%, with silence, about 20-25.
(About the same as with Resco; much higher than with NoteM and much lower than with VITO using VAS.)
Stability and long-time recording: haven't thoroughly tested as yet, but, as the sound quality it delivers is much worse than that of Resco at comparable bit encoding speeds, I don't think this application is even worth considering instead of Resco.
File format playable on desktop operating systems? Yes. As with there're a lot of MP3 (NoteM) and some Speex (Resco - see for example foobar2000 at http://www.foobar2000.org/ ) players for a lot of computing platforms, there is a .MCF player too (at http://www.vianix.com/vplayer.html ). In my tests, however, it has always been unable to open files produced by the PDA version of Pocket Talk Enterprise Pro. The desktop version of the recorder application (available at http://www.vianix.com/desktalk.html ), on the other hand, is able to play the sound files produced by the PDA version. This means, however, that you may end up purchasing a license for the desktop version of the full (recording) package, not just the (probably much cheaper) player.
Bottom line: there're no free desktop-based players for this file format, unlike with that of Resco or NoteM. You end up purchasing another desktop player if you need desktop-based playback.
In my last article on Pocket PC recorders ( http://menneisyys.freeweb.hu/mp3/ ; it's linked from/discussed at http://www.pocketpcmag.com/newsl_jkwg/JKWG_02-22-05.htm , http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/index.php?action=expand,37799
and http://www.pocketcasting.com/archives/2005/02/21/recording-on-the-pocket-pc/ , just to name a few), I've compared the three most important alternative audio recorders for the Pocket PC, Resco Audio Recorder, VITO SoundExplorer and NoteM.
Now, I also compare Vianix Pocket Talk to both NoteM and Resco Audio Recorder, the winners of my previous test.
First, as with my original recorder comparison, I also provide some examples. These examples were recorded under exactly the same circumstances, with the same distance between the loudspeaker and the PDA etc. The length of the recordings is exactly 1 minute. I've, again, chosen the audio book version of the Lord of the Rings in Finnish, book 4, chapter one. The example files can be downloaded from http://menneisyys.freeweb.hu/mp3/PocketTalkCompare.zip .
First and foremost:
1. its sound quality is not really on par with the standard Speex encoder used by Resco Audio Recorder at roughly comparable encoding speeds (12 kbps vs 18 kbps). You may want to give a try to it, however, to see whether it fits your needs. I wouldn't use it, personally, because the 32 kHz quality 2 Speex mode of Resco (running at 18-19 kbps) is pretty good at encoding voice.
2. its proprietary sound format is not as widely supported on other platforms as MP3 or even Speex.
3. it consumes about the same battery power as Resco (the CPU utilization while encoding is almost the same) - another area it doesn't really excel at. If it consumed far less power than Resco (say, comparably to NoteM), then, even with the much worse sound quality, it could be an alternative for people that need long battery life. But, this is not the case, unfortunately.
In more details:
Homepage: http://www.vianix.com/pocket_talk.html
Sound quality:
- "high quality" settings: much worse than that of Resco encoding to Speex at 32 kHz / q=2 (18 kbps). No highs at all; I'd bet the sampling frequency is 11 or 8 kHz (as opposed to the 32 kHz of Resco).
- default (q=2) settings: even worse.
Encoding bit speed:
- "high quality" settings: about 11.7 kbps.
- default (q=2) settings: about 8.7 kbps.
CPU utilization while recording (see my previous article for more info on my CPU utilization measurements; these new measurements were done under exactly the same circumstances as with the old):
- "high quality" settings: around 50%, independent of whether there is anything to record or not.
- default (q=2) settings: between 20 and 50%; with input, around 50%, with silence, about 20-25.
(About the same as with Resco; much higher than with NoteM and much lower than with VITO using VAS.)
Stability and long-time recording: haven't thoroughly tested as yet, but, as the sound quality it delivers is much worse than that of Resco at comparable bit encoding speeds, I don't think this application is even worth considering instead of Resco.
File format playable on desktop operating systems? Yes. As with there're a lot of MP3 (NoteM) and some Speex (Resco - see for example foobar2000 at http://www.foobar2000.org/ ) players for a lot of computing platforms, there is a .MCF player too (at http://www.vianix.com/vplayer.html ). In my tests, however, it has always been unable to open files produced by the PDA version of Pocket Talk Enterprise Pro. The desktop version of the recorder application (available at http://www.vianix.com/desktalk.html ), on the other hand, is able to play the sound files produced by the PDA version. This means, however, that you may end up purchasing a license for the desktop version of the full (recording) package, not just the (probably much cheaper) player.
Bottom line: there're no free desktop-based players for this file format, unlike with that of Resco or NoteM. You end up purchasing another desktop player if you need desktop-based playback.