Gadgeteer Reviews Resco Audio Recorder

[Paul Martin]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.the-gadgeteer.com/review/resco_audio_recorder' target='_blank'>http://www.the-gadgeteer.com/review..._audio_recorder</a><br /><br /></div><i>"Now let us talk about Audio Recorders usability in the real world...I have to say that the software did a great job of recording all three of my events thus far, each one averaging more than 55 minutes. I choose the MP3 - 8 bit format for my recordings and the clarity with less than 2 feet from PocketPC to the speaker was very clear. We also take questions from the crowd in these events, for the most part without a microphone and in a large room setting of 150+ people, all the sounds came through just fine. I probably could have adjusted the gain some but with the closeness of the speaker, I didn't want to take a chance in distorting the main presentation just to bump up the reception of the crowd's questions a notch."</i><br /><br /><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/Gadgeteer_Resco_Audio_Recorder.jpg" /><br /><br />A review with real-world examples always catches my interest. While I've thought about recording a meeting on occasion, I didn't feel the built-in applications were up to the task. The Voice Activated System feature, which only records audio when someone is speaking, certainly makes this product worth checking out. Anyone else have experience with Resco's Audio Recorder?

[Menneisyys]

After having thoroughly compared it to all the Pocket PC alternatives (see my Audio Recording Bible HERE (http://www.pocketpcmag.com/blogs/menneisyys/112005SoundRecorderApps.asp) if interested on my remarks / comparisons; note that it also contains a lot of demo recordings to show the quality of each and every sound recorder apps), I've too settled for Resco Audio Recorder. For my purposes (long-time speech recording), I've found it the best, particularly when operated in 32 kHz q3 18 kbps Speex mode.

It's only the sub-par MP3 recording quality (at high bit speeds) that I don't like in this application (this means you should go for something else if you want to make quality MP3 recordings; however, as has already been pointed out, for speech, I recommend Speex the most); otherwise, it's just great and unbeatable.

[Mountain343]

As a perpetual college student, I have had the opportunity to use this program quite often over the last few years.

I've tried different settings and maybe it's because i'm not an audiophile or anything, but they've all worked just fine for me. The Voice Activated System feature works just as promised and when hooked up to an external AA battery pack, i've gotten over 3 hrs of recording with no problems.

It's a great program, and one of the reasons I bought a pda in the first place.

[klanum]

Paul...glad the review piqued your curiosity! Thought I'd chime in on this thread as I said the events did present a good chance to review something I thought the PPC was made for.

While I'm no where even close to the ranks of an expert guru like Menneisyys (man...both your in-depth knowledge of all things PPC and the obvious lack of need for sleep based on your review/forum/blog output just awes me 8O), the Audio Recorder was easy to use for this specific purpose. I looked at a couple others that ranked high on PocketPCGear and Handango sites but they didn't really do it for me in my usual "10 minute" trials that I usually give stuff.

I did play around with the voice-activated function a little. I have a couple Board Meetings and vendor meetings over the next couple months that I would like to tape for later written documentation. Gonna try the Speex format too...thanks for the tip Menneisyys!

The only disappointment for me was the editing function as I noted. I thought from reading their website I could do more editing and was disappointed with that aspect but of all on the market, this seemed the best. However, as with any problem, there's always a better alternative out there and I would say that Audacity was a VERY easy editor for use on the PC. I've used it for some other things since then and highly recommend it if you need a simple and FREE option.

I'd too would love to hear other experiences too particularly on the other programs out there.

Kent

[Paul Martin]

(see my Audio Recording Bible HERE (http://www.pocketpcmag.com/blogs/menneisyys/112005SoundRecorderApps.asp) if interested on my remarks / comparisons; note that it also contains a lot of demo recordings to show the quality of each and every sound recorder apps), I've too settled for Resco Audio Recorder.

Why am I not surprised that you don't an indepth comparison? :mrgreen: Thanks for the link, Menneisyys.

[Paul Martin]

The only disappointment for me was the editing function as I noted. I thought from reading their website I could do more editing and was disappointed with that aspect but of all on the market, this seemed the best.

Thanks, Kent. Occasionally, I have to go out and record news stories. I had grand visions of being able to do that on my Pocket PC. At this point, it's just not a reality, at least quality wise. Currently, I'm using a minidisc recorder and hoping to move to a flash recorder at some point. I looked at the core-audio stuff in the past, but the value vs. price balance wasn't there for my pocket book. :)

I did try the Vito demo for it's sound editor, but it was a hurried trial and I couldn't get satisfatory results. I might if I had more time to play with it, or at least compare it to Resco's. Of course, now I'll just see what Menneisyys has already done in that area.

Paul

[felixdd]

As a perpetual college student, I have had the opportunity to use this program quite often over the last few years.

I've tried different settings and maybe it's because i'm not an audiophile or anything, but they've all worked just fine for me. The Voice Activated System feature works just as promised and when hooked up to an external AA battery pack, i've gotten over 3 hrs of recording with no problems.

It's a great program, and one of the reasons I bought a pda in the first place.

Another college student here. I've used Resco for about 3 years now, and it's been working out great. I can actually squeeze out enough juice for ~6-8 hrs of lecture (without using it for anything else), by underclocking to 200 MHz. Note though, if you underclock any more, the recordings end up skipping.

[Menneisyys]

Another college student here. I've used Resco for about 3 years now, and it's been working out great. I can actually squeeze out enough juice for ~6-8 hrs of lecture (without using it for anything else), by underclocking to 200 MHz. Note though, if you underclock any more, the recordings end up skipping.

That's pretty normal if you use the MP3 codec as it's using around 20-25% CPU time at 624 MHz. (With the Speex codec, you won't really be able to underclock your device this much - it uses more than twice as much CPU time.)

[Menneisyys]

The only disappointment for me was the editing function as I noted. I thought from reading their website I could do more editing and was disappointed with that aspect but of all on the market, this seemed the best.

Thanks, Kent. Occasionally, I have to go out and record news stories. I had grand visions of being able to do that on my Pocket PC. At this point, it's just not a reality, at least quality wise. Currently, I'm using a minidisc recorder and hoping to move to a flash recorder at some point. I looked at the core-audio stuff in the past, but the value vs. price balance wasn't there for my pocket book. :)

I did try the Vito demo for it's sound editor, but it was a hurried trial and I couldn't get satisfatory results. I might if I had more time to play with it, or at least compare it to Resco's. Of course, now I'll just see what Menneisyys has already done in that area.

Paul

As far as audio editing is concerned, you may also want to give a try to 4Pockets' Virtual Recorder ( http://www.4pockets.com/product_info.php?p=80 ).

Note that, currently, that app doesn't really support recording into MP3 / OGG / Speex as yet (only WAV with ADPCM support) but this may change in the near future. (this is the main reason I haven't included it in my main audio recorder roundup). I don't know more about what will be implemented and when if at all; I discussed with this q a lot with their developers right after the release of 1.0.

[Lex]

Resco is working on a WM5 version. Their latest posted version doesn't work on WM5. Wish they'd hurry !

[Menneisyys]

Resco is working on a WM5 version. Their latest posted version doesn't work on WM5. Wish they'd hurry !

You mean the "input file has unsupported format" error message on WM5 PPC PE devices (but not on standalone WM5 PPC's - I've tested this on both the x51v and the hx4700) when trying to play back recorded MP3 files inside the player? Or, the long file close times on "slow" devices like the Wizard when using a high-demand codec (Speex) and not overclocking?

The former problem isn't that problematic because
1. you may want to avoid using the Resco app to record into MP3 - it has a very bad-quality codec. NoteM is far better for MP3 encoding - and Speex for regular speech recording inside Resco, which works OK under WM5.
2. if you do want to record into MP3, it does it OK, it's just thet the playback doesn't work. You'll then need an external player to play these files.

[Paul Martin]

As far as audio editing is concerned, you may also want to give a try to 4Pockets' Virtual Recorder ( http://www.4pockets.com/product_info.php?p=80 ).

Thanks! I hadn't heard of this one.

Paul

[Lex]

Menneisyys all I know is Resco didn't work on my iPAQ 2490b and the developer acknowledged it and said he's creating a WM5 version, unknown ready date. By 'didn't work' I can't remember details but it clearly was not ready for this WM5 PPC. Thanks

[Menneisyys]

Menneisyys all I know is Resco didn't work on my iPAQ 2490b and the developer acknowledged it and said he's creating a WM5 version, unknown ready date. By 'didn't work' I can't remember details but it clearly was not ready for this WM5 PPC. Thanks

Thanks for the info - I didn't know it's not compatible with the 2xxx-series iPAQ hx WM5 models.

[linksavage]

I've been testing this one lately and its got promise:
http://audacityaudio.com/ppcper.htm

[Lex]

I've been testing this one lately and its got promise:
http://audacityaudio.com/ppcper.htm Thanks for pointing that out ! That'll hold me 'till Resco for WM5 is ready, and maybe beyond. Nice to be able to record by push and release vs. full-time push and hold w/ the built-in record app.

[Menneisyys]

I've been testing this one lately and its got promise:
http://audacityaudio.com/ppcper.htm Thanks for pointing that out ! That'll hold me 'till Resco for WM5 is ready, and maybe beyond. Nice to be able to record by push and release vs. full-time push and hold w/ the built-in record app.

Please see my review at http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=429353

[Lex]

What are the implications of high CPU use? And is it while the app is running or even while it's off? My recordings are all brief.

[Menneisyys]

What are the implications of high CPU use? And is it while the app is running or even while it's off? My recordings are all brief.

It very quickly chew through your batteries if you use if for long(er) recordings. When only used for very short recordings, it'll be OK.