players/recorders similar to victore reader stream

Category: accessible Devices

Post 1 by JH_Radio (I've now got the silver prolific poster award! wahoo!) on Sunday, 05-Oct-2014 20:04:57

hey all,
so I know of the victor reader stream (second gen). it has a line-in, and can play NLS/Mp3/Wave files. are there any other recorders that talk that can do all this, plus have a line-in jack too? It doesn't seem that the Bookport Plus does the same thing, nor does the Olympus line of products. I thought I remembered another one out there that did all this, which also had an FM radio chip built in. does anyone know what that product was? I guess what i'm asking is other than the victor reader stream, who elsemakes similar recorders with all the features of the stream? line-in recording, as well as being able to record in *.wav format is a must. being able to play NLS talking books would be nice. I wont be able to play flac files on any device right, but can easily play wav files. I expect 20HZ-20KHZ frequency response during recording and playback too. Thanks!

Post 2 by Scarlett (move over school!) on Sunday, 05-Oct-2014 23:01:38

Does the nls player do this? We don't have them in the UK so i'm not sure.

Post 3 by KC8PNL (The best criticism of the bad is the practice of the better.) on Monday, 06-Oct-2014 5:29:37

The Book Sense from HIMS will do this, though you will not be able to record in stereo from the built-in fm radio. However, if you record through the line in of another device or stereo microphone, it records wav or mp3 files. It also plays those, not sure if it plays flac. It also has a clear tts, which I find is a problem with the Stream second gen.

Post 4 by season (the invisible soul) on Monday, 06-Oct-2014 6:51:07

Hi Radio, some lines of Olympus does this. Depends on how much you want to spend and what you want to do with it. It is more of a recorder than a player. It will play, but it doesn't have a great speaker on it, if that is what you want. Some have a fully voice guidance, some are semi voice guidance. Booksense plays every format you mention, but the recording is not great.

Post 5 by JH_Radio (I've now got the silver prolific poster award! wahoo!) on Monday, 06-Oct-2014 17:55:47

as far as recording, i'll be using this mostly to record *.wav files from the recorders line-in Jack. since I know i'll want to play NLS and *.wav files too, which recorder would you suggest for the best frequency response during recording and playback? Thanks buttery and scott, it was Hims. inc BookSense line of products that I was thinking of that had the FM chip. I think i'll be avoiding that one since you said the recording quality sucks. is the Victor Reader Stream any better for recording quality? the files i'll be recording will be 16-bit 44100 HZ Stereo waves. sounds like your telling me I should avoid the BookSense line of products. that leaves the victor as my only option correct?

Post 6 by Ed_G (Zone BBS is my Life) on Monday, 06-Oct-2014 18:39:49

Hi Johnboy.

The Blaze EZ from Hims will do most of this (it has a stereo line in jack), though
it's quite pricy as it also does OCR.

Post 7 by season (the invisible soul) on Monday, 06-Oct-2014 22:14:05

Well John, its really depends again, on whwat you want to do with it the most. To do ocational recording but mostly playing, or to do mostly recording and ocational playing. For the recording side of thing, the Olympus LS and some of the DM range will suits you well. Also the Zoom H series as well. But again, as i mention earlier, it is more of a professional recorder than player. Most of your daisy players, e.g. The hims, Humanware, etc will do the job of basic recording, but it meant for playing books or audio talking files...
Your recorder ranges from $50 to $300 and beyond, and your Daisy players ranges from $300 to $600.
And honestly, even with recording, it also depends on what sort of recording you want to do. Talking podcast? Music? Instromental? vocal?

Post 8 by JH_Radio (I've now got the silver prolific poster award! wahoo!) on Monday, 06-Oct-2014 22:17:46

radio. I have the radio, the radio itself is excellent, and I wanna record the highest quality possible. but I also wanted to be able to play NLS stuf too, so the device I have could be use for multiple things. the only thing i'll be recording is radio, and it'll be recorded via the line-in jack.

Post 9 by nikos (English words from a Greek thinking brain) on Tuesday, 07-Oct-2014 4:19:40

Hi.
Also the plextalk pocket is very good.
The only thing it hasn't got is a built in radio.
But you get really good recording quality out of it.
There is also the plextalk linio pocket which has got the advantage of streaming books from libraries if I understand correctly.

Post 10 by JH_Radio (I've now got the silver prolific poster award! wahoo!) on Tuesday, 07-Oct-2014 6:39:28

wonder if all of these have sleep timer? I want to set the radio/recorder up, have it set to record for say an hour or two of a station leave it unattended, then have both turn off. my radio has a sleep timer so it'll turn off. what about the recorders you guys have mentioned?

Post 11 by JH_Radio (I've now got the silver prolific poster award! wahoo!) on Tuesday, 07-Oct-2014 8:35:55

seems the only two to play NLS content would be the victor reader stream and the book sense from hims, inc .

Post 12 by KC8PNL (The best criticism of the bad is the practice of the better.) on Tuesday, 07-Oct-2014 18:52:36

John.
if you are doing line in recordings, the Booksense does do this, but you have to get the XP model, which I think goes for like $500? You could get the Blaze, but I have to say, I'm left much less than impressed with it for various reasons.

Post 13 by JH_Radio (I've now got the silver prolific poster award! wahoo!) on Tuesday, 07-Oct-2014 18:54:09

yeesh. how does the victor do for line-in recording?

Post 14 by KC8PNL (The best criticism of the bad is the practice of the better.) on Thursday, 09-Oct-2014 6:11:04

Not sure, never tried it.

Post 15 by season (the invisible soul) on Thursday, 09-Oct-2014 7:39:54

The Victor Reader Stream, Hims Booksense series include Blaze, and Plextalk Pocket all does sleep timer and all comes with line in features. As far as how well each quality of recording goes, it is really is the matter of test and try it out. Unfortunately, the reviews of all the above products are rather inconclusive and at times, it is really, come to personal choice.

Like Scott, i'm not impress with the Blaze from hims, as much as it has OCR function on it.

Post 16 by Scarlett (move over school!) on Sunday, 12-Oct-2014 2:53:24

I can try recording from line in on the victor reader and let you know.

Post 17 by JH_Radio (I've now got the silver prolific poster award! wahoo!) on Sunday, 12-Oct-2014 8:22:32

please do holly. can you send me a clip when you do? thanks so much in advance! its the victor i' leaning t tward

Post 18 by LeoGuardian (You mean there is something outside of this room with my computer in it?) on Monday, 13-Oct-2014 13:40:16

Wonder what people use to record with their iPhone? Guess there is a Voice Notes app, or used to be one. But wonder if you can record straight to mp3.

Post 19 by season (the invisible soul) on Monday, 13-Oct-2014 20:33:42

I used to record lectures using iphone and the voice note app, or audio memo app. I found it very clear. As far as format is concern, i its M4A. can easily convert it to mp3 though

Post 20 by JH_Radio (I've now got the silver prolific poster award! wahoo!) on Monday, 13-Oct-2014 20:34:37

m4A will play in winamp though.

Post 21 by Shaydz (Veteran Zoner) on Tuesday, 14-Oct-2014 8:16:27

I have found no apps to record directly to MP3 on iOS, the lack of availablility has
something to do with Apple and their unwillingness to license MP3 encoding, although
playing such files is not an issue.
Many apps record in .m4a, a few will do raw .wav as well, at very good quality.
I used a Stream a couple of years ago and found recording to be good, but have no
reference to compare it against or any files to share from it, sorry.
.

Post 22 by LeoGuardian (You mean there is something outside of this room with my computer in it?) on Tuesday, 14-Oct-2014 10:13:56

I think I used to have Audio Memo. Still have Voice Note, of course, as it comes with the system.

Post 23 by JH_Radio (I've now got the silver prolific poster award! wahoo!) on Sunday, 22-Mar-2015 13:05:03

LS14 will do 20HZ-20KHZ recording. victor reader stream doesn't. its something like 60HZ-15 KHZ if I remember correctly.
I never got an answer on what the frequency response on the blaze is, and nor can I find out what the frequency response of the plextalk pockit is. I could call the plextalk people and see if they'll give me an answer.
I'm looking to record mainly from a line-in jack, and I expect 20HZ-20KHZ recording.
I'll be recording to PCM 44100 HZ 16-bit stereo.
that is what I'm gonna mainly be using a device for. 16-bit 44100 HZ wav format, and from line in.

Post 24 by SilverLightning (I've now got the silver prolific poster award! wahoo!) on Sunday, 22-Mar-2015 22:12:31

Seriously, just use an iphone or an ipod, or pretty much any piece of apple
tec. It will do exactly what you want. Though, honestly, I have to wonder why in
the world you want to record a couple hours of the radio. I cannot think of a
single possible reason for that which could not be accomplished better and
faster with other technology.

Post 25 by JH_Radio (I've now got the silver prolific poster award! wahoo!) on Monday, 23-Mar-2015 11:19:58

first I only have an iphone. I know devices exist so I can connect a line in or external sound card to iDeviceds, but that will not meet my needs.
I wouldn't leave my phone in the car or in a hotel to record while I'm on a trip. as for why of recording radio, its a hobby of mine. after all, how many of these station will exist in 20 years? there are a group of us that do this for fun and share files back and forth. Most of us record off of physical tuners. back in the old days people would do it on reel 2 reel. then moved to cassette and audio cd. people would send this stuff out in the male. now its mp3's or in my case *.flac or *.wav. so my needs are a device that can connect to the radio and record from the radio's line out jack into a line in of something. and have excellent frequency response. (which the victor reader stream doesn't.) I have the radio with the line out jack, so that's covered. now just to get a device that is smaller than a laptop.

Post 26 by JH_Radio (I've now got the silver prolific poster award! wahoo!) on Friday, 29-May-2015 20:15:30

ok all, I've tried most of the blindness ones. the only blindness products I haven't tried is the BookSense and Blaze EZ. they all suck for one reason or another, so here's my solution (not here yet...)
iPod Touch 5th Gen 64 GB, lightening to 30 pin adaptor, TASCAM IXJ2 Line-In/Mic Converter for Apple iOS
The Tascam has the frequency response I require, which only the LS-14 could match.
Now I just need to know which app for the iDevices can record in *.wav or *.alac in stereo.

Post 27 by season (the invisible soul) on Saturday, 30-May-2015 12:12:44

Radio, why don't you spend the money and get the Olympus ls14, or even the older generation of Olympus, like the ls12, or ls11, if you still can get them. Most part of the recorder have voice guidance, and it can record up to 96kbps wav format, etc.
For ipod and iPhone, go to the iq6 or iq7 by Zoom. Then you can use the handy recorder app to record, or pretty much any app as well.

However, if you are going to use your iPhone to listen to radio, or online radio, both ootunes and tunein can record it directly using the app itself anyway

Anyway, good luck and all the best

Post 28 by JH_Radio (I've now got the silver prolific poster award! wahoo!) on Saturday, 30-May-2015 12:22:08

because i want to record from the analog output of an actual radio. I've tried the LS14, i find it very difficult to use. At least I know how to use an iDevice, and this could be used to do other things say as a music player or something else. i hope there's a male voice you ca can change too other than Alex, since I know Alex so wont work on the Ipod.

Post 29 by Damia (I'm oppinionated deal with it.) on Saturday, 30-May-2015 15:48:24

if i record with the iphone i use dropvox because it will time stamp my recording and upload it right to dropbox. then i have easy access to play with it. convert it or what evr is needed. don't know about anything accept the victor reader first version. which i broke 5 years ago. sorry.

Post 30 by JH_Radio (I've now got the silver prolific poster award! wahoo!) on Saturday, 30-May-2015 19:24:24

can it record in *.wav format 44100 HZ 16-bit stereo? or even apples ALAC format would be exceptable.
Is there an app like this that uploads to Microsoft's OneDrive or sendspace? I have lots more space on OneDrive, and Sendspace is unlimited. My dropbox is only like 2 gigs.

Post 31 by Damia (I'm oppinionated deal with it.) on Sunday, 31-May-2015 9:54:21

well it records in mp3 not wav i'll have to look and see if there are settings I'm missing some where that can change that, but here's the voice clip with higher quality, and yes I am conjested.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/g8ckxz51egfajjr/dv-2015-05-31-094712.mp3?

Post 32 by JH_Radio (I've now got the silver prolific poster award! wahoo!) on Sunday, 31-May-2015 15:07:36

Thanks . though I'd be using a line In not the bu built in mick. I'd not call that high quality, but then I went and looked at the bitrate, its 77 AVBR

Post 33 by JH_Radio (I've now got the silver prolific poster award! wahoo!) on Sunday, 31-May-2015 15:09:54

buttery one, how do you record on the Handy Recorder? I see that using in the built in mick on my phone its set to 44100 HZ 16-bit mono which would make sense, as the phone has a mono mick.
i see a play and stop butten but no way to record?