Latest Podcast



Featured Articles

Ofcom says mobile contracts should ditch inflation-related price rises

Ofcom says mobile contracts should ditch inflation-related price rises

UK telecoms regulator Ofcom wants to ban inflation-related rises in phone and broadband contracts. Instead, it says any potential mid-contract price rises should be set out in pounds and pence.
Author: The Fonecast
0 Comments
Article rating: No rating

Global smartphone market is set for recovery, says new forecast

A new forecast from research specialists Canalys shows the smartphone market is set to recover next year. Worldwide shipments declined by 12% last year but that decline is expected to slow to 5% this year.
Author: The Fonecast
0 Comments
Article rating: No rating
Vodafone and Three plan to merge their UK businesses

Vodafone and Three plan to merge their UK businesses

New Hutchison/Vodafone network would be biggest UK operator

Vodafone Group plc and CK Hutchison Group Telecom Holdings Limited have agreed to combine their UK telecommunication businesses, respectively Vodafone UK and Three UK. The merger will create a large new network operator to compete with Virgin Media O2 and EE.
Author: The Fonecast
0 Comments
Article rating: No rating

UK mobile payment service Paym to close in March 2023

UK mobile payment service Paym will close on 7th March 2023. The service, which allowed users to make and receive payments using their mobile phone numbers, was launched in 2014.
Author: The Fonecast
0 Comments
Article rating: No rating
Qualcomm legal action moves forward in the UK

Qualcomm legal action moves forward in the UK

Which? seeks payout for Samsung and Apple smartphone owners

Consumer protection organisation Which? has been given permission by the UK's Competition Appeal Tribunal to represent Apple and Samsung smartphone buyers in a legal case against chip manufacturer Qualcomm.
Author: The Fonecast
0 Comments
Article rating: No rating
RSS

Opinion Articles

Friday, October 24, 2014

Philips Voice Tracer DVT6000 review

Is a dedicated voice recorder better than a smartphone app?

Mark Bridge writes:

If I'm interviewing someone for a podcast, I'll generally use my Zoom H4N recorder and a separate microphone or two. But I don't need the same level of high-quality kit if I'm interviewing someone for a written interview.

Of course, the H4N will do a perfectly good job with its built-in microphones. But why carry an expensive recording device when your mobile phone can do the same job? That's tended to be my perspective.

I've had the HiFiCorder Android app for a couple of years. It's a straightforward recording application that can produce a digital file for playback on my phone or PC. At least, it was, until the battery on my smartphone started to show its age. Recording an interview could mean no more phone calls for the rest of the day. Which left me wondering whether a separate digital recorder might actually be better.

With nigh-on perfect timing, I'm contacted by Philips. Would I like to review one of their new Voice Tracers?

Image

A few days later, the Philips Voice Tracer DVT6000 arrives. It's described as the model 'for lectures and interviews', thanks in part to a three-microphone system that combines a directional central mic with omni-directional microphones on each side. Promisingly, it claims to offer up to 50 hours of battery life. I've not had that from a mobile phone since I upgraded from my Nokia 2110.

Incidentally, on the subject of historic technology, Philips founded its Speech Processing business sixty years ago and created its first digital recorder back in 1996. But I digress.

Inside the box is the DVT6000 recorder, a USB-to-microUSB lead and a pair of earphones. There's also a guarantee booklet and a quick-start guide with diagrams. The DVT6000 charges via the USB lead, so I plug it into my laptop for a couple of hours and we're good to go.

Switch on and the colour display screen springs into life. Recording and playback is very straightforward, as you'd expect from a dedicated device. You can even switch on and start recording straight away by pressing the 'record' button rather than using the lockable on/off slider on the side. Other notable physical features include a flip-out desktop stand on the underneath, sockets for headphones and external microphone, a microSD memory slot for extra storage and a 'delete' button. That's a welcome alternative to delving into a menu system when you need to remove unwanted recordings. In a remarkably simple yet clever move, the company has stored a pdf copy of the full user manual on the device; you can view it on a PC by connecting the DVT6000 via that USB cable.

Hit the record button and the device displays 'analysing distance' for a second or two. Thanks to a motion sensor and those three microphones, the DVT6000 can automatically work out how best to record your chosen sound source. A lecture may require the tutor's voice to be recorded from several metres away, so it'll focus on the central mic and ignore ambient noise from the sides, while a conventional face-to-face interview will use all three microphones. When recording starts, there's a display of recording levels, an elapsed time counter and a smaller counter to remind you how much memory space remains.

The 'AutoZoom' feature for conversation/distance recording can be switched on or off depending on your preference. Other options include the ability to filter out wind noise - useful if you're making a recording outside - and cutting down constant background noise. Both can be useful if there's nowhere quiet to chat. It's possible to start recording via a built-in timer or whenever someone starts speaking... and you can activate a pre-recording mode to ensure you never miss the beginning of a sentence.

Image

When it's time for playback, you can transfer the audio files to your PC - but there's generally no need to do this. A built-in loudspeaker (or those supplied earphones) lets you listen to your recordings. A 'ClearVoice' function can boost quiet voices to make it easier for you to understand what they were saying. And if you do want to listen via PC, the files are recorded in mp3 format and are named with the date/time of recording, so it's easy to find the one you're looking for.

If you're serious about dictation and indexing, the DVT6000 has a few more tricks up its sleeve. Playback can be slowed down or sped up, while parts of a recording can be 'marked' with easy-to-find indicators.

It's even possible to use the device as an FM radio or a music player, with an extra option of recording from the radio if you want.

Finally, to the all-important question of recording quality. Well, the Philips Voice Tracer was significantly better than using my smartphone. I'll admit to being slightly surprised by this; I'd expected them to be evenly matched. However, the DVT6000 reproduced my interview more accurately while the phone recordings sounded more 'tinny' with noticeably less bass. And on one test, a brief hiccup in the smartphone recording - probably due to an app updating in the background - meant I lost a couple of words. Would the results from the Philips DVT6000 be good enough for a podcast interview? Under the right circumstances and in high-quality recording mode, yes.

Of course, the best audio recorder - much like the best camera - is always the one you have with you. But based on my experience, I'll be keeping the Philips DVT6000 and packing it whenever I have an interview lined up. I know I can always use my smartphone in an emergency. But I've been impressed at how well the Philips recorder does its job... and how much better it does its job than the jack-of-all-trades I usually rely on.

Print
Author: The Fonecast
2 Comments
Rate this article:
3.8

Categories: Handsets and manufacturers, Applications, OpinionNumber of views: 43514

Tags: opinion philips audio

2 comments on article "Philips Voice Tracer DVT6000 review"

1
0
Avatar image

V.Quaresma

7/14/2016 11:46 PM

If you want to register your sleep to find out if you snore or speak during the night, or, the first words of your son, or, what happens in the house while you're away, for example, and let the recorder on during the night in the VA (voice activated) mode, it turns off after some time (5, 15, 30 or 60 minutes) due to inactivity (to save power) and nothing can be done to disable the AUTO-OFF automatic function. In other words, if the activity occurs after one hour you won't be lucky!


0
0
Avatar image

V.Quaresma

7/15/2016 9:22 AM

The Voice Activation in some ways is an auto-off function that starts recording when you begin to speak and stops when there is a long pause. Among other things it saves power and memory space, and does not need any other function to switch off automatically after some period of time. In short, when VA is turned on the Auto-Off function should be disabled automatically.

Also, the voice-activation levels are quit stupid, because level "1" is very sensitive and level "9" the lowest sensitivity, exactly the opposite of the microphone/recording sensitivity where "1" is the lowest sensitivity to "9" highest sensitivity, which is the most common indication.

Leave a comment

This form collects your name, email, IP address and content so that we can keep track of the comments placed on the website. For more info check our Privacy Policy and Terms Of Use where you will get more info on where, how and why we store your data.
Add comment

Recent Podcasts

A week of mobile industry news, from UK 'not spot' coverage proposals to Microsoft's new non-Nokia smartphone

Podcast - 12th November 2014

This week's podcast begins with a heated discussion about the UK government's consultation about improving mobile phone coverage.

Iain, James and Mark then move on to talk about over-the-top voice services, mobile internet usage, patent deals, the UK's next spectrum auction and wearable technology.

Author: The Fonecast
0 Comments
Article rating: No rating

Talking about mobile ticketing with Ashley Murdoch of Corethree

Podcast - 7th November 2014

Leaving your wallet at home and going shopping with nothing more than your mobile phone is still a science-fiction vision of the future.

But it's getting much closer to reality, thanks to a UK-based company called Corethree. They're currently working with a number of public transport operators and have brought mobile tickets to a wide range of smartphones.

Author: The Fonecast
0 Comments
Article rating: 5.0

New products from Microsoft, Samsung and Huawei... plus the rest of the week's news

Podcast - 5th November 2014

The new Microsoft Band, the Samsung Galaxy A smartphones and the Huawei Honor 6 are all discussed in this week's podcast.

We also look at some of the mobile industry's other big stories, including Amazon UK's mobile phone deals, the Lenovo purchase of Motorola Mobility, LG's quarterly results and the anticipated increase in WiFi hotspots.

Author: The Fonecast
0 Comments
Article rating: No rating

Big numbers for EE, Apple, smartwatches and the Internet of Things

Podcast - 29th October 2014

We start this week's podcast with news that EE now has the largest 4G customer base in Europe, with 5.6 million UK connections.

There's also talk about a new DIY product for the Internet of Things, the disappearance of Nokia branded smartphones, quarterly results for Apple, increasing M2M connections and a growing market for smartwatches.

Author: The Fonecast
0 Comments
Article rating: No rating

The latest UK mobile industry podcast, including new devices from Apple, Google and will.i.am

Podcast - 22nd October 2014

The new Apple iPad tablets, Google's latest Nexus devices, Android Lollipop, wearable tech from will.i.am and the world's slimmest smartphone all feature in this week's podcast.

We're also talking about free mobile data for Christmas, 4.5G technology being rolled out in the UK, 5G technology being tested in South Korea, the end of an era for webOS and video messages that self-destruct.

Author: The Fonecast
0 Comments
Article rating: 5.0
RSS
135678910Last

Follow thefonecast.com

Twitter @TheFonecast RSS podcast feed
Find us on Facebook Subscribe free via iTunes

Archive Calendar

«October 2024»
MonTueWedThuFriSatSun
30123456
78910111213
14151617181920
21222324252627
28293031123
45678910

Archive

Terms Of Use | Privacy Statement