By: David H.
Submitted: 2011-08-30 18:52:07 | Word Count: 526
Digital Voice Recorders have come a long way from the original equipment or the phonograph which was designed by Thomas Alva Edison and then later on remodeled by Graham Bell and his associate. They worked upon the original tinfoil phonograph and modified it to use wax for reproducing sound. Both men worked on the machine till they got patents for it in 1886. The machine developed by them was more advanced than the one invented by Edison. The wax recording equipment was easier to handle and it also allowed for a lengthier recording and had a superior playback quality. This machine was operated by an electric motor as opposed to the manual crank used in Edison's phonograph. This resulted in a better sound quality and better performance.
The main premise behind the Edison phonograph was that it would be used for recording speeches at the business meetings and the very idea of recording any sort of music on it was yet to be born. There were some instances of these machines being used for this purpose but it was very limited. There was a boost to this idea when the phonographs came in for mass production in the late 1880s. The machine which was developed and produced by Edison Records was called and trademarked as the Ediphone.
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As there was advancement in technology, the basic form and shape of the Dictaphone too underwent a change. The operations of the recording machines became more sophisticated and the sound quality too improved a lot. Generally the whole form of the Dictaphones changed and by 1947, the Dictaphones were replaced by Dictabelt which had a mechanical groove which cut into a plastic belt instead of the wax cylinders.
Then after some years, even this was replaced by the system of magnetic tape recording. This helped in having a reel to reel recording of the speeches and lectures, but threading the tape spools was a burdensome task. This was later on replaced by the compact cassette, mini cassette and the micro cassette too. The development of these devices helped in saving time as well as effort. More importantly it saved from the inconvenience of threading the spools in th recording machine.
With the advent of the micro chips, the whole recording scene changed for the better. Digital voice recorders were introduced in 1990s which were far better in looks as well as the sound and recording quality. Digital Dictation became a more viable option as the prices of the computer memory were falling and hence, pocket sized digital voice recorders could be manufactured.
With the technological progress, system of transcribing the recorded audio dictation into text form was introduced. This was earlier done by human secretaries or transcribers. Digital voice recorders are small hand held gadgets which are used for recording voice memos on a memory chip and then replay them at the user's will. This device is used to record lectures, conversations and conferences.
Thus with the invention of digital voice recorders, the very face of recording and transcription saw a major upheaval. In the present times there is a variety of voice recorders suited to all the choices of customers.
