ICD-UX570 Digital Voice Recorder, ICDUX570BLK

I came to this recorder having been using Sony's ICD-UX81 and UX-543 for years. I write for a living and like to take long walks and dream up ideas, and also need to record them for when I get back home (sometimes an exact turn of phrase can be quite hard to remember). When the UX81 began to complain of having the odd problem with voice file storage when connected through USB and the UX-543 simply failed overnight, I looked hard for the next logical dictation device. I pored over the specs and user experiences and gravitated to this one since it most resembled the previous ones I'd owned, and all the reasons I'd settled on my older device. Important for me is the ability to create particularly clear voice files that can be run through an automatic transcription program such as Nuance's "Naturally Speaking", which can - with training - transcribe our verbals into text. This does as well as the the other machines in that regard, in noisy environments such as a windy day, or walking on gravel, or nearby traffic, the background noice will interfere with auto-transcription but the voice is still perfectly intelligible to the human ear. In these cases you'll need to listen back and improve your typing speeds instead. There is an option to focus the machine's "listening pattern" (mic response) to a focused mode, which does go a little way to reducing noise if I'm dictating ideas while walking outdoors. The operation of the device was very intuitive for me, there's broadly only three operations I care about, switching it on and off, recording, and stopping recording - after setting a recording sensitivity, ideally. If you use this regularly the simplicity makes it very intuitive within a very short time. Once you've figured out the labelling system the basics come to hand very easily and, if anything, the workflow (such as it is) for this recorder is very familiar, and the display has a lot more information available. My main requirement has always been that both my recorders produce MP3 files, and that's the format offered here along with "LPCM", which creates CD-quality (44.1) WAV files should you really want to push the quality at the expense of the machine's memory - it makes a difference in fidelity but also records noise etc just as faithfully! According to Sony, recording at top quality (LPCM) will fill the built in 4MB memory in 5 hours 20 minutes, at top quality MP3 (MP3 is a compressed format that is somewhat less faithful) you get 39 hours 45 minutes. All the numbers can be seen at helpguide.sony.net/icd/u57/v1/en2/contents/TP0002426582.html . I'm not a fan of the slide-out USB port. The UX-81 has a fixed port onto which clips an end cover for the device as a whole, which for me is a far neater arrangement. If you give your voice recorders a tough life you may prefer the fact that the connector is hidden away inside the device. I'm also not a fan of the missing device sleeve that used to come with voice recorders - a little slip case that kept dust at bay is not included in the Sony package for this one. Fortuntately I'd hung on to the previous device's slip case and, if you're replacing an older voice recording with this one, you should also keep that case handy, you'll need it. You'll find PDF manuals at sony.co.uk/electronics/support/digital-voice-recorders-icd-series/icd-ux570/manuals, and for those that don't like cluttering their systems with PDF files, there's an online version at the same link - should you have any concerns about how it is operated. It isn't a quantum leap either of beyond my old machines, bt then simplicity is what these are all supposed to be about. This new one certainly is kinder to new users, though, and can be used almost without thinking once the familiarity is there.

For something that weighs nothing and looks like its made of plastic (it is) this is like a an audio Swiss Army knife! There is very little it doesn't do really well as a standalone recorder, paired with (in my case) a wireless Lavalier mic, recording in a hall or close up, and it even doubles as an FM radio (which it also can record). It has a large on board memory but you can put in an SD card and the capacity is more or less limitless. The ability to use the on-board usb to plug into a computer makes the transfer and editing of files a doddle, sound quality is great and I want to have children with it. It really is that good. honest

Incredibly small and light. Simple to use since everything is set to "auto" by default, although if you want to to get deeper into the settings the manual is little help. Sound quality is ok for a dictaphone but lacks tonality if you are recording music. However this is down to the internal Mics . There are 2 which is a waste for such a small device. I don't think you can get meaningful sterio out of it and its not a music recorder so I don't know why they bothered. With an external mic it does a good job. Used it to record a vocal comentary from a lapel mic and its fine. My I bought a second one for meetings. Those are my only 2 gripes: The confusing menus. Trying to kid me that 2 mics make it sterio!

Excellent record sound quality. brilliant battery life. I bought this model a year ago and it served me very well.. I used it to record my whole 8 hour day at work and 3 hour commute to and from work, all that usage only consumed half the battery life. I also used it to record my bad neighbours living above me stomping and shouting profanity at each other, which all other neighbours had to endure. The amazing thing about this voice recorder is its ability to record even the very low bass frequencies.. this makes it ideal for recording stomping. unfortunately after a year of usage, I accidentally left it in my trousers when putting trousers in washing machine. It did not survive the 1 hour 90 deg wash. I recently bought another one from the same seller. It is serving me well. I will definitely be checking my trousers pockets before using washing machine.

Bought a second hand Sony Ux370 which was ok but wanted a better sound quality which the 570 offers. Wanted a recorder which was both easy to use and can be carried. Switches on within seconds which is a huge plus as I use it to keep notes, ideas etc

They are a workhorse for filming. The mic input, built in storage and USB make them a must in a bind.

As a full time wedding and events photographer for the past 10 or so years, I decided to dabble a little with videography this year. I am by no means a videographer, but I have been recording speeches and a few clips throughout the day. I went all in at the turn of the year, by purchasing several recorders and lavalier mics, but my goto now is the Sony ICD-UX570. Tape it to the microphone or near the speaker, done, the sound quality is excellent. My only regret is that I dropped hundreds of £'s on other audio devices, lesson learned. I highly recommend the Sony ICD-UX570, and I will be picking up a second one.

if I could design the perfect little pocket recorder, it would probably look (and act) a lot like this one. pros: > very good mic quality (considering the size) > good size, weight and form factor - very pocketable > ability to save/load recorder settings to quickly tune for different scenes & environments > stereo 44.1KHz/16bit linear PCM recording > switchable mic/line levels on external input > switchable noise & low cut filters (while recording!) > OLED display is gorgeous > UI is distinctly Sony (very intuitive) - you may recognize some of the icons from the PS3 :p > almost no delay when seeking time or between track marks, even when the recording is stored on the SD card > seems to read MicroSDXC cards with no issues. popped in a 512GB Samsung Evo, which gives me 807 hours (or a little over 33 days) of recording memory (at 44.1/16 stereo!). > quick boot times (<2s) - seems to utilize some kind of sleep mode, as boot up takes noticeably longer after not using it for more than hew hours (overnight, for example) > realtime speed control during playback is very fun (paulstretch, anyone?) cons: > short battery life when recording - not terrible, but definitely best suited for short/medium length recordings. this is somewhat offset by the quick charge times. > USB 2.0 (seriously?) i can't really think of any other cons worth mentioning here. for the price, this little thing really is a gem. also, props to Sony for finally paying aesthetic to the design & aesthetic of a portable audio recorder. almost reminds me of the original iPod nano.... almost x3

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Muy útil fácil de usar cómoda para llevar por su tamaño. Muy buena compra.

Som de gravação achei bem baixo. Pelo valor, achei que fosse um som mais limpo e alto.

Some reviwers wrote it stops working soon. Only time will tell and my use is sporadic. So, it might years before it breaks in my case. Sound is awsome. Sensitivity to faint/distant sounds is slightly better than my older Olympus WS852 that had broke (CAUTION: Olympus might have improved because they are now at WS882, three models down the road). The main advantage though is the much lower noise. So, because of very low noise, capacity to discern and understand faint voices or sound it much better. Sound fidelity is great. Sounds like the person is next to you in flesh and blood. Easy to use. Barely need the manual, everything is intuitive. Now, the caveats. 1- Internal rechargeable battery only. No possibility to use alcaline batteries (unlike a competitor that uses removable ni-mh batteries for its rechargeable model). So, when the internal lithium battery will be worn, either the device will be unusable or you will have to open it, remove the old battery and solder a new one with same capacity and physical size. However, there are hidden screws to open the recorder. It is not glued. So, replacing battery is realistic without special tools (unlike a cell phone, which nowadays has a glued cover). 2-The recording time per battery charge are NOT true for LPCM/WAV on external memory card. They claim 20 hours. Truth is more like 13-14 hours. And internal memory will hold only 5 hours of LPCM/WAW because that file format (much superior sound) generates much more data and takes much more memory space than MP3. The reason is it is a LOSSLESS format. It gives you true CD quality. I have used the lenghts of the recordings generated as way to tell duration. In LPCM/WAV, maximum duration of each file is about 6 hours 30 mimutes. For MP3 192 khz, like 15 hours. Recording on external memory card drains the battery more than recording on internal memory. Recording in LPCM/WAV drains the battery more than recording in MP3. For MP3 192khz on internal memory, battery actually lasted MORE than claimed. For MP3 192khz on external memory card, it lasted about same they claim. But for LPCM/WAV on external memory card (and you need the external memory card for LPCM/WAV lossless), lasted only 13-14 hours. However, that will not prevent you from say, go on camping, activate recording before you go to sleep and record all the loonies, owls and wolfs and early morning songbirds while aslept. And it does recharge quickly.