Sony ICD-SX57DR9 Digital Voice Recorder with Docking Station

by Sony

Product Details

• Item Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S. and to APO/FPO addresses. For APO/FPO shipments, please check with the manufacturer regarding warranty and support issues.
• ASIN: B000N2BNGK
• Item model number: ICDSX57DR9
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #74,349 in Electronics (See Top 100 in Electronics)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: March 22, 2007

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

Sony is aiming to make it easier to remember all of those little details with a new line of digital voice recorders designed for, consumers, professionals, and academics. At only one-half inch thick, the Sony ICD-SX57DR9 boasts a slim, light aluminum body, making it easy to take with you to the office or on the road--and the record and pause controls are located on the side of the unit for easy operation. It also has 128MB³ of Flash Memory⁵ available on the integrated circuit chip which may be recorded over and used again.

Some key features of the ICD-SX57DR9 include:

• PC Compatible via USB (Cable Included): Easily transfer audio files to the computer for processing and archiving.
• Digital Voice Up and VOR (Voice Operated Recording) Functions: Increases the volume of the person speaking when recorded at a distance from the unit.
• Digital Pitch Control: Recordings can be heard at slower than normal speeds without distortion to facilitate transcribing or editing, or faster than normal to move quickly to a desired portion.
• Recording Monitor Function: You can listen to the recording level by using headphones while unit is recording and adjust accordingly.
• STLP Recording Mode: Up to 11 Hrs 15 Minutes² Recording Time--Offers longer recording time while maintaining 2-channel recording for improved sound quality.
• MP3 Playback:⁴ Playback unsecured MP3 files by dragging and dropping files right into the MP3 folder on the device. Pre-recorded sound can also be converted to MP3 or WAV file formats with the included Digital Voice Editor 3.0 Software.

The Sony ICD-SX57DR9 also includes Dragon NaturallySpeaking Preferred Voice to Print Software so you can easily convert your voice files to text.

About Dragon NaturallySpeaking Dragon NaturallySpeaking 9 Recorder Edition supports dictation using Sony PC compatible digital voice recorders. It links directly with Sony’s Digital Voice Editor version 3.0 software, which comes with new PC-compatible digital voice recorders.

Both pieces of software work together to provide an easy way to convert voice to text. In Dragon NaturallySpeaking, the Natural Punctuation feature automatically inserts commas and periods where needed and eliminates those awkward "ums" and "ahs."

The Dictation Playback feature plays the original recorded voice when reviewing the document, and the Performance Optimizer improves voice recognition. A new feature using the new Digital Voice Editor version 3.0, recorded sound can be easily converted into the universal WAV or MP3 formats for podcasting.

The ICD-SX57DR9 recorder comes equipped with rechargeable batteries and a USB docking station. It automatically recharges the batteries when connected to the PC and simplifies the process of transferring recordings.

<sup>1. Not all products with USB 2.0 connectors may communicate with each other due to chipset variations.
2. User available memory= 128,494,080 bytes (preliminary), a portion of which is used for data management functions.
3. Approximate recording times. Battery life will vary based upon usage conditions.
4. Based on Approx. 4 minutes per song at 128 kbps.
5. Actual user available memory is approximate. A portion is used for data management.</sup>

What's in the box
Sony ICD-SX57DR9, USB Cable, Digital Voice Editor Software, Stereo Ear Receiver

Product Description

Slim Style Design --- only one-half inch thick, with Record and Pause controls located on the side of the unit for easy operation; fits neatly into a shirt pocket.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Sony ICD-SX57DR9 Digital Voice Recorder, September 7, 2007

By 

JCP (Portland, OR USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sony ICD-SX57DR9 Digital Voice Recorder with Docking Station (Office Product)

This model Sony comes either by itself for about $129, or $169 with docking station, recharable NiM batts.and Dragan Naturally ver. 9 speach to text SW. The Recorder is beutifully made, very small and records good quality Sony MSV files. However, both SW packages it comes with are a nightmare. I spent over 4 hours of personal time and an additioanl 1.5 hours with Sony technical support and NEVER got the Sony Digtial Voice SW to run properly. I tried it on two different Windows XP Computers. They do have a version for Vista now, you can download it from Sony (Ver. 3.1) However, neither 3.0 or 3.1 SW could run properly on my computers. I returned the unit in frustration. May try an Olympus, or just get a good o'l tape unit.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Does superlative job on voice recordings, December 23, 2007

By 

J. Barnhart (Santa Clara, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Sony ICD-SX57DR9 Digital Voice Recorder with Docking Station (Office Product)

I've owned this recorder for several months. It does an excellent job on voice recordings, either for notes or for transcribing to written words. In contrast to the only other reviewer, the included software installed with no effort on my Windows XP Pro laptop.

Pros: Voice quality is truly excellent at "SP" mode or above. Many features including low and high recording sensitivity and voice activated recording mode. Includes two built-in microphones for stereo recording. Efficient recording modes make the best use of the 256M included memory. Supports and includes NiMH rechargeable batteries. Included Dragon Naturally Speaking software does an amazing job of converting dictation to speech.

Cons: Display is hard to read in some circumstances. Dragon software must be "trained" on a speaker's voice to get high accuracy. This prevents the Dragon software from transcribing conferences with more than one speaker -- it only does dictation from one speaker. File format is not mp3 or wma and the included Sony software must be used to convert it to other formats. (I doubt Mac owners will be able to use this product.)