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Technical Details
- Built-in 2 GB flash memory
- 2-Position Stereo Microphone
- Records in LPCM 44.1kHz 16 bit and MP3 (320 kbps-8 kbps)
- S-Microphone System
- Over 500 Hours of Maximum Recording Time
Product Details
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Product Description
Sony ICD-SX712 Digital Flash Voice Recorder has a built-in 2GB memory with an SD card slot, which affords an additional 16GB of storage capacity for lectures, notes, music, meetings or any other audio you may want to record. The maximum recording time afforded by the internal memory is 500+ hrs, but a 16GB microSD card can expand the ICD-SX712's maximum recording time upwards of 4000+ hrs.Making recording and playback more convenient, the ICD-SX712 is equipped with an LCD-backlit display, multiple language displays and record date, time and elapsed time displays as well. It has an LED operational indicator and can be set in various modes such as Continuous Play, Easy Search and Noise-Cut during record and playback. It also features Direct Record to Play, Erase, Move File, Protect, Play/Stop, Record/Pause Scene Select, Low-Cut and Track Mark functions as well.As an added luxury, the ICD-SX712 boasts the Sound Organizer PC software. It also features a USB port, 3.5 mm stereo mic input and 3.5 mm stereo headphone output. The ICD-SX712 has an integrated speaker for listening back to recordings out loud when privacy is not a concern. It comes with two AAA batteries that can last up to 25 hrs. The device is USB charge capable and the recorder can fit easily in your pocket or purse and is barely noticeable in your hand, weighing a scant 2.4 oz.
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
136 of 142 people found the following review helpful
Awesome recorder for both speech and non-professional music recording, and THE BEST for Dragon NaturallySpeaking software!
April 20, 2011
Amazon Verified Purchase
Fuzzy Wuzzy's Summary:
***** Very highly recommended with warm fuzzies!
I work in high tech and I am also a musician who plays guitars, harmonica, and world-beat/ethnic percussion. So I find portable digital recorders like this to be highly useful on a weekly basis for recording everything from personal dictation of thoughts and ideas, to in-person meetings, to telephone conferences, to jam sessions with my other musician friends, to recording impromptu music ideas and vocals.
Prior to purchasing this Sony ICD-SX712, I frequently used a Sony ICD-SX750 2 GB Flash Memory Digital Voice Recorder (Black). And before that, one of my main portable digital recorders was a Sony MZ-NF810CK Net MD MiniDisc Recorder with Car Kit with a Sony ECM-DS70P Electret Condenser Stereo Microphone for recording music ideas, jam sessions, and rehearsals. Sony's MZ-NF810CK Net MD MiniDisc recorder offered CD-quality digital recording with a full 20Hz-20,000Hz +/-3dB frequency range, along with an AM/FM/TV/Weather tuner. But for years, my one big complaint with Sony's Net MD MiniDisc recorder was that the device had no 'Line Out' or easy method to transfer my digital recordings off of its MiniDisc so that I could perform further editing on the computer.
Even though the "712" number in this ICD-SX712 model is numerically smaller than Sony's previous model of ICD-SX750, I see this model as a substantially improved direct replacement for their previous ICD-SX750 model, which was also priced very similarly. Since I have both the ICD-SX750 and ICD-SX712 recorders, some of this product review will compare the two models.
With the advent of affordable digital recorders that use onboard flash memory and/or Memory Stick Micro (M2) and microSD memory cards, I find myself using my Net MD recorder less and less now. Note that the Sony line of "ICD" recorders are NOT really professional digital audio recorders for recording full-spectrum music, but this ICD-SX712 can still produce a very good CD-quality stereo recording for most kinds of music. Using its best LPCM 44.1 kHz 16-bit recording mode, the ICD-SX712 records a frequency range of 40Hz-20kHz. Depending upon the music that you are wanting to record, this may or may not be sufficient since a dedicated digital audio recorder will go down to 20 Hz. If you really want a digital audio recorder for music applications, I would highly recommend either the Sony PCM-M10/R Portable Linear PCM Recorder, 96-kHz/24-bit, 4GB Memory & USB High-Speed Port, Glossy Red, the Zoom H4n Handy Portable Digital Recorder, both of which will record a pristine 20Hz to 20,000+ Hz frequency range at 96-kHz/24-bit recording mode, or one of the Tascam portable digital recorders. Sony's "ICD" recorder line is more optimized for recording voice (dictation, interviews, meetings), but this ICD-SX712 also does a very good job of recording music. There is not much musical content that goes below the 40Hz sub-bass low end that this ICD-SX712 can record: the low fundamentals of a bass tuba, and the fundamentals of a contrabassoon, harp, double bass, pipe organ, piano.
What is in the box package?
o ICD-SX712 Voice Recorder
o Two AAA alkaline batteries
o "Ear bud" stereo headphones
o Mini-USB-to-USB cable to connect the recorder to your computer
o Sound Organizer software CD (for Windows 7/Vista/XP only, no Mac support)
o Soft carrying pouch sleeve
o Stand, with tripod mount, for positioning the recorder's microphone
o Highly detailed 155-page all-English 'Operating Instructions' guide
The voice recorder itself has size dimensions of 1 1/4 inches wide by 5 3/8 inches long with a thickness of 5/8 inches, and it weighs 2.3 ounces without batteries and 3.1 ounces with batteries. So it is a quarter-inch longer than my ICD-SX750 and a half-ounce heavier.
More of the ICD-SX712's features are described and rated below:
***** Excellent 5-fuzzies feature ratings:
***** The recorded sound quality is excellent with crystal-clear sound clarity, both in its directional and stereo microphone positions. Stereo recordings have excellent three-dimensional spatial imaging. And when the recording level is set to "High" microphone sensitivity, the recorded speech of a distant speaker in a large auditorium is excellent. Sony claims that this recorder can pick up sounds from 25 meters (82 feet) away when using its highest-quality LPCM recording format, and I do not doubt that claim.
***** Compared to my older ICD-SX750, the ICD-SX712's microphones are noticeably more sensitive for recording even the slightest low-level sounds. My acoustic guitar fingerpicking gets recorded with the subtle sounds of my fingers working the strings, speech and vocals get recorded with the slight sounds of breathing, and the directional recording of a person speaking at the far end of a room or a stereo recording of both nearby and distant birds chirping in the trees all get recorded with great clarity. This new recorder introduces Sony's newly-developed 'S-Microphone System', and it combines advanced audio processing technology with a highly sensitive new microphone that captures even faint or distant subjects with extra clarity while reducing background hiss. A 'S-Master Digital Amplifier' produces great accuracy, clear separation of signals, and balanced sound reproduction using digital-to-digital processing, and the recorded signal is taken through the full-digital DSP stage without additional digital-to-analog conversion.
***** This voice recorder has lots of features with a great deal of usefulness! Do not feel apprehensive about feeling like you need to read all of this recorder's 155-page 'Operating Instructions' guide. You do not need to read all the pages to begin using this recorder effectively. For quick ease of use initially, you just need to read/skim the first 39 pages. This covers the basics of setup, recording, listening, and erasing. If you will mainly use the recorder for one, two, or three main purposes (e.g. dictation, group meetings, and music recording), you just need to familiarize yourself with a handful of the recorder's options for adjusting its recording parameters to suit each situation. For example, I mainly use my recorder for the following purposes: personal dictation with speech-to-text conversion using Dragon NaturallySpeaking Premium 11, recording work-related phone calls, recording a group meeting, and recording musical performances either by me with friends or by others in a music rehearsal setting.
Like the previous ICD-SX750 model, this voice recorder comes with a thorough 'Operating Instructions' guide. On Sony's Web site, I did notice that there is also a simple 'Quick Start Guide' PDF that you can download. I do not know why this 'Quick Start Guide' was not included in the package, but perhaps since this product was only released a month ago, they did not have a printed 'Quick Start Guide' available for packaging at the time?
***** Setup is pretty simple. The recorder comes with two AAA alkaline batteries. I can also use my own rechargeable AAA batteries. When used with rechargeable batteries, the batteries will recharge whenever I connect the recorder to my computer using the supplied Mini-USB-to-USB cable. Alternately, I can use the USB cord to connect the recorder to a separately-purchased AC adapter, e.g. Belkin Mini Surge Protector Dual USB Charger or Sony's own Sony AC U50AD - Power adapter. Rechargeable batteries take about 4 hours to fully recharge from an empty state. However, with the recorder connected via USB to a turned-on computer or to an AC adapter, I can charge the batteries while still using the recorder, which is very handy for very long recording sessions.
The ICD-SX712 can record in the following formats, listed with their approximate hours of recording time listed for using both fully-charged alkaline and rechargeable batteries, the maximum recording time that can be stored by the internal 2-GB flash memory, and the frequency range that is recorded:
LPCM 44.1kHz/16bit: 25 hrs alkaline, 19 hrs rechargeable; 3 hours 0 minutes; 40-20,000 Hz
MP3 320kbps: 22 hrs alkaline, 17 hrs rechargeable; 13 hours 20 minutes; 40-16,000 Hz
MP3 192kbps: 22 hrs alkaline, 17 hrs rechargeable; 22 hours 20 minutes; 40-16,000 Hz
MP3 128kbps: 22 hrs alkaline, 17 hrs rechargeable; 33 hours 30 minutes; 40-16,000 Hz
MP3 48kbps(MONO): 25 hrs alkaline, 19 hrs rechargeable; 89 hours 25 minutes; 40-14,000 Hz
MP3 8kbps(MONO): 25 hrs alkaline, 19 hrs rechargeable; 536 hours 0 minutes; 50-2,000 Hz
Note that this also means a fresh set of alkaline batteries will often provide significantly longer recording time than rechargeable batteries. This is especially true for rechargeable batteries that have been repeatedly recharged over a long period of time. Overall, this recorder has very good battery life. Read more ›
***** Very highly recommended with warm fuzzies!
I work in high tech and I am also a musician who plays guitars, harmonica, and world-beat/ethnic percussion. So I find portable digital recorders like this to be highly useful on a weekly basis for recording everything from personal dictation of thoughts and ideas, to in-person meetings, to telephone conferences, to jam sessions with my other musician friends, to recording impromptu music ideas and vocals.
Prior to purchasing this Sony ICD-SX712, I frequently used a Sony ICD-SX750 2 GB Flash Memory Digital Voice Recorder (Black). And before that, one of my main portable digital recorders was a Sony MZ-NF810CK Net MD MiniDisc Recorder with Car Kit with a Sony ECM-DS70P Electret Condenser Stereo Microphone for recording music ideas, jam sessions, and rehearsals. Sony's MZ-NF810CK Net MD MiniDisc recorder offered CD-quality digital recording with a full 20Hz-20,000Hz +/-3dB frequency range, along with an AM/FM/TV/Weather tuner. But for years, my one big complaint with Sony's Net MD MiniDisc recorder was that the device had no 'Line Out' or easy method to transfer my digital recordings off of its MiniDisc so that I could perform further editing on the computer.
Even though the "712" number in this ICD-SX712 model is numerically smaller than Sony's previous model of ICD-SX750, I see this model as a substantially improved direct replacement for their previous ICD-SX750 model, which was also priced very similarly. Since I have both the ICD-SX750 and ICD-SX712 recorders, some of this product review will compare the two models.
With the advent of affordable digital recorders that use onboard flash memory and/or Memory Stick Micro (M2) and microSD memory cards, I find myself using my Net MD recorder less and less now. Note that the Sony line of "ICD" recorders are NOT really professional digital audio recorders for recording full-spectrum music, but this ICD-SX712 can still produce a very good CD-quality stereo recording for most kinds of music. Using its best LPCM 44.1 kHz 16-bit recording mode, the ICD-SX712 records a frequency range of 40Hz-20kHz. Depending upon the music that you are wanting to record, this may or may not be sufficient since a dedicated digital audio recorder will go down to 20 Hz. If you really want a digital audio recorder for music applications, I would highly recommend either the Sony PCM-M10/R Portable Linear PCM Recorder, 96-kHz/24-bit, 4GB Memory & USB High-Speed Port, Glossy Red, the Zoom H4n Handy Portable Digital Recorder, both of which will record a pristine 20Hz to 20,000+ Hz frequency range at 96-kHz/24-bit recording mode, or one of the Tascam portable digital recorders. Sony's "ICD" recorder line is more optimized for recording voice (dictation, interviews, meetings), but this ICD-SX712 also does a very good job of recording music. There is not much musical content that goes below the 40Hz sub-bass low end that this ICD-SX712 can record: the low fundamentals of a bass tuba, and the fundamentals of a contrabassoon, harp, double bass, pipe organ, piano.
What is in the box package?
o ICD-SX712 Voice Recorder
o Two AAA alkaline batteries
o "Ear bud" stereo headphones
o Mini-USB-to-USB cable to connect the recorder to your computer
o Sound Organizer software CD (for Windows 7/Vista/XP only, no Mac support)
o Soft carrying pouch sleeve
o Stand, with tripod mount, for positioning the recorder's microphone
o Highly detailed 155-page all-English 'Operating Instructions' guide
The voice recorder itself has size dimensions of 1 1/4 inches wide by 5 3/8 inches long with a thickness of 5/8 inches, and it weighs 2.3 ounces without batteries and 3.1 ounces with batteries. So it is a quarter-inch longer than my ICD-SX750 and a half-ounce heavier.
More of the ICD-SX712's features are described and rated below:
***** Excellent 5-fuzzies feature ratings:
***** The recorded sound quality is excellent with crystal-clear sound clarity, both in its directional and stereo microphone positions. Stereo recordings have excellent three-dimensional spatial imaging. And when the recording level is set to "High" microphone sensitivity, the recorded speech of a distant speaker in a large auditorium is excellent. Sony claims that this recorder can pick up sounds from 25 meters (82 feet) away when using its highest-quality LPCM recording format, and I do not doubt that claim.
***** Compared to my older ICD-SX750, the ICD-SX712's microphones are noticeably more sensitive for recording even the slightest low-level sounds. My acoustic guitar fingerpicking gets recorded with the subtle sounds of my fingers working the strings, speech and vocals get recorded with the slight sounds of breathing, and the directional recording of a person speaking at the far end of a room or a stereo recording of both nearby and distant birds chirping in the trees all get recorded with great clarity. This new recorder introduces Sony's newly-developed 'S-Microphone System', and it combines advanced audio processing technology with a highly sensitive new microphone that captures even faint or distant subjects with extra clarity while reducing background hiss. A 'S-Master Digital Amplifier' produces great accuracy, clear separation of signals, and balanced sound reproduction using digital-to-digital processing, and the recorded signal is taken through the full-digital DSP stage without additional digital-to-analog conversion.
***** This voice recorder has lots of features with a great deal of usefulness! Do not feel apprehensive about feeling like you need to read all of this recorder's 155-page 'Operating Instructions' guide. You do not need to read all the pages to begin using this recorder effectively. For quick ease of use initially, you just need to read/skim the first 39 pages. This covers the basics of setup, recording, listening, and erasing. If you will mainly use the recorder for one, two, or three main purposes (e.g. dictation, group meetings, and music recording), you just need to familiarize yourself with a handful of the recorder's options for adjusting its recording parameters to suit each situation. For example, I mainly use my recorder for the following purposes: personal dictation with speech-to-text conversion using Dragon NaturallySpeaking Premium 11, recording work-related phone calls, recording a group meeting, and recording musical performances either by me with friends or by others in a music rehearsal setting.
Like the previous ICD-SX750 model, this voice recorder comes with a thorough 'Operating Instructions' guide. On Sony's Web site, I did notice that there is also a simple 'Quick Start Guide' PDF that you can download. I do not know why this 'Quick Start Guide' was not included in the package, but perhaps since this product was only released a month ago, they did not have a printed 'Quick Start Guide' available for packaging at the time?
***** Setup is pretty simple. The recorder comes with two AAA alkaline batteries. I can also use my own rechargeable AAA batteries. When used with rechargeable batteries, the batteries will recharge whenever I connect the recorder to my computer using the supplied Mini-USB-to-USB cable. Alternately, I can use the USB cord to connect the recorder to a separately-purchased AC adapter, e.g. Belkin Mini Surge Protector Dual USB Charger or Sony's own Sony AC U50AD - Power adapter. Rechargeable batteries take about 4 hours to fully recharge from an empty state. However, with the recorder connected via USB to a turned-on computer or to an AC adapter, I can charge the batteries while still using the recorder, which is very handy for very long recording sessions.
The ICD-SX712 can record in the following formats, listed with their approximate hours of recording time listed for using both fully-charged alkaline and rechargeable batteries, the maximum recording time that can be stored by the internal 2-GB flash memory, and the frequency range that is recorded:
LPCM 44.1kHz/16bit: 25 hrs alkaline, 19 hrs rechargeable; 3 hours 0 minutes; 40-20,000 Hz
MP3 320kbps: 22 hrs alkaline, 17 hrs rechargeable; 13 hours 20 minutes; 40-16,000 Hz
MP3 192kbps: 22 hrs alkaline, 17 hrs rechargeable; 22 hours 20 minutes; 40-16,000 Hz
MP3 128kbps: 22 hrs alkaline, 17 hrs rechargeable; 33 hours 30 minutes; 40-16,000 Hz
MP3 48kbps(MONO): 25 hrs alkaline, 19 hrs rechargeable; 89 hours 25 minutes; 40-14,000 Hz
MP3 8kbps(MONO): 25 hrs alkaline, 19 hrs rechargeable; 536 hours 0 minutes; 50-2,000 Hz
Note that this also means a fresh set of alkaline batteries will often provide significantly longer recording time than rechargeable batteries. This is especially true for rechargeable batteries that have been repeatedly recharged over a long period of time. Overall, this recorder has very good battery life. Read more ›
41 of 43 people found the following review helpful
Amazon Verified Purchase
I bought this recorder primarily to record large group meetings in big rooms. I'm taking over as secretary for an organization that may have as many as 80-90 people present. My predecessor used a Sony IC-MX20 for this purpose and highly recommended it. In checking Sony's web site I found that was no longer in production. This looked like a good choice instead, and so far it's working very well.
I've used it so far to record several smaller meetings, but still in fairly large rooms. I was amazed at how well this picks up voices and the quality of the sound. Battery life so far is good, I'm still on the first set of AAA batteries after recording about 5 hours of material.
The included software was a snap to install, and very easy to work with. It's a huge benefit to be able to have the recording on your computer while typing meeting minutes. The software lets you move quickly to any part of the recording you need to hear in order, to make sure the typed information is accurate.
The instruction manual is the typical Sony mangeled syntax, but I did not find it difficult to find the information i needed to set up and and start recording.
So far I'm extremely pleased with my purchase. It has exceeded my expectations in terms of sound pick-up and quality.
I've used it so far to record several smaller meetings, but still in fairly large rooms. I was amazed at how well this picks up voices and the quality of the sound. Battery life so far is good, I'm still on the first set of AAA batteries after recording about 5 hours of material.
The included software was a snap to install, and very easy to work with. It's a huge benefit to be able to have the recording on your computer while typing meeting minutes. The software lets you move quickly to any part of the recording you need to hear in order, to make sure the typed information is accurate.
The instruction manual is the typical Sony mangeled syntax, but I did not find it difficult to find the information i needed to set up and and start recording.
So far I'm extremely pleased with my purchase. It has exceeded my expectations in terms of sound pick-up and quality.
26 of 27 people found the following review helpful
Amazon Verified Purchase
Purchased this for training session recordings for business conference in large room, with 25+ attendees. Out of the box, was very straight forward but with plenty of customization options. The "meeting" setting worked much better than expected, capturing the instructor's voice with unbelievable quality while positioned an average of 20 feet away (instructor movement in front of class ranged from about 10 feet to over 25 feet away from recorder). The adjustable angle on the stereo mics helps with capturing both the instructor and attendee discussions, but can also be focused for single direction recording. After recording almost 3 hours of content, simply connected the USB cable to my notebook and transferred the digital voice to my computer where it can be further analyzed, reviewed, and critiqued. This is an outstanding device... will be using it much more for future training session evaluations.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Great recordings, Easy to operate!
I'm a court reporter and use this recorder for backup audio to my main recording that goes into my computer file as I write on my steno machine. Read more
Published 29 minutes ago by T. Coshal
This thing is certainly worth the money!
I was actually timid at first to buy one of these digital recorders, because with my previous experience with electronics some years ago is that they seem to lose their infromation... Read more
Published 5 days ago by BrianFromNY
Exactly what I needed
Small - Fast - Versatile
Exactly what I needed.
Buy Dragon Premium separately - don't buy the kit - you'll be thankful you spent the few extra bucks. Read more
Exactly what I needed.
Buy Dragon Premium separately - don't buy the kit - you'll be thankful you spent the few extra bucks. Read more
Published 10 days ago by W. Stevenson
Great quality recording and background reduction.
Using it for recording classroom lectures and it's great. Back ground noise elimination switch comes in handy for large classes. People must say coughing for class time! Read more
Published 1 month ago by Christopher M. Kelly
SONY ICD-SX712 Digital Voice Recorder
First I'd like to say that the recorder has a very nice style to it. I purchased this recorder to use in adjunct to my Dragon NaturallySpeaking premium 11 purchase. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Rich56
satisfied 110%
I ordered this product for my girlfriend and she is finding that it works very well. She's in a choir and loves to record the songs they are singing, but her phone was not getting... Read more
Published 2 months ago by Kelly V
SOny Digital recorder
The recorder itself works great. Unfortunately, it is not as accurate as I had wished when used with Dragon Naturally Speaking 11. Read more
Published 2 months ago by pnrmd
Outstanding Recorder
No need to go into detail about this recorder, since all features and specifications are readily available, however, this recorder is outstanding in many respects but especially... Read more
Published 2 months ago by D Willard
Great Recorder, but be cautious of the Sound Organizer for your PC
The IC Recorder ICD-SX712 promises as advertised. I use it to record University lectures and am able to distinctly filter out background noises (ex, such as the constant coughing,... Read more
Published 2 months ago by Roman
Excellent Sound, Solid Build, Nicely Portable, Great Price
I am a journalist who has been using audio recorders since the 1980s and moved from tape to digital in the mid-1990s. Read more
Published 2 months ago by IndyTennis
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