TECHNOLOGY EARNS a gold star in my book if it has more than one use. So when I discovered my newly-purchased (€260) Sony ICD-MX20 could play podcasts, I was happy to know I had acquired an alternative to an iPod. I know it's unfair to allege the ICD-MX20 can double as an iPod because it doesn't do all the cool shuffle, scrub, and playlist things. But it records better and it lines in, lines out, swaps out AAA batteries, handles removeable memory quickly, and records in stereo with a thumb-sized mic set. I also found it automagically converts MP3 and WAV files to its native format without apparent loss of quality. Gorillaz "Re-Hash" from my "music" folder is lining my earbuds as I type this.
I populate the ICD-MX20's Memory Stick Duo cards with music, class lectures and podcasts by simply dragging and dropping dozens of tracks at a time. My 256 MB card holds an hour of Yahoo! music in one folder, three hours of podcasts in a second folder, an hour of Open Mic Sessions from students in a third folder that needs editing, and an hour of TippInst podcasts in a fourth folder. I use a fifth folder as a working directory. I use it as a dictaphone folder when walking or driving and as my Skype recorder.
I have discovered a rabid interest in Sony's Digital Voice Editor software. At least 10% of visitors who read the stuff I write about Sony kit buy stuff from the Google Ads that run on the right-hand side of this posting. Version 2.0 of Sony's Digital Voice Editor came with the recorder. The fold-out documentation explains how I drag and drop my messages onto the device.
Adding Messages to the IC Recorder. You can add the selected message(s) in your computer's hard disk to the IC recorder. You can add the message(s) one by one or all messages in a folder at a time. The added messages can be played back on the IC recorder.
There are two ways of adding messages:
- Adding the message(s) at the end of the specified folder.
- Adding the message(s) to a desired position in a message folder by a drag-and-drop operation.
- Adding the message(s) as a new folder (ICD-MS/MX/BM series only).
Notes
- When a message is added to the IC recorder, its alarm setting will be cancelled.
- When the memory of the IC recorder is full or the total number of messages in a folder exceeds 99 (999 for the Memory Stick and the ICD-MS/MX series), you cannot add a message. Delete unnecessary messages, and then add a message.
Adding messages one by one.
- Click to select the message you wish to add in the PC message list. To select multiple messages, press and hold down the Shift key as you click the first and last messages in a consecutive group or the Ctrl key as you click each message separately. You can select files of different file types together.
- Drag the message and drop it at the desired position in the IC Recorder message list. When you are about to drop the message, the insertion line is displayed. The message is added to the line. Tip. If you drop the message on the IC Recorder folder list, the messages will be added to the end of the selected folder.
Adding all messages in a folder at one time. Click the folder that you wish to add in the PC message list, drag and then drop it at the desired position in the IC Recorder message list. When you are about to drop the folder, the insertion line is displayed. The messages in the folder are added to the line.
Tip. When using an IC Recorder ICD-MS/BM/MX series, you can add the messages as a new folder. Drop the folder at the desired position in the IC Recorder folder list. A insertion line is displayed and a new folder is created in that line position. All the messages are saved in that new folder.
Some info extracted from Sony's "Digital Voice Editor 2 Operating Instructions" ©2005 Sony Corporation. Printed in China on 100% recycled paper using vegetable oil based ink in the convenient handy-wipe format.
Image of ICD-MX20 from my Flickr photostream.