[NewsPoster]

It's not as if your iPhone can't record audio and in fact record it remarkably well. Yet there are times when it isn't good enough or it isn't convenient to use your iPhone. There are also times when it isn't appropriate or even allowed to have your phone out –– and there are times when you will benefit from having two recorders. Cue the broadcast-quality Sony ICD-UX533.

This is a tiny little device about two thirds of the height of an iPhone 6s and less than half the width. It's also over twice as thick but you can't have everything. It's small enough to sit comfortably in your hand, visible to anyone you're interviewing but not obtrusive. It's a curious thing that while some interviewees are thrown by seeing a microphone, even though they've agreed to your using it, others seem to need it to focus on. It's been common to see BBC Radio trainees near London's Broadcasting House interviewing people on the street and they will have clearly, even brightly marked microphones –– and nothing to record on because they're just practicing.

It's unfortunately always going to be even more common that you've done all the practicing, you're out doing this for real –– and only think you are recording. There is little to equal the discovery that not a word of a brilliant interview was recorded. Consequently, the Sony ICD-UX533 has a slew of advantages as a your primary microphone –– it is light, portable, rugged and it records audio the equivalent of broadcast equipment –– yet it's best when accompanied by your iPhone too.

If you want some slightly dodgy advice, it's this: set your iPhone recording before you enter the interview room. Do the same with the Sony device but pause it so that it is on and ready to go instantly. We've found it confusing to know when we'd switched the Sony off completely, when we'd put it into power saving and it was just taking a long time to wake up –– or when we'd run the battery into the ground.

We also found that the sound when played back through the device's own speakers would seem worrying low and sometimes, unfathomably, also worryingly slow. That's got to be a peculiar perception issue because there is no sign of slowness or drag in the audio files we then copy off the device.

The ICD-UX533 is a flash-based recorder which means no moving parts and greater reliability, better performance. Very nicely, it comes with a kind of switch-blade-like USB plug: point it threateningly at your iMac and flick a switch, then you can plug it in the back. It appears as a drive on your Mac and you can drag off the audio you need.

It hasn't got the greatest or clearest file system we've ever used, but you get used to knowing where the recordings are saved, so as long as you rename each of them on your Mac to something more memorable, it all works fine. We have a TextExpander snippet that inserts today's date into the file name so we can quickly zoom through pulling off recordings and sorting them. Still, we'd like the ICD-UX533's controls to be clearer too and we'd love the display to look less like a 1980s mobile phone but then we'd also like it to have a more memorable name than ICD-UXsomething-or-other.

This isn't a new release from Sony and it is far from the only device of this type but it's solid, reliable, records well and at times is now available at particularly good prices. It retails for $100 but the street price varies considerably and we got ours for around $60. Check Amazon for the latest prices on this Sony ICD-UK533.

Who is Sony ICD-UX533 digital recorder for:
It produces better quality audio than your iPhone and it's good for professional recording, especially with on-location interviews.

Who is Sony ICD-UX533 digital recorder not for:
Podcasters who work in their own studios or offices would always be better recording interviews directly into their Macs.

-William Gallagher (@WGallagher)

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