Sony ICD-PX470 Stereo Digital Voice Recorder with Built-in USB Voice Recorder, Black

An Amazing Device
You won’t find a better voice recorder than this within the same price range. And you wouldn’t need one anyway- the sound quality and playback are equally great. (Rubber bands not included-I’ll explain about them!)KEY STRENGTHSIt lets you adjust the recording format between 3 different MP3 levels (48 kbps, 128 kbps, 192 kbps) and linear PCM, an even higher sound-quality format.It has two auxillary holes, one for a line in, one for a line out, so one can record crisp musical playing via one and listen to it on headphones (or a speaker) with the other.This device plays MP3, PCM, AAC and .WAV files as good as any MP3 player, and can even play the songs slowed down or sped up (if you’re into that). Of course, you can do this with any of your recordings as well.It allows you to name the file folders. There are some basic folder names to choose from built in; you can also connect it to a computer and name them whatever you want. Also nice, it allows you to name the files themselves.And yes, it’s awesome that this device is USB compatible. I usually like to place a USB cord between it and my pc, because I feel this is less stress on the recorder, but it is a pretty sturdy feeling thing and I haven’t had any problems with it getting damaged.Has a nice power switch that’s also a hold button, great for hands-free MP3 listening or what have you.Gives you ability to insert track marks and divide the tracks up however you like.The external memory capacity brings the total space up from 4 GB (enough for most things but not your Itunes library) to 36 total, giving you all the space you’re likely to need. I personally love that these come with micro-SD card slots, because that’s what allows me to put tons of music on these things.KEY GRIPESI really wish that they had given this thing a rechargeable battery of some sort rather than requiring it take two AAAs. I would rather have to charge it every once in a while than need to replace the batteries, however infrequently.The screen, which ought to have a backlight, does not. I will say that in regular light I have no problem reading it, though.Housing of screen, while solid, is very slightly permeable on one side, such that heavy use may lead to little particles getting stuck in it.As good an MP3 player as it is, I wish it provided me with greater freedom in terms of equalizer for sound. Like more treble or bass (all it offers are some presets which I don’t find super helpful). Of course, you can hook it up to a speaker with those capabilities.ANYWAY,I loved this recorder so much that I bought a second one in February, a couple months after purchasing the first. I would argue that the rubber bands are a great life-hack because they compensate for my clumsiness, which is pronounced, as well as a tendency of the device to lose its batteries when I kept dropping it. Not only do the elastics hold the back on no matter what, they will cushion the fall somewhat and enable me to tell the two things apart!I am a music lover and a musician, and this has everything to do with why I got this IC recorder to begin with. It is immensely useful for musical ideas, even when I don’t use the aux line in. I use one for louder music, one for softer music. I know that these are, if anything, over-qualified to be your voice recorder(s). With this much space on each of my voice recorders (each containing a 32 GB microSDHC card), I could honestly fit all my musical files on one of them; it would simply take a longer time to scroll through the artists in music mode. You can store music or other recordings on either internal memory or SD, and transfer them to a computer or certain other devices. I even put some of my recordings on my PS3 using these! And I use them as MP3 players pretty much every day.

Great recorder, but not as durable as older generation of Sony recorders
This is my review of the Sony ICD PX470 voice recorder after 11 months (Jun 2020 – May 2021). My overall recommendation is that is a good recorder and worth purchasing however there are a few blemishes that keep it from being ideal. First, with regard to sound quality it is clean and clear and perfect for all of the typical applications of a handheld voice recorder (classroom, meetings, dictation). In this one aspect, this voice recorder is superior to the older model Sony recorders. When you playback your voice will be bright and clear and easily understood. The battery life is excellent. The batteries last so long that I don’t pay attention to how often I change them. I use the recorder each and every day at least once and I change the batteries probably about 4 times per year. The recording time is also excellent. I keep the recording quality set to the highest MP3 setting, because there is no point in ‘throwing away fidelity’ at the source. I could always delete files or make copies to save space. On the device itself there is at least 40 hours of recording available and on a small 16Gb MicroSD card there are about 180 hours available. I have never hit those limits in my time of using recorders, maximum I have maybe used 50-70% so I feel this is plenty for my needs.Now for some of the downsides to the recorder. First the battery compartment is held on by a ribbon and feels flimsy. I sometimes drop the battery. I find that annoying and overall the ergonomics of the device ‘work’ but they are not great. Second, the built in ‘USB’ extender that makes the device behave like a thumb drive is nice in theory, but in practice I don’t like it. When I go to stick the device into my computer the ‘ejector’ slide is on the bottom so I have to reach under to firmly insert the USB into my computer. Frequently, the USB closes back into the device while I’m trying to insert it into my computer. To make matters worse, on newer computers and on the type of computer I am now using there is no USB-B type port so this ‘thumb drive’ extension now requires and adapter. An example would be any Mac computer that uses USB-C only as well as other modern laptop computers.Lastly, I have to go into some detail about the power button because this is what failed on my unit after 9 months of use. The power button is not a clean positive switch. It feels squishy and I suspect it is a low quality component, perhaps even designed to fail. It is hard to tell even when the device is going to start. Sometimes I ‘miss it’ and the device doesn’t power on. To make matters worse, the device takes an extraordinary long time to start! I mean it, if you have an important meeting or lecture, go in with the device already on, or you could miss the start. I have timed the startup at about 20 seconds. It may not sound like a long time, but it is an agonizingly long time for an electronic recorder to start up. My older sony recorder was borderline instant and ready to record in less than a second in a pinch.Unfortunately after not even a year of regular use the power switch on my unit failed. I am very grateful to Sony for promptly recognizing and fixing the issue. They sent me back a brand new recorder without resistance. I did have to get an RMA and ship my old unit and allow a week or two for the process to complete. In that time, I was able to use my older model Sony recorder which is more durable and actually still works pretty well especially for a backup. The replacement device is identical to the previous one as far as I can tell. The power button is equally squishy and I expect it will fail again at some point. Sony now only offers me 90 days of warranty on the replacement unit so I will now have to purchase a new one when this one fails.It’s a good recorder, but at this price point, I would like better quality and durability. As a work around I have set the auto-power down to 5 minutes. I will let the device timeout since the battery life is so outstanding and that will mean I only have to perform half as many actuations of the power switch. Perhaps this will extend the life. I will keep this review updated.

Great Sony product!
I gifted this to a friend who records mainly intangible cultural heritage in Africa. She simply loves it, it’s very easy to use and she loves the included USB on the recorder, it makes it easier to connect it to her computer. The sound quality is great.

This works great!
This is a wonderful recorder. I’m loving it.

My wife needed this device to record phone conversations she had working on someone’s memoirs. The unit is terrific. It does what we needed it to do.Extremely easy to transfer the audio file to my MacBook Pro.

Muy fácil de usar.