Tonfarb 136GB Digital Voice Recorder with Playback,9775 Hours Audio Record

This recorder FEELS great. It’s heavy enough to feel stout, but not so much that it would bother you. The menus could be laid out better, but aren’t that hard to figure out. I bought this for a strange reason. I am a ham radio operator who is CONSTANTLY listening to the police scanner. Everyone I know texts me, asking if I know what’s going on when they see police activity. Long story short, after hearing traffic a few times that I wish I could play back, I decided that I needed to start recording the police traffic in my area so I could listen to incidents after the fact. I have this recorder connected to the line out on my ham radio, using the mic jack on the recorder. It’s split, with the output going to an external speaker as well. When you start a recording with something plugged into the mic jack, it asks if it is “line in” or “microphone”. Using the “line in” option, without an attenuator, and at about 80% volume, it records perfectly clear. It CAN take line level input, up to a point. The speaker is perfectly loud for my needs at this level. An attenuator would make up for the last 20% of the volume on the speaker if I needed it. I don’t trust the no name SD card it came with, so I upgraded to a Samsung 512 GB card. I have it set to save off recordings in hour long increments (MP3, max bitrate). It’s averaging about 85 MB per hour. So about 200 days on a card that size. At that rate, I’ll just dump or wipe the recordings every 6 months, and offload anything interesting that happens. I wish it had a loop record option, so I didn’t have to remember to do that, but you can format the card from the menus, so it doesn’t get any easier to reset when it gets full. It’s also nice that the file names for the recordings are automatically named with the date and time they are started. (You can set it to constantly record and save off recordings at certain length intervals). When downloading the files, they show up as a USB storage device, so no confusion there! For $33.00, this is perfect for what I needed it for. Hopefully it doesn’t burn up from 24/7 use. I will update this review if it does. Menus and manual are chinglish, but they aren’t super confusing. UPDATE: This device, even when plugged into a charger, will not record 24/7. I'm not sure how long it stays on, but I went to check on this after several weeks, and it had powered off. I still think this is a great device, however it does not work for the application I outlined above for 24/7 audio recording. UPDATE 2: I had a 512 GB SD card in the device, and was recording in 60 minute intervals. When the number of files in the directory reached 200, it said it had reached the file limit. After switching to a longer recording length, it said my storage was full at about 100 GB. This seems like a great bargain for a good device, but for my use, it has too many shortcomings.

This item is well worth the price: A basic Micro 128 GB Memory Card itself retails for no less than USD 35.00. This card comes installed in its slot on the machine. Additional built-in 8GB (actually available 7.82GB) of memory on this recorder yields the enormous, advertised 136 GB of total available space. Entire storage is readable as an USB drive on my WIN 11 PC. Voice recordings are channeled into any one of factory set up 5 folders, viz. A – D and MUSIC. However, on a PC the Micro SD card appears as Folder E. I successfully dumped 258 classical music pieces on to this card (connected as usb), which subsequently displayed on the recorder screen as ‘MUSIC’ folder. Name assignment was automatic. Playback, though monophonic, is very clear and loud enough to be heard in the next room. Yes, built-in microphone is extremely sensitive in picking up background sounds. It is only my second day playing with this machine, so more later.

This digital voice recorder works so well. The recordings play crisp and clear from the actual recorder. Loud as well. I was skeptical as it wasn’t a known brand but I am so pleased with this recorder. I will definitely buy again when I need another. It is the cutest pink color and surprisingly lightweight and small. It is fairly easy to use however I did not find the instructions guide particularly easy to understand. I have not yet tried to transfer information from it to my computer.

This is a wonderfully working voice/memo recorder, with some small exceptions. The weight it has for its small size gives it an obvious feel of being sturdy and solidly-made. I'm very glad it's made of metal that isn't wimpy and light. The recording level/volume is also very good seeing that it has 7 gain levels although I always use the highest gain level to make sure of the recording volume being enough so the playback volume doesn't have to be the max. There is a plastic screen protector adhesive stuck to the back when you buy it, and if desired can be cut to the size of the screen so as to protect it from scratches. You can leave it at full size and cover the entire front, but covering the speaker greatly reduces playback volume and after a short while it won't stick to the buttons. Here are suggestions for the company who makes this, and also things to be mindful of for potential buyers. Although I of course wish these following things were different and to me would make this recorder to be absolutely on the top of the world perfectly ideal, to me it is still a recorder that works well and is made solid and sturdy or rugged. 1) The font of the menu options and filenames, should be a Sans Serif font instead of a Serif font, and should be able to be increased at least by 1 or 2 point sizes. The lacking smoothness at certain places in the characters makes it necessary to look longer and sometimes also use a magnifying glass or reader glasses, while a Sans Serif font is smoother and easier to read. 2) Certain places of text have a background that is between regular green and light green. This background is too light for the white text and it is necessary to use a magnifying glass or be in a darker room to make out the white text. In the menus, it is necessary to move the highlight off of the option that is selected in order to read it and then move the highlight back, until the menu options are memorized. 3) The standby timer and power off timer do not function together, something is wrong as though a programming bug. Regardless of what I set the standby timer to, it does not obey it or else changes the setting on its own, by itself, and the recorder does not go into standby mode but instead just turns off. If the power off timer is set and the standby timer is turned off, then it turns off after that number of minutes. 4) There should be brightness levels that are brighter than it goes to now. For indoor use or if it isn't very bright outside like on a dark cloudy day or at night or in darker shade, the maximum brightness is OK. However, for outdoors on a clear day with bright sunlight, even the max brightness isn't good enough. Even when I'm turned with the sun at my back, it is very difficult to read the screen, made more difficult by a Serif font that isn't smoothe and needs thicker lines or semi-bold. 5) It would be very helpful if the recorder would display whatever the actual folder names are instead of only the default names of "A" & "B" & "C" & "D". I tried this by connecting the recorder to my computer and renaming the folder "A" to be descriptive of what my memos are for. The recorder still displayed the folder name of "A". It would also be helpful if there was an option to create a new folder in case of the unexpected need to make recordings about something that is realized when not at home and with no computer available. As it is now, a person must remember which of the four lettered folders are used for each particular topic that recordings are being made for (i.e., instead of being able to rename each folder to describe the topic), and if all 4 folders become used for a certain purpose then there is no option to create another folder 6) Because of the small screen, the filenames should be able to be named shorter. The part of the filename that is off the screen is most of the time-stamp when the recording was made on the date portion of the filename that is visible. Which means the only way to see the full filename is to select it and then wait for it to scroll into view, but the greenish background makes the white text of the filename to be very hard to see except with a magnifying glass or in a dark room and with the brightness at the max level. There should be an additional format options for the date and also the time: for the date, MM-DD-YY (i.e., a shortened year) and MM-DD (i.e., for people who deal with their recordings soon after making them and then delete them, thus making the year unnecessary), and for the time, HH-MM to not include the seconds since it's not necessary to see what the seconds are for knowing when the recording was made. 7) Since the filenames are a long sequence of numbers, an option should exist for those who would like the date and time to be separated in the filename, by a heiphen/dash between the date and time. 8) The playback position should be remembered in the file being played, so it doesn't have to be fast-forwarded to while doing your best to clearly read the time as its fast-forwarding.

I am very impressed with this 136GB Digital Voice Recorder. This device is well designed for real-life situations like on the go, meetings, lectures, and interviews. I have been wanting something like this for a while now, to record the simplest ideas when I think of them on walks and on the go to review later. The PCM recording quality is outstanding — voices come through crisp and clear, and the automatic noise reduction does a great job minimizing background distractions. The large136GB storage capacity is a big advantage. Knowing I can record up to 9000 hours without constantly worrying about space is incredibly convenient. The 68-hour battery life is equally impressive. I’ve used it for long stretches without needing to recharge, which is perfect for full-day events, travel or just not worrying about filling up the unit. One of my favorite features is the one-click recording. Even when the recorder is powered off, you can instantly start recording with a simple switch which is ideal for capturing important moments on the spot. The voice activation works very well and helps conserve both battery and storage by recording only when sound is detected. The device itself feels durable and high-quality with its sleek metal casing, yet it’s lightweight and easy to carry in a pocket or bag, especially on my walks when I want to record thoughts or ideas. The 1.44" display is clear and easy to read, and transferring files to my computer through USB-C is fast and hassle-free. I also appreciate the password protection and A-B repeat functions, which make organizing and reviewing recordings simple and secure when needed. Overall, this recorder exceeded my expectations in every way — excellent sound quality, long battery life, huge storage, and incredibly user-friendly design. If you need a reliable and professional voice recorder for work, school, or personal use, this one is absolutely worth it.

EDIT:And then I used the thing. Hence the edit. I hated the thing. But I got lucky because the back button didn’t work correctly. And boy am I grateful! That allowed me to send the thing back. This sound is very poor. And it seems to be designed by engineers who thought up various things that might be nice to put into a recorder, but there’s no common sense about it. The old saying is, “form follows function!“ In other words, make it so that it works with the functions which you want to perform. Not just random haphazard punch this button or do it this way and you get that. They didn’t stop to think well, the Customer is probably going to punch this button first. And this is what they’re going to want to do first period and then this is what they might want to do after that. Nope! The way that you access various functions is all over the place! For me, the lack of voice quality was the most critical. My iPhone blows this completely out of the water with it/ voice recorded app. If I had realised that I had that on my iPhone, I wouldn’t have bought this! My original review: However the instructions, which are written in very good English, are kind of like word salad. You unfold this sheet of paper and you have tex covering both sides. However, things are sort of scattered about. There is a good graphic of the recorder and the buttons on it are numbered and there is a chart showing the numbered points and what they do. But that’s where the assistance stops! I’ve scanned what they’ve written and it wasn’t a much help to me. I was able to figure out how to record, and how to dump what I want to dump. So I think I can make this work for my purposes, but I think it’s pretty frustrating. What they needed to write was step-by-step: how to make a record recording. And then after that had to listen to the recordings you have. And then after that, how to dump one or many. I looked this model yp on YouTube. The video I found (maybe I didn’t search well enough) was simply detailing what you get as the man took the things out of the box. Phooey.! I am also quite a bit disgruntled with the back button and the button with the graphic of a left facing arrow. Both do the same thing. They take the User back to the beginning of the recording! So if you want to hear a word that you just heard repeated, you’re going to be waiting a long time to hear that word as you listen to everything leading up to it. For the massive but yet not terribly usable instruction sheet, and the inability to backspace just a bit (from what I can discern from the instruction Irons), they’re getting a four star but they’re our times when I wonder if I should’ve given it at three. However, it seems to be well-made, is quite compact, and has good voice quality so…you be the judge.

I'm a Utilization Freak that will use something until it falls apart after the mold falls off from it. But very glad I decided to come up to the 21st Century by upgrading to this unit. It has a Super-Nice selection of setting options, can't imagine any additional settings that could be added to make this unit better. Happy I found this to replace what I've been using, which was good quality but very outdated. This is quite compact and about the same size as what I've been using with tons more options to choose from. Playback is very good with many settings to adjust the playback to suit one's needs, such as a seven level Gain Control, as well as several levels of Bitrate that can be adjusted to your needs. A touchscreen would have been good but the Buttons on this unit are very good and easy to use. I prefer a PDF User Manual but the printed manual included is quite nice, good print size and very comprehensive instructions. Love the way this unit uses both Wav and MP3 files, that can easily be transferred to my computer, unlike my previous unit that still works but can no longer transfer files, unless you are using old Windows 7. Also like the quality I get with the internal microphone as well as my variety of microphones, such as over-the-ear headset mics, lapel mics and so on. Love the gain control that can be adjusted for using different microphones. From the looks of this unit it will last forever, but I would suggest getting the insurance for it, primarily because it does not have touch screen. The buttons are fine, but if you're like me you make a lot of short audio clips, which will use the record switch a lot (a mechanical moving part, which tend to wear out).

I was looking for a voice recorder so I could dictate notes and letters. I have a small stony hand-held recorder that works great but it runs through the AAA batteries, and this 1 is rechargeable. I saw many complements about how easy it is to transfer files onto my desktop, but it turns out that the USB plug that allows me to put into the computer only charges the dicta phone and does not transfer files. To transfer follows out have to have a small card and then the card reader for my desktop. That has a lot of trouble to go through! Also, it is not easy to simply record a sentence and then pause recording so that I can dictate my medical notes for my transcriptionist to type up later. This is probably good for recording lectures in class or something, but is definitely not something I was able to use. I have returned it.