Things I love: My Sony ICD-UX570 (recorder)
Eggbug interviewing Ascari. (original character by Aurahack)
When it comes to developing my visual novels, there is one thing I always keep at top priority: Sound.
Starting with my first visual novel: A Night Out. I didn’t record any sound but went to freesound.org and in a short period of time learned how to use Audacity to edit existing sounds. Outside of two songs, I relied entirely on ambient sounds to play in the background for most scenes and added various sound effects to make the player feel more immersed.
Next with Reconnected, I finally began to record sounds using my Pixel 3a phone with the available recording apps on the play store. Unfortunately the first app I used only allowed mono recordings and the sound quality was… bad. The second app was better when it came to sound quality, but unfortunately the app itself had too many Ads, nor were there many options for different recording environments.
The Sony ICD-UX570 recorder.
For my next upcoming title: 'Those We Keep Close’ I decided to upgrade my hardware and decided on the Sony ICD-UX570. A compact device dedicated to one job: Record audio!
Compared to the poorly optimized and AD ridden apps on my phone. I can quickly pull out my recorder, boot it up, and set my presets + settings with only a few quick clicks with no interruptions. The device is intended for voice recordings, but has a multitude of options to easily record sound effects and field recordings.
Outside of doing it’s one job correctly, it’s the perfect device with it’s multitude of features including:
- Being a compact device I can easily fit in my bag or pocket.
- Excellent battery life.
- A minimal UI + well lit screen.
- Super responsive and clicky buttons.
- MicroSD card slot.
- 3.5mm output jack for reference headphones or IEMs.
- 3.5mm input for external microphone support.
- Support to be used as a microphone alongside with a camera.
- The input can also directly record audio from any devices with a 3.5mm input like a portable game console for example.
The most convenient feature however is how you connect the device to a computer: a retractable and built in USB-A plug!
The built in USB plug also doubles as a satisfying fidget toy. (^~ ^')
No need to bring along a cable. When plugged in to transfer files, it charges the device as well~
I take this device with me wherever I go and try to find time to do field-recordings or be ready to record anything that piques my interest. With some editing in ocenaudio, I upload all these sounds to freesound.org for free use! Below are some recordings from the device:
(I recommend downloading the files directly from freesound.org for the highest quality)
It’s not the best recording device out there, but for it’s size and costing under $100 (usually outside of Sony's website.) I found it is perfect for my needs and will be using it throughout development on my future visual novel projects and for recording sounds to help other creators with their projects.
My on-the-go setup including a wind filter and an 3.5mm input cable in a hard case.
Also... did I mention this device also doubles as an MP3 player?
Wind Rider — aivi & surasshu
If you enjoyed this read, I will be bringing back my 'game dev blog' from cohost and will be writing about sound development in my next entry.
Thank you for reading~
— Froey