sound recorder

[martintheis]

I don't know if anyone can help, but a point in right direction would be great.
I'm a language teacher and I would like to build a set of very cheap digital sound recorders for use by students. At the moment the whole class listen to the tape recorder at the same time and so have no power to stop, start and rewind as their individual needs demand. I would eventually like each person to have a digital player/recorder with headphones which first, can all plug into a sort of central console so that i can record a listening exercise onto all of them at the same time. They then take the player/recorder and listen to the exercise, stopping and playing again as often as necessary. I'm hoping it will work out cheapish, as they will only be required to record up to 1 minute of speech and don't need a speaker

I know it's a tall order, but does anyone know where I can get information on how to do this?
Thanks

[Dazza]

martintheis, here is a start.  I think this device will record for  20 seconds.

[martintheis]

Wow, that was quick! Thanks for the info, I'll give it a go.

If I wanted to have a longer record/playback time, say 90 seconds, would it just be a case of getting a different isd and presumably matching the other components. Do you know roughly how much these components cost, e.g over $/

[hotwaterwizard]

Does the class have a Computer?
You could use it as a Central console.
If each has a Computer you are in Business.
Voice Recorder Program built in.

[martintheis]

unfortunately, there are no computers. Otherwise that would have been the ideal solution. Thanks all the same.

Really it's quite a big undertaking because I would have to make loads of the things, but I'd at least like to find out if it's a viable project and then get some help from the school.  

[Dazza]

(ISD256OP). 60 Ses voice recorder.  Is around $20 Australian.  It's just a matter of hunting around to find the best price.  There is a good chance, that manufacturers would be willing to send you a heap of these ICs as samples.  I think it would be possible to make them for less than $20 each Australian.  You are likely to find the prices vary quite a bit, from the different manufacturers of these ICs.  And if you buy in large quantities, usually you get a good discount.  I haven't made one of these devices yet, so I don't know how good the quality is.  So putting one together would probably be a good starting point, so you know if it's going to do the job.

 

[martintheis]

Cheers for advice! I'm going to get started this weekend.