The PSD330 Becomes a Court Reporter's Machine of Choice

In September of 2006, for the first time in my 30 years as a T&T -- take-and-type -- Court Reporter laboring on Washington, D.C.'s Capitol Hill, I was faced with something of a technological dilemma.

After burning through my umpteenth TCM 5000-EV, Sony's superb, state-of-the-art cassette recorder geared to worker-bee professionals like myself, I decided to web-search for what I hoped would be the next phase in direct recording and transcription -- moving up a CD-driven machine. In short order, I arrived at the Superscope site, where, as luck would have it, the new PSD330 CD Recorder had just rolled off the assembly line. "One touch CD recording," the ad copy touted. "Kiss cassette recording good bye."

Not an idle boast. Turns out that the PSD330 is a perfect move up for this one-man court reporting band who can report and pump out over 15,000 pages of sworn deposition testimony a year and -- more often than I care to think about -- under headache-inducing deadlines. Yup, I'll take a machine that eases my burden.

For the actual reporting, this light, versatile, easy-to-use machine incorporates the best features of top-end cassette recording, with a number unique features of its own:

First, the Superscope is roughly the same size as my cassette recorder, taking up virtually the same table space. But there's a bonus. The PSD330's built-in microphone has such superb range, I have actually been able to work without external microphones to pick up the Q&A action. When external microphones are called for, the PSD330 allows for use of both XLR and 1/4" mics. I use splitters to accommodate a total of four mics for left and right inputs, coverage enough for the largest conference table. The sound quality both in monitoring and playback is superb.

Second, read-backs are easy thanks to Minute Track, which automatically marks one track of dialogue per minute. Easier than tape rewind. Third, since the recording medium is CD-Rs or CD-RWs, the playback audio quality is pristine. No more of the hiss inherent in even the best quality cassette tapes. Less strain during transcribing. And because CDs allow for 80 minutes of recording time (as opposed to stopping every 45 minutes to flip the standard 90-minute cassettes), there's roughly half the interruptions during testimony. (and after three decades of doing this, I can flip tape as inconspicuously as anyone).

I appreciate the fact that I need to stop half as often with the PSD330. Finally, with the optional footpedal, the same Superscope PSD330 recorder becomes a transcriber. That makes for one less piece of equipment in my already overcrowded work station. And one less piece of machinery to haul en route to those out-of-town (and out-of-country) jobs where copy must be produced on-site. And as all business travelers know, one less impediment at airport security these days is indeed a blessing.