Zoom HandyRec vs Dayana Voice Record Pro

Ever since we started our podcasts a few weeks ago, we wanted use our existing equipment, such as as our iPhones, Lavalier Mics and most importantly FREE recording apps … to see if we can produce a podcast session with decent enough quality.

We found two iPhone apps which we thought were ideal for our podcast needs … the Zoom HandyRec and the Dayana Voice Record Pro. Both are FREE to download, and both had options to save and share online. Let’s see which one wins in this versus battle!

Test Equipment Used

Here’s a list of items we used during this test …

• iPhone 5S / iPhone 6S
• Azden Lavalier Mic
• Generic XRL Mic (with 3.5mm converter cable)
• 3.5mm Audio Y Splitter Cable (for Speaker and Headphone)
• and of course, the free apps … Zoom HandyRec and Dayana Voice Record Pro

Zoom Handyrec

The Zoom HandyRec comes with a host of options. It’s easy to use and features a built-in audio monitor, which helps you to get the sound just right. There’s an Equalizer and Mastering option, as well as Effects such as Reverb (room, jazz club, concert hall, arena, stadium).

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Unfortunately, there are no option to save to your iPhone itself. However, you can share your recordings … by email or Soundcloud. I think sharing by email is pointless because most recordings are pretty big and the file size will be too large to attach to an email. The other option to share via Soundcloud would be the better choice, but you’ll need to register a Soundcloud account.

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The app can be switch to landscape mode and comes with a snipping tool, which is pretty handy. The Digital Mic Gain is perfect for upping the recording volume and ranges from -49.0dB to +12.0dB. For recording format, you have the choice of WAV 44.1kHz, 48kHz and AAC 64kbps, 128kbps and 160kbps. We normally choose WAV 44.1kHz which I think is more than enough.

There are some options which are not supported unless you’ve purchase the Zoom iQ5/67 Professional Stereo Microphone for iOS. Overall, the Zoom HandyRec is a great voice recorder, but lacks sharing options.

Dayana Voice Record Pro

This app may look dull and old fashioned, but it come with tons of options to share. Don’t be deceived by the looks … this FREE voice recorder offers loads more than the Zoom HandyRec.

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I particularly like the VU meter level check … it brings back some memories, hahaha. The input gain range from -24.0dB to +24.0dB. You also get options for Background Mix and Voice Processing, which enables echo cancellation, noise reduction and automatic gain control. As for sharing … you get tons of options, including email, Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, Box Cloud, iCloud, Soundcloud, FTP, Facebook and YouTube!

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You get the choice of recording format such as M4A (AAC), MP3 or WAV, along with various options including different, sample rate, bit rate, encoding quality and bit-depth. All-in-all, the Dayana Voice Record Pro is a pretty good voice recorder with lots of options to share your recordings.

Verdict and Conclusion

We recommend the Dayana Voice Record Pro. It’s super easy to use and comes an audio monitor option as well as some built-in effects. Although the interface GUI looks boring, it does offers great recording quality and tons of options to share. This is what we’re currently using for our voice-overs, podcasts and more!