If you remember those Olympus tape recorders back in the day, chances are you will swoon over the Panasonic RR-S30 released in 2014. It’s pretty rare so the chances of you getting your hands on one are slim on sites like Buyee.
But how can you not want this? The design of the device is reminiscent of the classic cassette players of the 1980s, complete with a realistic reel hub which rotates when recording is in progress.
This unique device featured 8GB of built-in memory, with two recording modes of 96kbps/mono and long 192kbps/stereo. It was capable of recording up to 90 hours in standard mode and 180 hours in long time mode. There were no SD cards so it was not really practical as a ‘real’ recorder. But one had to tell me the last time their voice recorder was cool like this!
The RR-S30 also came with a built-in stereo microphone, an external microphone line-in, and a 28mm diameter built-in mono speaker. Additionally, the player had a data search function and slow/fast speed playback capabilities. It was powered by two AAA batteries, measuring 109.9 × 23.6 × 70.5mm and weighing approximately 106g. The IC recorder RR-S30 released in Japan from October 17th for around 9,000 yen ($82 in 2014) in silver.
In a now long lost video the use cases showed parents recording their kids recitals or saving audio from their TV (This was before smartphones were prevalent). It also featured a person recording their grocery list if memory serves correct, and a wife leaving a voice note to their partner. I was meant to be fun and is definitely one of the most unique voice recorders ever made.
You can try hunting it down on Buyee or Ebay