tiny usb audio recording stick

Question

Are you aware of any tiny USB-stick -sized audio recorders? I'm considering that given a few of these might be very handy for miking people up for video recording without all the fuss of a wireless lavaliers and a real recording device.

In other words, I wonder if there are some (even cheap consumer-grade) audio "memo" recorders or an MP3 "player" with a recording function that each person in the scene could affix to their clothing close to the mouth and get decent audio.

Then just "sync" the various audio recordings with video by aligning a "clap" in the NLE.

Answer 1

At consumer grade, the audio is going to be next to worthless. The smallest thing I can think of that would get reasonable audio (without going with something like a lav mic to a larger recorder) would be something like one of Zoom's smaller recorders, but they are still a fair bit larger than even large thumb drive size.

Answer 2

The Sansa Clip+ might work well for your situation.

It has a voice recorder with surprisingly great quality for such an inexpensive ($35), tiny (1.36 x 2.16 x .60 in), and lightweight (.85oz) device. I have used it to record a person speaking from across the room and found it quite adequate. The microphone is very sensitive and not adjustable, so you will need to be careful to avoid clipping.