CC Witness 2GB Digital Recorder/MP3 players with AM/FM
by C. Crane Company
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List Price: Our Price: $164.00 You Save: $15.95 (9%) Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours Category: CE See more product details |
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Customers in the UK,
Buy this product at amazon.co.uk
for British Pounds
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of CC Witness 2GB Digital Recorder/MP3 players with AM/FM
Customer Review: Awesome device - no regrets
Summary: 5 Stars
Ok so the 'bad' things first. The price. Yes, it's a lot. But there's simply no other device to compete with the functionality/flexibility of this one, if you want to record radio programs. I see some have complained about the screen....but that's not really an issue for me. It's clear, and easy to read. Yes it looks a bit basic, but sometimes clarity is good. As is clearly stated on the CC Crane website if you have the unit plugged in while recording AM stations a little noise is introduced onto the recordings, so it's best to record using battery power.
None of the above 'issues' are sufficient enough for me to mark this device down, hence it gets the full five stars from me.
Positives. GREAT radio reception, better than all the other devices I own (especially on AM frequencies). The timer facility is awesome. Set it and forget it. The display not only tells you elapsed time during recordings but also how much longer you can record at the selected bitrate. For recording talk radio, the internal 2GB of flash allows for 65 hours of recordings at 64kb/sec. I thought the unit would be bigger but it's actually very compact, which was a nice surprise. It's also very solidly built. It fitted perfectly into an old leather cellphone case I had lying around. The lock function is good so you can start off a recording or playback and put it in your pocket, safe in the knowledge that hitting any of the keys won't affect what it's doing.
Instead of buying the accessory pack for this device (which I suspect most people buy primarily for the mains adapter) which costs $40, I bought an adapter (mini-USB female to 'normal' USB female) on ebay for less than one dollar delivered, which attaches to a standard phone charger (obviously one that has the mini-USB male plug on it) and the CC Witness charges fine using this setup. As for battery life, I tested it recording AM radio and it lasted 11 hours.
All in all I'm extremely happy with it, and recommend it heartily for users who want timed radio recordings.
Customer Review: CC Witness Works Great
Summary: 5 Stars
I bought the CC Witness portable radio from Amazon. I bought it because I love to listen to NPR. I also wanted to be able to listen to music transferred from my PC. I have had it a week. So far it is great. The sound is good. Far less static than my inexpensive portable radio. Thee CC Witness does not have the static hiss that the cheaper radio does.
I am very impressed with the simplicity of the way the radio works! It is very simple to figure out and use. I don't even have a windows PC - I use Linux Unbuntu. I plugged the radio into my PC and Ubuntu recognized it and I was able to move music files to the radio with drag and drop. The PC recognizes the file structure on the radio, so I can add folders and change file names on the radio just as if it were a file on my PC. So you Linux users, this is a go.
I bought a pair of earbuds Klipsch S4, because of the good reviews. The buds that come with the radio are very good. I just like smaller ones with noise isolating properties. The S4 fits perfectly into the radio and the sound is good. The buttons have a raised dot, so with a little practice one can use it in the dark.
I believe this radio is worth the money. If you really love radio, and you really like NPR and other public radio, you will enjoy the quality. I haven't yet tried the record and play later, but I am betting that it will be as easy as figuring out what I've have done so far.
I don't usually write reviews. In this case, I just wanted to let people who are concerned about the price know that in this case, you will get your money's worth. Nice big screen, easy to figure out, not complicated, and good sound.
Customer Review: Great for my purposes...
Summary: 5 Stars
I love this unit. Setting up recordings is easy, I was able to figure it out without reading the manual. I mostly use if for line-in recordings of radio stations from my computer. I've also recorded several programs from AM stations for future listening. I must say that the two AM stations I've recorded from are strong stations and so I had no problem with reception. I haven't tried picking up weaker stations so can't comment on that. Also I haven't tried using it for FM. Sound quality is fine (I always record in 256k mode), no problems with play back, fast forward and reverse a bit odd compared to other players but not a problem. (press once for slow FF/REV, tap again and again to speed it up) For what I use it for, it's perfect.
Unit is shock resistent, I've dropped this unit from chest level and it's been fine.
Only negative I have is that the headphone jack is on the bottom, not a biggie.
Yes all texts on the screen are rather generic looking but I don't care, it's easy to read, menus are layed out well.
And as previously mentioned, the memory capacity is wonderful! 2GB on board and a slot for a 16GB card. I use a 8GB which has been more than enough space.
Customer Review: Audio version of a DVR
Summary: 5 Stars
This CC Witness radio, recorder and MP3 player is exactly what I needed. I work midnites and don't get to listen to some talk shows and sporting events, that I used to listen to. With this radio you can record FM AND AM(which is hard to find) radio, and when you listen to it, you cannot tell the difference whether it is live or not. This radio is comparable to todays DVR, and back in the old days, the VCR. The only thing that you cannot do, is record 2 shows at once, but im sure there might be radios that can do that, but probably for more money too. The radio is very easy to use, and with the SD card option, it has alot of memory that you can add for downloading music off the internet. The battery life is excellent. The radio has different equilizer settings, different recording options for better sound or longer recording time. The radio body itself, is built from a good construction quality, doesn't seem cheap or lighweight like some other MP3 players..Im very happy with it...Customer Review: Very Happy With This!
Summary: 5 Stars
Just quick recommendation here...I got this last week and I am completely impressed. The internal memory space was the biggest surprise for me. There is plenty of room for recording even without an additional memory card! This is a MUST HAVE ITEM for talk radio fans. It's so easy to use right out of the box. I didn't need to read the instructions as it is very easy to navigate through the menu. The screen info is top notch. EDIT: I have now owned this thing for several months and I must say it just keeps getting better! I have programmed it to record my favorite programs just like programming a VCR and it works flawlessly! I really love the C.C Witness! It truly lives up to everything it claims to be. It really is a MUST HAVE for anyone wanting a great MP3 player/recorder and radio broadcast recorder. The recording quality is superb. The built-in stereo speakers are also sweet! I'm just amazed at this little wonder! I am VERY happy.