Suddenly, of course, I need one. I recently enrolled in a magazine writing class, and I need something to record interviews. But I’m also attending SXSW again, and staying a few days in the hope of seeing some bands, and of course it would be great to record some music, too. As well as the panels.

So, in my usual way, I do an obsessive amount of research. The one I really really want is probably too much for me. The Edirol R-09, which is around US$400, seems to do it all and in a small package, too. It’s really well-reviewed, and works flawlessly with both PCs and Macs. If you’re mostly recording music, this is probably the one you want.

Closer to my budget is the Olympus WS-320M (around US$130), which is primarily a voice recorder. Olympus also offers the DS-30 (around US$150), which appears to offer higher-quality sound. But I doubt the Olympus units can really do music well at all.

My philosophy has always been that if you’re going to spend $150 to get something that doesn’t do everything you want, you may as well spend $400 to get something that does. As well, since my wife is a full-time journalist who also does freelance work, maybe I could convince her that she needs this thing? It would certainly qualify as a deductible expense, right? Right?