From wax cylinders to flash media, a bewildering variety of recording media and devices have been available to home recordists during the past hundred years. Today's serious amateur recordist has many choices, and eBay has made available a vast used marketplace which the savvy shopper can use efficiently to procure the best suitable device for the recording application.

In this age of digital sound, digital recording devices such as computers and flash recorders lead the way, but many consumers already have a digital recording device--a camera, phone, iPod, voice recorder, or digital camcorder--which may be all one needs. A camcorder with a quality microphone plugged into the camcorder's external mic jack (not the mic built into the camcorder itself) is capable of making high fidelity recordings. If you already have such a device, by all means experiment with it before buying something else.

Digital audio recorders using flash memory cards are current state of the art. Recordings can be transferred digitally to a computer for editing and processing, imported to iTunes, burned to a CD, shared over the internet, or downloaded to an mp3 player. The best are capable of professional sound; the consumer models make various compromises--noisy preamps, fragile connectors, frustratingly deep menus, to name a few. Used and refurbished models are available on eBay--read the reviews and understand that, like digital cameras, they are constantly improving. An excellent, unbiased comparison chart which lists the pros and cons of these popular flash recorders may be found at: http://www.transom.org/tools/recording_interviewing/200703_recorder_reviews/  The website also has detailed reviews of many, including those made by Marantz, Sony, Edirol, Tascam, M-Audio, and more. The recordist interested in higher quality field equipment will find a professional's views and reviews not only of flash and other digital recorders but also older, analog formats at the Vermont Folklife Center website: http://www.vermontfolklifecenter.org/archive/res_audioequip.htm

An earlier digital medium, DAT (digital audio tape), offered state of the art recordings in the 1990s. These also could be transferred digitally to the computer, but the medium had certain disadvantages--chiefly, the small, delicate ribbon of tape. DAT recorders always worked well for me, but others complained about such things as recording head alignment, troubles in high humidity, etc. In any event the format has been superseded. DAT recorders, if new old stock, or little used, can be excellent buys on eBay, as there is little demand for them at present. DAT tape will be increasingly hard to come by, also. It is not a good storage medium and should be transferred to the computer and stored on a hard drive or DVD disc within a year or two of recording. The digital mini-disc, a convenient digital audio recorder, retains a niche market. Although because of built in compression its recordings are not as high in fidelity as the other digital formats, the medium has many partisans. Used mini-disc recorders can be excellent buys on eBay.

In the 1980s, analog cassette tape recorders ruled the roost, although professional recordists used an older medium, reel tape. Some of the high-end and low-end portable cassette recorders are still manufactured. On the high end, the Sony TCD-5M and Walkman Pro, and the Marantz 432 and 222 are capable of very good quality recordings. A few cassette decks for home audio systems are still being manufactured, while used decks abound on eBay. (A "deck" is a record/playback unit without the built-in amplifier and speakers that would be redundant in an audio system.) Be careful as many of the used cassette recorders are fifteen or more years old, and will have been worn out and are not worth the cost of repairing. Belts and other parts such as capstan rollers deteriorate even when the recorder is not in use. A consumer medium par excellence, the cassette refuses to die.

In the 1970s, analog reel to reel recorders offered the best sound--better than cassettes. Professionals recorded on location with portable recorders made by Nagra, Uher, and Tandberg, while a large number of professional and prosumer reel tape decks were available for recording studios and home stereo systems. Although these are offered on eBay, most will require repairs to be brought into good playing condition, and replacement parts are often difficult to find. Low-end models are usually not worth repairing; high-end models may be.

Wire recorders, home recording machines that dug grooves on shellac records, and a variety of other historical recorders can be found. Searching for a sound recorder on eBay offers a mini-history of these electronic devices. Reviews of different makes and models can often be found with search engines on the internet. Be sure when buying a sound recorder that the seller is knowledgeable and describes the device thoroughly and evaluates its condition accurately. Buying from sellers who don't know much about the merchandise can be risky, so be certain that your seller offers a money-back guarantee. Good bargains in older sound recording equipment may be found on eBay. Expect to pay more for the contemporary choice for serious recordists, the flash recorder. Pros will want the most expensive units. Good luck in your search!