How much memory/time do you need to record? The smallest/cheapest solutions don't require a computer at all. There are ISD voice recorder chips capable of recording messages up to 60 seconds at 8 Khz sampling rate. You can also record several different messages with a total time of 60 secs, which can be addressed via the controller pins of the chip. If you get the SMD version of this chip, it is only several mm across (but a PITA to solder!).
They run from $5 (cheap, on EBay sometimes even cheaper) to about $25 (new, retail) per chip and depending on which version you use require very few external components and depending on the application may or may not need a microcontroller. There are simple plans for using them like a guitar loop pedal all over the internet already, as well as quite a few documented schematics for different applications.
I used a pile of them for some sound sculptures, documented on the last couple posts on my blog:
http://blog.myspace.com/macumbista
best, d.
marius schebella wrote:
I am helping a friend of mine with an installation where we need to record and playback speech into an old telephone. everything should ideally be built inside the phone.