Every kid wants a music player to take to school with them, so why not pick one that sends the right message? College life, especially, is about learning to balance work and play, something these digital audio players do wonderfully. You can listen to tunes on the way to class, and then switch over to recording mode to dictate notes to self or record a lecture.

OK, so maybe that scenario is a bit unrealistic. But the recording options on these five players are sure to come in handy whether you’re recording a lecture or live music, and the recording quality on some of them will surprise you. And we’ve selected players of every capacity and price range, from inexpensive flash players to 20GB hard-drive players.

Our favorite MP3 players in this space are the Cowon iAudio X5 and the iriver H10. Cowon’s X5 is a remarkably full-featured player with a robust set of recording options. The player can record FM radio to MP3 format at up to 320 Kbps, and includes a scheduling function for radio recording. Line-in MP3 recording can also reach 320 Kbps, or you can use the built-in microphone to record at 128 Kbps. Our PC Labs analyst used the X5 to make a practice recording of a 10-piece funk band rehearsing in a small room, and the sound quality floored us; the mic picked up virtually no hard-drive whine, and the drums and horns sounded remarkably clear. Read more…