Audio Diary

For the audio logs made in Columbia, see Voxophone.

“Recording the thoughts and lives of Rapture citizens for five years and counting.”

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Audio Diaries (or Audio Logs) are the main narrative device in BioShock, BioShock 2, and Burial at Sea. They were recorded by citizens of Rapture, either as notes for themselves or as messages for other residents. Picking up an Audio Diary stores it automatically in the associated in-game menu while offering to play it by entering the key associated to the last one found. However, a handful of plot-crucial diaries throughout the games play automatically as soon as they are picked up.

The recording device which plays Audio Diaries is the Accu-Vox Personal Voice Recorder, a product of Fontaine Futuristics, which started manufacturing it more than five years before Rapture's Civil War.

Help Caption

BioShock

“	Diaries are messages recorded by the people of Rapture, either as notes for themselves or as messages for other residents. Press _ to play the last diary you picked up. You can access a full list of diary messages from the MESSAGES tab, from which you can play back diaries that you've previously acquired.	”

BioShock 2

“	Diaries are messages recorded by the people of Rapture, either as notes for themselves or as messages for other residents. Press and hold _ to play the last diary you picked up. You can access a full list of diary messages from the _ menu, from which you can play back diaries that you've previously acquired.	”

Audio Diary Listings

Main article: BioShock Audio Diaries

Main article: BioShock 2 Audio Diaries

Main article: Minerva's Den Audio Diaries

Main article: BioShock 2 Multiplayer Audio Diaries

Main article: There's Something in the Sea Audio Diaries

Main article: Burial at Sea - Episode 1 Audio Diaries

Main article: Burial at Sea - Episode 2 Audio Diaries

Gallery

The original format for the Audio Diary messages, seen in "Hunting the Big Daddy."

Advertisement for Accu-Vox recorders in BioShock and BioShock 2.

Pristine Accu-Vox Personal Voice Recorder Poster.

Real-life Accu-Vox recorder given to There's Something in the Sea event participants in Las Vegas, NV.

The frame appearing over the recorded citizen's photo in BioShock.

Accu-Vox recorder in Burial at Sea.

The device used by Subject Delta and Subject Sigma to listen to Audio Diaries.

The frame appearing over the recorded citizen's photo in BioShock 2.

BioShock-themed real-world stickers, featuring the Audio Diary.

Bugs / Glitches

• After either a radio transmission or another playing of an audio Audio Diary, a previously obtained Audio Diary will play directly after on its own (without having selected it from the menu). The reason this happens remains unclear. This occurs in both BioShock and BioShock 2. For example, picking up the Agnus Dei Audio Diary automatically plays it; after it finishes playing, the Alone at Last diary (if picked up previously in the same area) will start too.

Behind the Scenes

• Early in the development of BioShock Audio Diaries were planned to be "squishy, organic things, with lips and ears" instead of tape recorders.
• The transcripts of Audio Diaries provided in the game often have errors or discrepancies with the actual words of the audio. This has been corrected in the transcripts on BioShock Wiki.
• Accu-Vox devices are advanced for their time, as compact audio-tape technology were not marketed until 1962, two years after the events of BioShock.
• The Accu-Vox recorders are ridiculously large compared to the average person, which is purposefully done by the game designers so that the recordings are easier to locate.
• Rick's Custom Props was commissioned to make four Accu-Vox recorders for the There's Something in the Sea participants.