JAA has required 120 minute CVRs for several years. The new FAA requirements will also now be for 120 minutes, solid-state (no more tape) and an independent power supply to give an additional 10 minutes recording capability after loss of normal power. CVR & FDR must be on different busses & physically seperate. The ARINC standard for future CVRs will also require recording of datalink transmissions (ACARS).
BTW from my experience of cert testing CVRs, the area mic is often near unreadable in one pass (as in the self-test) but actually is good enough to pass the authority's review.