Do I have to set up realtime translation in order to have the benefit of synchronized audio playback?
No. MediaLink has been part of Eclipse since 1996. If your steno machine has internal timestamping turned on and if you are using a digital voice recorder like those made by Olympus, Eclipse can match the timecodes. It takes a few more steps than recording during realtime transcription, but it is possible. (Of course, with Advantage Softwares Passport writer, you wont even need the digital recorder. The Passport itself offers audio recording and playback.