Olympus DS-30 Digital Voice Recorder by Olympus
|
List Price: Buy Used: from $139.99 (click here) Category: CE See more digital camera details and other models |
|---|
(Click here)
Digital camera reviews of Olympus DS-30 Digital Voice Recorder
Digital camera Review: EXTREMELY HAPPY
Summary: 5 Stars
I was a little apprehensive about the quality of the product because I saved $50 over store prices. I thought some of the accessories must be missing-no way!! Everything was top notch and it arrived in 2 DAYS during the Christmas season!!!. Will shop this way again next year.Digital camera Review: Ease of Use
Summary: 5 Stars
I'd like to add more to this once I get to better grips with other features offered, but for now, I need to leave a review purely for the following reason:
I bought this the night before a major presentation and had no time to get to grips with it. Despite this and knowing how complex some new devices can be today, I was astonished at how easy it was to come to grips with. Simply unbelievable. I congratulate Olympus on that. In under ten minutes, I had it figured out inside out. Recording in different styles (conference, lecture, stereo XQ,HQ etc.) were all available at the flick of a button. Accessing folders was stupidly easy. The quality of 'stereo' playback was immense.
Uploading to specific folders on my computer doesn't need the software, which is even better since I don't need to cram my computer with any more junk.
I won't be using this for music playback, but for voice recording, it does exactly that at premium quality. Additionally, the device fulfills its use by being sleek, small and portable and looks great.
This is one user friendly piece of kit. In my opinion, this is the 'iPod' of voice recorders and hopefully soon the gold-standard.
PROMISED UPDATE: A certain customer wrote in his review that you can't stop, rewind and redictate over a small portion and is therefore not a true dictaphone. I agree with that and think thats the only flaw of this product. I use it for conference recording mostly thought and so it works great for my needs. Recording and ease of use are outstanding.
Overall: Delighted. 5 stars still.
Digital camera Review: Easy to use, especially with the software
Summary: 5 Stars
I haven't much to say except that I purchased this device specifically for qualitative research. It does exactly what I want it to do: record interviews clearly and easily despite background noise. It was a cinch to use right out of the box, and the software that it came with was also a breeze to install and use. I used the device and software for transcription playback (as slow as 25% of normal speed) and it was great as I was able to type fast enough to keep up with what was being said. Overall I'm very pleased and intend to keep this handy for all future qualitative research I will be doing.Digital camera Review: Exceeded my expectations
Summary: 5 Stars
As a PhD student I wanted something to take notes regardless of location or environment (significant thoughts often arise while I'm driving). This recorder makes it easy to register thoughts whenever they arise, and recording them is much faster than writing.
The five folders present an excellent method for categorizing notes from different sources, and the included software allows the folders to be named. I have three young children, so one of the folders is utilized for recording some of the things they say. One folder is used for dissertation ideas, another for general notes.
I have also been impressed with the recording capabilities of this unit. I speak regularly, and have found that the DS-30 makes it easy to preserve a recording of these presentations. The selectable microphone may be set for lecture, conference, or dictation, and these settings do make a difference in the recording (at least betweeen the conference and dictation settings).
The ability to save files to the computer was one of the primary reasons I selected this unit, and that capacity works quite well. When I connect the DS-30 to the USB cable, the software opens automatically and provides an intuitive interface for transferring files to the computer.
Additional miscellaneous notes:
The controls on the DS-30 are quite easy to navigate.
I have been using the device over a month and have not yet changed the battery.
A number of options are available, including how far the forward and reverse buttons move the recording. For example: In the default setting, during playback the forward and reverse buttons advance to the following recording or to the beginning of the current recording (as on a CD player). I changed the settings so that during playback, the forward button advances one minute and the reverse button moves ten seconds backward (I guess I've been conditioned my DVR). When playback is halted, the buttons still move to the previous and succeeding recording.
I have enjoyed the DS-30 very much, and would wholeheartedly recommend it to others seeking this type of device.
Digital camera Review: Excellent audio capture tool
Summary: 5 Stars
Primary application is for audio capture: voice, voicenotes, song ideas, etc. With the stereo pickup it works excellently, as expected and others have noted.
Secondary application: capture live audio from webcast on pc. [Got a male/male mini plug cable. Ran cable from headphone out of pc/laptop to stereo mic input (removed stereo microphone first), ran mini-plug headphone from headphone output on the ds-30 to monitor. (This setup shown in the manual.)] At first I thought this was very marginal, but once I changed the capture setting to DICT and reduced the sound output from the pc to get nice bouncing sound level bars, I found this works quite effectively. A very nice plus.
The ds-30 is recognized as plug-and-play by the pc (running XP sp2) with no software install needed. Drag and drop files to the pc. The wma files convert on prompt into mp3 files in itunes Import. Converted files load on ipod conveniently. I would have preferred native mp3 capture, but not a problem.
pdf manuals are available at the olympus usa web site.