Best Olympus Voice Recorders For Dictation and Transcription?
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If you have to email files to a transcription service you might want to consider some of the Olympus Digital Voice Recorders that are built for heavy repeated office use.
As mentioned earlier in our article about consumer grade Olympus digital voice recorders, these higher end devices allow you to record in a highly compress format which means that - although it’s not the highest quality audio, allows doctors and surgeons to send smaller files via email or transfer to a different computer.
The very best of these Olympus digital voice recorders allow you to edit, search and organize files right on the device. You can also plug in separate devices that help make transcribing even easier. Foot controllers are one popular choice for the people that actually do the transcribing. This allows the transcriber to rewind and pause the recording without even taking their hands off the keyboard. For transcribers that get paid by the word or per transcription, this is a huge moneymaker. Since they are used daily for several hours at a time, these recorders are usually heavy duty and are able to withstand prolonged use (and abuse) :-).
Recorders like the Olympus DS-4000 are recommended for doctors, lawyers, reporters and pretty much anyone that requires massive amounts of recording time and daily prolonged use. This is especially true if it is essential for your job.
What makes the Olympus DS-4000 stand out among competitor models is it’s intuitive interface. Admittedly, some digital voice recorders are confusing and require clicking through several layers of options and configurations. It can hold almost 180 hours (!) of recording time - if you buy an additional memory card. It comes standard with a 32MB card but can be easily expanded up to 1GB. It has internal rechargeable batteries and has voice activation functionality built in. You can use the DS-4000 on both Macs and PC.
The Olympus DS-4000 has won many “best of” awards and comes highly recommended from experts across a wide range of professions.
Which Olympus Digital Voice Recorder Is Right For You?
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Prices for digital voice recorders, including Olympus, vary widely. Some can be under $50 and some can be as expensive as $400.
If you are only recording voice for notes adn maybe dictation, a basic digital recorder will suffice. But if you want to create podcasts, or record songwriting ideas, you might want to consider something with a wider frequency range and a higher bitrate. Some of the more expensive models can reduce background noise, and will automatically save in a common format like MP3 or WMA. If you are someone that does medical transcription, there are certain models that use compression formats that allow the file you recorded to be even smaller. This is good if you have to email files back and forth between a doctor and transcriber.
We’ll talk for just a moment about analog. You can still obtain Olympus microcassette recorders, which are even less expensive than the cheapest digital recorders. Again, if you are just doing simple note taking or listening to a college lecture, these will more than suffice. In fact if you want to buy an analog voice recorder there are often many used and new ones for sale in our voice recorder store.
The downside of analog is maintaining and labeling tapes, as well as having to fast forward and rewind to find spots you need. So if you do a lot of recording the Olympus digital voice recorders are your best bet. I like them because I can organize files on my computer and quickly rename them and file them away for future use. That’s how I use it for my songwriting. Some of the higher end voice recorders even allow you to tag files with keywords and that way you can find files easier down the road. Because they are made for voice recording they usually are higher quality recordings. They won’t sound thin or flat like they would on a cell phone or using an iPod accessory or something.
One thing you might want to seriously consider is if the digital voice recorder allows you to choose various settings of bitrate quality. Think of it like in the old VCR days when you could record in SP, EP, etc. With VCR tapes you could record longer, but the quality was not as good (i.e. the colors became more muted and the audio sounded thinner).
The same is true with a digital voice recorder. Allowing you to change the settings on the recorder can often help you adjust to unexpected situations. Perhaps a lecture goes long. Perhaps there is a discussion after a presentation which you would like to record. On a lower bitrate setting you would be able to capture the conversation and take it back home for transcribing. If it only had one high rate setting you might miss out on saving important statements form a conversation. Some recorders will give you up to six levels of quality, though you’ll most commonly find two or three settings.
All Olympus digital voice recorders let you save your files to a computer. By allowing you to do that you have the capabilities of emailing them to associates, uploading them to a website, transcribing them, labeling them and filing them on your hard drive and any number of additional uses.
The Lower End Digital Voice Recorders
If you are recording lectures in school, or recording interviews for a newspaper or media outlet, most of the time you can find a voice recorder that fits your needs for under $150.
One popular model is the Olympus 300 Series. Most of them are primarily voice recorders but also double as MP3 players. On this site, we have reviewed the WS-311M, the Olympus WS-321M (shown right), and the Olympus WS-320M.
Pretty much the only difference across each model is simply the amount of storage available. Most of the functionality is the same for each. All of the WS-300 series digital voice recorders have voice activation, so it will only record when people are speaking. This can save battery life as well as increase the amount of recording you can fit on one device.
You’re not allowed to edit files on any of the 300-series voice recorders, but you can move them over to your computer and manipulate the files in any number of free and low-priced audio editing programs. They export to your computer in WMA format which means they’ll work on any PC. You can also play them on Apple computers provided you have installed Windows Media Player for Mac.
Olympus WS-331M Digital Voice Recorder Review
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The WS-331M has a clear LED screen. Some have complained that it is rather small, but I so far have not ad any problems with mine. Since the recorder itself is small I don’t see how they could have made it any bigger in the first place. Regardless, generally reviewers haven’t complained about the screen real estate.
Even with a battery loaded up, the digital voice recorder barely weighs a few ounces and I can carry it in my shirt pocket or front pants pocket. To get an idea of the size it is barely half the size of a standard Blackberry phone and can be tucked away almost anywhere.
Because of it’s size, it’s also super easy to use: About four inches long by perhaps two wide and not even a half-inch thick. Record, Stop and Play controls are conveniently located on the right side and easily manipulated with the thumb. A four-way controller on the front handles volume and forward and reverse direction. A center button takes care of the menu. There are separate buttons for Erase and Folder/Index. On the left side is the Hold button and a mode selector for Music or Voice.
As mentioned earlier, the Olympus WS331M has 2GB of storage. That’s a ton of storage - 555 hours of recording time. Some of the uses I have found for this is to take copious mental notes when on vacation, not having to worry that I will lose them. I just take it home with me and listen through the recordings as I find time.
You can transfer your files via USB as shown in the breakaway photo of the WS331M below:
Just plug it into your Mac or PC and it will be instantly recognized as a mass storage device. In other words, your computer will simply treat it as another hard drive from which you can drag and drop files. (So simple even a caveman could do it.) This has significant advantages over other digital voice recorders from other manufacturers which are made in a proprietary format and requires you to install special software.
Ugh … c’mon SONY, wake up.
The format audio files are recorded in are WMA format, which stands for “Windows Media Audio”. But, as the other Olympus Digital Voice Recorders also do, you can use this on a Mac too, provided you have a copy of Windows Media Player for Macintosh.
On this site, we have a page dedicated to the WS-series digital voice recorders, where you can find new and used WS-series devices: Olympus WS-331M Store Page
Olympus DS-40 Digital Voice Recorder Review
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The DS-40 can be used as a digital voice recorder, a music player, an audiobook player, and a podcast player. It is a completely redesigned recorder meant as a higher middle grade voice recorder, presumably to eventually replace the WS-300 Series of recorders.
The Specs
Without the external microphone attached, the Olympus DS-40 Digital Voice Recorder is about the same size as the Olympus WS-321M. It is a bit heavier and thicker, but this is most likely attributed to the metal housing. This is in contrast to the WS-300 series which had plastic housings.
Also, unlike the WS-300 series, the Olympus DS-40 has a mini USB port that is covered with an attached plastic cover. The power switch is on the right side near the bottom, and has a power saving mode that will kick in if you forget to shut it off, which is great and saves a bunch of battery life. The power switch also works as a HOLD button to keep the DS-40 from randomly recording as it is jumbled around in your pocket or briefcase.
The Olympus DS-40 has a new layout that spaces the control buttons on the face in such a way that they are easy to use, whereas the 300 series were a little close together and you had to be very careful you knew what you were pressing. This was one of the only real complaints I had with my WS-311, so it’s definitely a welcome change.
The speaker emanates sound from the back of the device and is surprisingly loud.
As with all Olympus Digital Voice Recorders, the D-40 is recognized as a mass storage device that you just plug and play. Your computer will simply recognize it as another drive on your Mac or PC. It still drag the WMA (Windows Media Audio) files off the device and organize and rearrange them on your local machine.
Compared with the WS-300 series, you get a lot more options with how your microphones work. You get three settings (dictation, conference, lecture). Naturally with the different recording quality settings you have varying degrees of recording quality. the HQ mode (over 34 hours of record time) is quite sufficient for normal speech recording. The HQ frequency range is from 50 to 13000 Hz. The ST XQ mode produces very high quality recordings. This is a perfect recorder for rehearsals, jam sessions, and practice spaces.
If you are using this for dictation a lot, there are actually 16 different levels of voice-activated sensitivity so it can be customized to suit your voice.
MP3 Player
Olympus insists on making most of their new voice recorders double as MP3 players, and the Olympus DS-40 is no exception. It also plays audio files from Audible.com which allows for additional control (i.e. bookmarking, fast and slow play, and book sections). It also plays WMA, MP3 Netlibrary audiobooks with the useful features of resume position on a power cycle, fast/slow play speed (digitally corrected - no chipmunk voices), fast forward / rewind over track gaps, and audible cue / review. The rewind over a track gap feature is important when a book is split over multiple tracks and you need to review a section you just listened to. If that section is near the end of the previous track, you would have a problem with Ipods and Zens. They both stop rewinding at the beginning of a track. There is no bookmarking with mp3 and wma tracks. You can set a temporary index mark with an mp3 or wma track. The mark goes away when you move to another track.
Podcasts
The Olympus DS-40 also plays podcasts. With the enclosed software you can add URLS and subscribe to podcasts. You can also set other options, like download interval, when they should be deleted, and automatic updates when new podcasts become available.
Summary
Pros:
Compact size, great price/benefit ratio, extended battery life, sturdy metal housing, mini-USB connector, large informative backlit display, excellent quality voice recordings, voice activation feature for recording with sixteen sensitivity levels, dictation capabilities, external stereo microphone and input included , date & time stamped recordings, recognized as mass storage device for file/music transfers, and music/podcast player.
Cons:
A carrying case would be nice. WMA recording only. Back placement of the speaker. No on-device editing capability except for delete and move.
Find a used or brand new Olympus DS-40 Digital Voice Recorder at our eBay Store.
Olympus WS-321M Digital Voice Recorder Review
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The Olympus WS-321M comes in two other models; a 512MB version for $99.00 and a 2GB version for $199.00. The one we are reviewing is the 1GB version which retails for $149.00.
What is cool about the WS-321M is that it also can play your music too. It can run on your computer via USB, can sync with Windows Media Player, and plays MP3 and WMA formats.
Whichever model you choose, there are some common features among them all. They all run on a single AAA battery. They can also run on recharcheable batteries.
The top of the Olympus Digital Voice Recorder has headphone and mic jacks. Your thumb controls the Stop, Record and Play buttons down the right hand side of the digital recorder. The left side of the device has a Hold switch, as well as a record setting that determines mic sensitivity where you can select MUSIC or VOICE recording. There is a round set of controls on the face of the recorder that contains your scrolling and selector controls. The OK/MENU button works as a play button. All in all, a very intuitive interface. When you want to connect the recorder to your PC just pop the back cover off and plug it into your USB connection.
Olympus WS100 Digital Voice Recorder Review
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The WS100 is powered by one AAA battery. It can record 27 hours audio on the HIGH QUALITY setting. Even more if you lower the setting a bit.
The controls are intuitive and easy to use as well. Looking directly at the Olympus Digital Voice Recorder, the right side of the device has a RECORD, PLAY, and STOP button. Self explanatory right?
On the front of the device is the controls that allow you to scroll through folders and files already on the device. You can also tweak settings on the device. For instance, I always turn off the backlit screen because it uses up too much battery. Not excessive, mind you. But for my uses I let it record for hours at a time and don’t want to wast battery power on lighting the screen. In addition to the general controls there is an erase button to easily erase files. Thankfully it prompts with a confirm box - which has saved me on multiple occasions from accidentally deleting a file.
Olympus LS-10 Digital Voice Recorder Review
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The LS-10 is a digital voice recorder that records BETTER than CD audio. It’s true, very sensitive dual microphones that record WAV files in 24-bit 96kHz fidelity. Internally the LS-10 Olympus Digital Voice Recorders carry 2GB internal flash memory. This gives about 2hrs of recording in the WAV mode, but it can be bumped down to MP3 quality in order to lengthen the recording time. Additional memory - up to 8GB with SDHC memory cars can be added.
To get the audio files off your LS-10 Digital Voice Recorder just plug in the via USB and drag the files over to your computer for manipulation. The documentation that came with it claims that up to 12 hours can be recorded on one set of AA batteries.
The bass on the recordings I did were a little flat, but can be bumped up easily with a little EQ action.
The case itself is very rugged and made of metal. The digital interface on the LS-10 is very user friendly, intuitive and logical.
Capture creative ideas with your Olympus Digital Voice Recorder
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In this post over at songwriting tips blog, BloggingMuses.com, they talk about using digital voice recorders as a way to record songwriting ideas and save them for later. While this article primarily talks about how to use an iPod in such a manner, the same method can also be employed with the Olympus Digital Voice Recorders. I use mine in this manner all the time, and it works great. I use my WS-320M in this manner all the time.