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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 and 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.
New: Olympus upped the ante again. Check out our review of the Olympus VN 5200 PC
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3 Responses to “Which Olympus Digital Voice Recorder Is Right For You?”
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I am looking for one room voice recorder for my office. The recorder mike shall be fixed at some where in the wall and It should be remote controlled operational one. Voice clarity and the catching power of 30 feet is desired.
If you have any models which meet my requirements, Pls send me the complete details at the earliest. Also mention the lowest rates and the stores nearby in my town / India.
Regards
Biju Mathew
+91 9899101202
dear i neeed good and low price digital voicerecorder kindly help and contact me
i am living in india
my cell no 9823241422