Olympus Digital Voice Recorder

...recorders I came across the Olympus digital voice recorder range.

Features:
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The DM-1 caught my eye because of the following features:

Can be used as both a digital voice recorder and mp3 player (mp3 tracks can be sent from your PC to the voice recorder via a USB cable just like using any external drive)

Includes a 64 MB removable SmartMedia card. This can store up to 22 hours ...
...that come with the recorder, Olympus DSS player 2000, and then connect the recorder to your PC with the USB cable. The recorder is then controlled though the software. The software shows 3 windows. One has what's on the recorder (divided into 3 folders as I've said before), one has what's on the PC (divided again into 3 folders) and the other shows the individual files in the selected folder, which can then be played, downloaded, or converted to ... more

I work for a Psychology department within a University and as you may or may not know, Psychologists do a huge number of interviews. Up until about 2 years ago they were happy to use the old fashioned method of tape recorder and microphone. Someone then decided that they had had enough of this and wanted a better piece of equipment for recording interviews so I set about seeing what was about.

What we needed:
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Our needs were simple, all we really required was something that made a decent quality recording, was small enough to carry around easily, had a lot of storage and was user friendly.

After searching the internet for days, reading reviews and looking at the specs and prices of loads of different recorders I came across the Olympus digital voice recorder range.

Features:
********

The DM-1 caught my eye because of the following features:

Can be used as both a digital voice recorder and mp3 player (mp3 tracks can be sent from your PC to the voice recorder via a USB cable just like using any external drive)

Includes a 64 MB removable SmartMedia card. This can store up to 22 hours of dictation, and 1 hour of MP3/WMA music playback (at near CD quality). 22 hours is the same as around 15 C90 Audio tapes!

Battery life 8 hours of playback or 11 hours of recording from two AAA batteries (included)

Included earbud headphones, USB cable, DSS (Digital Speech Standard) software, and soft carrying case

Compatible with a PC of the following spec: Microsoft Windows 98/98SE/Me/2000 Professional; Intel Pentium 166 MHz or faster; 32 MB RAM; 50 MB hard disk space which is a very low spec for a PC.

Dimensions: Width: 1.97 inches, Height: 4.3 inches, Depth: 0.7 inches, Weight: 86 milligrams (including battery) which is around the size of an average mobile phone.

Ease of use:
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We decided this was ideal for our needs so we ordered one. When it came we were surprised how easy it was to use. To start recording you simply press record and to stop recording you press stop (told you it was simple). Every time you press record the voice recorder creates a new file and this is closed when you press stop. Files can be stored in 3 different folders on the recorder, which are originally called A, B, and C but can be renamed. This is ideal if there is more than one person using the recorder or you just want to organise the files. To play back the files, you simply select the right folder (by using the folder button on the side you can toggle between the 3) and the right file (by using the select button, which also doubles as fast forward and rewind when the file is playing) and the press play. Should you wish to delete any files you select the file required (as above) then press Erase twice. The files stored on the recorder are displayed with the date, time and length of the recording. Other buttons of note on the recorder are:

Menu: choose record mode (SP or LP), format recorder (wipe all data), rename folders, set time and date, beep on or off, display light on or off, alarm.

Hold: This turns on off all buttons when recording so you don't accidentally turn it off or stop the recording.

Mode: changes between voice recorder and music player.

Once you have recorded what you want the next stage is to download to your PC. This too is very simple. Install the software that come with the recorder, Olympus DSS player 2000, and then connect the recorder to your PC with the USB cable. The recorder is then controlled though the software. The software shows 3 windows. One has what's on the recorder (divided into 3 folders as I've said before), one has what's on the PC (divided again into 3 folders) and the other shows the individual files in the selected folder, which can then be played, downloaded, or converted to .wav files for use with other media players. The software is useful for transcribing too as files can be played at various speeds and you can insert markers for important parts.

My opinion
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Overall this is a superb piece of equipment if you record a lot of interviews. I found that the quality of recording was very good, although I did occasionally use an external microphone to increase the quality. It is very easy to use and download the recordings. At just under £200 at the time (2003) it is a very competitive price. Also a key point was the size, it was very unobtrusive to interviewees and was easily to carry round than a cassette recorder, microphone and tapes. Also even though it is small it is quite robust.

 

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