Olympus WS-331M 2 GB

...to easy scratching. And because Olympus was too mean to supply a protective case, in a rucksack or a handbag scratches will appear after no time. Also - the control buttons are very small and fiddly, which may cause problems for people with short nails and fat fingers (many blokes). So I would say that WS-331M is a 'she' rather than a 'he'. To support this 'her' measurements amount to a very neat 94.8mm long by 38.6 mm wide by 11mm thick, without ...
...So altogether I reckon that Olympus should have stuck with MP3, like Sony did for its current generation of comparable dictation machines. Annoying Mac users is like playing with fire. You get burned eventually.

However, while WS-331M records only in WMA format it will play back MP3 files fine, meaning that the unit functions as a poor person's iPod. The sound quality for music files is reasonable - though not a patch on the Apple ... more

On opening the Amazon parcel, the first thing that struck me about this unit was 'cheap and nasty'. It's packaged in one of those hard-to-open sealed plastic affairs with a small hole at the top for hanging on a retail display hook. This got my back up straight away because WS-331M is not a model commonly displayed by any of the major chains like Currys, Comet or PC World - at least not round here. The only two places I managed to source one locally were Argos and John Lewis, both of which were charging way over the odds. Hence my decision to purchase from Amazon for about £100 including express delivery. I saved about £27 over local retail. Whereas, going with Amazon's free delivery service would have saved nearly £35 over what local shops were charging for the very same thing. As you may know, neither John Lewis nor Argos match online prices.

The second thing that struck me about WS-331M was: not only did it look cheap 'n' nasty, it felt so as well. The case is made of shiny black plastic of the type prone to easy scratching. And because Olympus was too mean to supply a protective case, in a rucksack or a handbag scratches will appear after no time. Also - the control buttons are very small and fiddly, which may cause problems for people with short nails and fat fingers (many blokes). So I would say that WS-331M is a 'she' rather than a 'he'. To support this 'her' measurements amount to a very neat 94.8mm long by 38.6 mm wide by 11mm thick, without protrusions. Pity they don't make one in pink. They should.

Sound quality, even at the highest setting and with a good external mic attached, is nothing short of very average for a unit costing this amount. Despite have messed with every setting in the 'rec' and 'play' menus I cannot get rid of a constant background 'hiss' which, given the maximum sampling rate, really should not be present. Although much more compact than my existing Sony ICD-MX20 and ICD-MS515, from a pure aural perspective WS-331M does not compare well to these other units, which each uses a proprietary compression codec as opposed to Microsoft's. Furthermore, to play WMA files on Macs you need a special free program called Flip4Mac available from here:

http://www.microsoft.com/mac/products/flip4mac.mspx

So altogether I reckon that Olympus should have stuck with MP3, like Sony did for its current generation of comparable dictation machines. Annoying Mac users is like playing with fire. You get burned eventually.

However, while WS-331M records only in WMA format it will play back MP3 files fine, meaning that the unit functions as a poor person's iPod. The sound quality for music files is reasonable - though not a patch on the Apple product - and there's a facility for altering the EQ settings to suit individual tastes. But I couldn't suffer music for too long on a WS-331M. The 'tinnyness' would drive me nuts. My dad thinks it sounds great though, which proves that everybody's different. Plus, a better set of cans than those supplied by Olympus might enhance the reproduction immensely.

On the upside, connecting WS-331M to a computer is simple. The battery compartment comes away from the main body to reveal a USB plug, which you insert straight into a spare port without the need for a cable. If this proves difficult, due to other peripherals being attached to adjacent ports, a short male-to-female USB extension lead is supplied. Once connected WS-331M is seen as a mass storage device to which any file type - not just audio - can be added via copy/paste or drag/drop. So WS-331M could prove very handy for students and others who frequently have to work on different machines in different locations. In fact, the ability to hold many various files is perhaps WS-331M's greatest asset. If you don't need as much storage then WS-311M (512Mb) or WS-321M (1Gb) offer the same features at lesser cost. The other good thing is that, unlike earlier power-hungry dictation machines (not just Olympus ones), which required two AA batteries, all these latest models run for ages on a single AAA, either alkaline or NiMh rechargeable. There's also voice activated recording for those who need it.

As a brief aside, I've been using handheld dictation machines since the 1980s when they were very expensive. I still have here my old AIWA TP-M9 analogue micro cassette recorder, a beautiful piece of precision engineering made entirely of aluminium which, though over three times the size/weight of WS-331M and its stable mates, produces marginally better quality on tape, but cost about three times as much to buy. While it can't play MP3s or act as a mass storage device, as a basic sound recorder it's brilliant.

Later the digital units started coming out, with Sony and Olympus pretty much at the forefront of this technology. The machines were still expensive. But they were usually of solid construction and the sound quality was improving all the time. This trend continued up until around for or five years ago when I think the manufacturers thought,

'Hey! We could sell a lot more of these gadgets if they were cheaper. And the only way to make 'em cheaper is to go for plastic instead of metal.'

As a result, in recent years, while the sound quality of dictation machines has been steadily improving, the prices have been dropping with a marked decline in the robustness of the casings. Metal has indeed given way to plastic - which is a great shame. I would much rather the manufacturers had said,

'Look. We make the best kit. If you want it, you're gonna have to pay for it.'

Pandering to the bottom end of the market can be confusing for punters who have learned to associate certain brands with 'quality' in EVERY regard. Hence my general disappointment with WS-331M because, from a company called 'Olympus', I expected a far better-built product than the tacky wee black plastic thing that arrived in the post this morning. But since WS-331M does more or less what it says - albeit in a rather hissy way - I suppose I should be content.

Otherwise I might have purchased a Sony ICD-UX80.

http://www.sony.co.uk/product/dic-digital-recorder/icd-ux80

Or gone right OTT with an Olympus LS-10.

http://www.olympus.co.uk/consumer/2581_digital_recorder_ls-10_185 55.htm

Or one of the other premium, but compact, products from Sony, Tascam, Yamaha or Marantz etc.

However, if you're after excellent sound quality for not a lot more dosh than WS-331M, and are prepared to put up with a much bulkier unit, have a look at the ZOOM H2.

http://www.zoom.co.jp/english/products/h2/

I use one of these for recording music and the reproduction is top-notch.

I hope all this has been helpful. 

...less