iDictate – Digital Voice Blog

New Australia & New Zealand Olympus Voice Distributor From Today – Olympus Imaging

Today, 15th December 2009, is day one for Olympus Imaging as they become the new distributor for Olympus voice products within Australia and New Zealand. Olympus Imaging has taken over from Nationwide Dictating who, after fifteen years of voice distribution, have called it a day. The Olympus website for information on Olympus voice products in Australia and New Zealand is now www.olympus.com.au along with Dictate Australia.

So what does this mean for the resellers and more importantly the consumers of Olympus Voice products? For the resellers we now deal with one national office instead of being split across the country, the Nationwide Dictating head office in Melbourne has been closed along with the Brisbane and Sydney offices. Olympus Imaging will operate from one location in North Ryde in Sydney. Some key staff from Nationwide Dictating have been retained by Olympus Imaging which is great news as their valuable experience and knowledge of the Olympus Voice products will be retained and will allow the resellers to continue to have excellent second line support for questions and solutions.

For the consumer we already see some good news. The latest reseller price lists have just been released today and the pricing of most top of the line professional recorders has dropped making the best digital voice recorders in Australia even more affordable, there are some huge reductions. Some examples:

• Olympus DS-5000 old RRP $995 incl. GST, new RRP $845 incl. GST
• Olympus LS-10 old RRP $895 incl. GST new RRP $595 incl. GST
• Olympus WS-550M old RRP $395 incl. GST new RRP $199 incl. GST

Along with the new price lists we are also seeing yet another change in the voice recorder product range. Gone are the excellent meeting recorders the DS-40, DS-50 and DS-65 replaced by the newer DM-450 and DM-550 models.  Also added are some of the latest voice recorders available in the UK and US that we in Australia usually have to wait for, like the LS-11 PCM music and nature sound recorder. Also new to Australia will be the VN-6800PC note taker.

Like us here at Dictate Australia, most Olympus Voice resellers will be re-jigging their pricing over the next few days and adding in the new Olympus products. As soon as we can we will get new models in for review.

Welcome Olympus Imaging to the world of digital voice and good luck.

Tags: australia, digital voice recorder, Distributor, DM-450, DM-550, LS-11, Music Recorder, Nationwide Dictating, Nature Sound Recorder, New Zealand, Olympus Imaging, PCM Recorder, VN-6800PC

A Little Gem From Philips Dictation Australia – 2370 Media Player Typing Set

In a recent press release from Philips Dictation Australia yet another innovative product has been added to their product line. This one though is a little different to the norm, this really is something different and something that I am sure will be very popular is the LFH2370 Philips Media Player Typing Set.

The innovation with this product is the clever thumb controller that sits under your keyboard which allows the control of audio playback through Windows Media Player 11, iTunes and WinAmp on Windows machines and iTunes and QuickTime on a Mac. Previously people typing notes from audio played back through media player type software had to constantly switch from their word processor to stop/start/rewind audio adding a huge amount of time to the transcription process. With this little device it will make typing notes from audio a much easier, less time consuming experience.

Using the two buttons on the USB thumb control the audio can be controlled in the following ways:

• Playback : To start continuous playback, press and release the right key. The status LED glows green during playback.
• Pause : Press the right key again to pause audio playback.
• Fast Forward : Press and hold the right key during playback. When “forwarding” reaches the desired position release the key.
• Fast Rewind : Press and hold the left key while playback is paused. When rewinding reaches the desired position release the key.
• Backspace : Double click the left key to backspace the audio by three seconds.

The media player typing set LFH2370 comes with the USB thumb control, stereo headset and Philips Media Player control software and is RRP $200.00 incl. GST.

The media payer typing set is also available as part of the Philips Writers Set, known as LFH087 which comprises the media player typing set and Philips Digital Voice Tracer 682 digital voice recorder.

Tags: 2310, 2370, Control Audio Playback, dvt, DVT 862, iTunes, lfh2370, mac, Media Player Typing Set, Philips, Philips Writers Set, QuickTime, USB Thumb Control, WinAmp, windows, Windows Media Player

Options For Playing Olympus .ds2 (DSS Pro) Audio Files If You Use Express Scribe Or Older Olympus Transcription Kits

This is a hot topic in the transcription world currently. The new DSS Pro (.ds2) audio format now in use by default on all the Olympus digital dictaphones: DS-2400, DS-3400, DS-5000 and DS-5000iD. It is a hot topic for a couple of reasons, often a transcriber can not play the new .ds2 audio files because:

1. Transcriptionist has an older Olympus transcription kit (AS-2300 or AS-4000)
2. Transcriptionist uses free Express Scribe software

There are a number of ways to get around this glitch and the options depend on what you have already and what operating system you use. I will try to cover all possible solutions, if I miss one please let me know and I will update this post. What I will say right from the outset is that these solutions are work arounds for typists who choose not to stay up-to-date with the latest software. By purchasing an Olympus AS-5000 transcription kit (or just the DSS Player Pro transcription module software AS-5002 if you already own an RS-28 Olympus foot pedal) all these issues will go away. The latest DSS Player Pro transcription module is fully compatible with the DSS Pro (.ds2) audio files.

So let me try and cover all options for those who do not have the latest DSS Player Pro transcription module. Read more …

Tags: AS-2300, AS-2400, AS-4000, AS-5000, australia, classic mode, convert .ds2 .dss, dictation module, DS-2400, DS-3400, ds-5000, ds-5000iD, DSS Player Pro, DSS Player Standard, express scribe .ds2, mac, Olympus, transcription module, windows

I Will Have Whatever Olympus Voice & Philips Dictation Are Drinking

So, this year has been a big one for Olympus voice with a revamp of all their digital recorder range. Not content with being left behind Philips had a go back in April when they rolled out, finally, Mac compatible note takers with the DVT (Digital Voice Tracer) range comprising of the 660/860/880 models. This week Philips have done a rejig in this range and discontinued the young 660/860/880 recorders and replaced them with new model numbers although essentially they are the previous recorders upgraded. Philips have also added some innovative voice recorder packages, like a set aimed at reporters and a set aimed at writers who might want to attempt their own transcription.

So what has been discontinued and what are their replacement models:

• Philips DVT LFH0660 discontinued, replaced by DVT LFH0662 (2GB – RRP AU$189)
• Philips DVT LFH0860 discontinued, replaced by DVT LFH0862 (4GB – RRP AU$249)
• Philips DVT LFH0880 discontinued, replaced by DVT LFH0882 (4GB – RRP AU$279)
• Philips DVR DragonNaturallySpeaking Voice Recorder Edition LFH-660/10 discontinued, replaced by LFH0667 (RRP AU$259)

A common change across the range is an increase in memory, that makes sense with solid state memory continuing to grow in size and drop in price. Also added to all recorders are a visual record level indicator and the USB connection, as well as powering the unit, will now also charge a rechargeable battery.

Other notable changes include uncompressed PCM recording now available on the LFH0662. High Sensitivity mic added to the LFH0862 and LFH0882 with the new “Zoom” function.

As mentioned another innovative thing Philips have done is create some Digital Voice Tracer combination packs, new packs are:

• LFH0868 (RRP AU$279) – 862 Digital Voice Tracer with docking station.
• LFH0888 (RRP AU$339) – 882 Digital Voice Tracer with docking station.
• LFH0867 (RRP AU$369) – Writers Set. 862 Digital Voice Tracer with the media player USB hand control (LFH2370/00)  which allows audio control with yours thumbs.
• LFH0885 (RRP AU$369) – Reporters Set. 882 Digital Voice Tracer with stereo lapel mic.
• LFH0895 (RRP AU$749) – Compact Meeting Recorder. I like this one, 882 Digital Voice Tracer with two of the best looking and good quality boundary mics available.

Expect to see these new models appearing around Australia from October.

Tags: 660, 662, 667, 860, 862, 867, 868, 880, 882, 885, 888, 895, australia, Boundary Mic, Compact Meeting Recorder, digital voice recorder, Digital Voice Recorder Edition, digital voice tracer, Docking Station, dragon naturallyspeaking, dvt, lfh0660, lfh0660/10, lfh0662, lfh0667, lfh0860, lfh0862, lfh0867, lfh0868, lfh0880, lfh0882, lfh0885, lfh0888, lfh0895, lfh2370, lfh2370/00, Philips, Reporter Set, Writers Set