The DM series recorders in Australia are now manned by the Olympus DM-3 and the Olympus DM-5 digital voice recorders since the launch of the DM3 in early July 2011. To look at them you would be hard pressed to tell the difference other than the Olympus DM3 is silver and the Olympus DM5 is black.

So what is the difference between the two? Here is a summary:

Memory:

• DM-3 has 4Gb of on-board memory, expandable via the microSD slot (512mb to 16Gb cards)
• DM-5 has 8Gb of on-board memory, expandable via the microSD slot (512mb to 16Gb cards)

Maximum Recording Time (using in-built memory only):

I only list the highest quality audio recording modes as these give the best quality sound and audio pickup. If you choose lower quality recording modes the maximum recording times will be greater than I have listed. I recommend using the highest quality audio recording modes.

Olympus DM-3 (RRP $349 incl. GST in Australia)

• 25hrs 30mins on the highest bit-rate MP3 format (320kbps)
• 5hrs 15mins on the 48kHz linear PCM uncompressed WAV format
• 62hrs 30mins on the highest quality WMA (Windows Media Audio) format

Olympus DM-5 (RRP $499 incl. GST in Australia)

• 53hrs on the highest bit-rate MP3 format (320kbps)
• 11hrs 5mins on the 48kHz linear PCM uncompressed WAV format
• 130hrs on the highest quality WMA (Windows Media Audio) format

Text To Speech (DM5 Only):

Only the DM-5 is capable of reading aloud a textfile, this feature is not available on the DM-3. Text to speech is a functional typically used by people who are vision impaired or have reading disabilities.

DAISY Books (DM5 Only):

Only the DM-5 is capable of playing DAISY (Digital Accessible Information System) books. DAISY books were intended to replace audio tapes for digital devices and have the ability to read-aloud books while also highlighting text and displaying images. DAISY books are typically used by people who are vision impaired or have reading disabilities.

Voice Recognition (DM5 Only):

Only the DM-5 is capable of processing voice recognition commands to control the digital voice recorder. Voice recognition allows complicated key inputs using voice alone, for example to set the date and time or setting up timer record. Voice recognition only controls the Olympus DM-5 functions is does not take your spoken words and transcribe them. Voice recognition is typically used by people who are vision impaired or have reading disabilities.

Viewing Images (DM-5 Only):

Only the Olympus DM5 has the ability to store and display images imported from a digital camera. The images can be displayed on the DM-5′s large lcd colour screen.

So there you have it. As you can see the Olympus DM-5 is really aimed at people who are vision impaired and give them a user friendly digital voice recording device. Both will record exactly the same audio quality files, the main difference being the size of the memory in each which in turn effects the maximum recording times which I have listed above. If you are not vision impaired the only reason I would see someone opting for an Olympus DM-5 over a DM3 would be if they are planning on being away from a computer for a large amount of time gathering audio that would exceed the in-built memory plus an addition microSD card’s worth of memory. That is alot of audio.

Both the Olympus DM-3 and the Olympus DM-5 are available in Australia from us, Dictate Australia. We are an Olympus Imaging Australia Gold partner. Any questions about these or any recorders please comment here or contact is through our website – www.dictate.com.au

You may want to go make a cup of tea before you start reading, this is going to be a long post. Why so long? The DM-450 and DM-550 are just amazing digital recorders and are packed to the brim with features while at the same time being extremely easy to use out of the box. So, if you have your tea made then lets begin….

The new Olympus DM-450 and DM-550 digital note taker voice recorders from Olympus have recently replaced the massively successful DS series note takers (DS-30/DS-40/DS-50 and more recently the DS-55/DS-65). With each new evolution of this range of recorder they just get better and better in all areas; look, feel, software, audio quality and ease of use.

The DM-450 and DM-550 follow a similar pattern with previous Olympus recorders. Essentially they are both the same internally with only slight differences between the DM-450 and DM-550, if you record a WMA or MP3 in ST XQ on both recorders they would record pretty much record the same audio (DM-450 stereo mic records 100Hz to 15kH, DM-550 stereo mic records 70Hz to 20kHz).  Let’s start with the huge list of what they both can do:

Features of both DM-450 and DM-550 are:

• Mac (Intel) and Windows (XP, Vista, 7, 32-bit & 64-Bit) compatible.
• Records in .WMA or .MP3
• Expandable memory via the MicroSD/MicroSDHC slot using commercially available MicroSD/MicroSDHC cards.
• Supports playback of audio in WAV, WMA and MP3 format, either recorded by the recorder or transferred from files on your computer.
• Built in Variable Control Voice Actuator (VCVA) allows voice activated recording based on variable volume triggers.
• Low Cut noise filter attempts to remove low level audio sounds like air conditioning units
• Noise cancellation and voice filter functions to enhance audio on playback.
• Built in and programmable recording and playback scenes (e.g. conference recording, interview recording, dictation etc).
• Move or copy files between built-in memory and expanded memory.
• Backlight display.
• Index and temp marking.
• Controllable playback speed.
• Voice guidance feature, the recorder talks to you to advise of menu selections, perfect for vision impaired users.
• Folders can be named.
• Timer record, set the record to start recording at preset times and days.
• Alarm feature, set the recorder to playback audio at preset times.
• Directional mic, records wide all around audio (interviews, meetings, focus groups etc) down to single directional for direct dictation.
• Comes with Olympus Sonority software for audio file editing, enhancement and email functions. Although software is not required to take audio from the recorders, they are plug and play on both Windows and Mac – no software required.
• Batteries can be charged via USB.
• Recorders can be used to store and playback podcasts, configured via the Olympus Sonority software.
• Recorders can be used as an Audible device, store and listen to your audio books on the recorders.

The subtle differences between the DM-450 and DM-550 are :

• DM-450 has 2Gb of in built memory, expandable via the micro SD/SDHC slot (512mb – 16Gb).
• DM-550 has 4Gb of in built memory, expandable via the micro SD/SDHC slot (512mb – 16Gb).
• DM-450 is silver, DM-550 is black.

Features available only on the DM-550 are:

• PCM audio recording. This creates a better than audio quality CD recording to an uncompressed .WAV file. Typically used to record music and nature sounds like birds or frogs.
• Recording level can be adjusted automatically or manually.
• Files can be moved between folders in the memory.
• Files can be split or divided on the recorder.
• Intro play feature when searching through files.
• Partial erase (PCM files only)

Ok now that you know all the features and functions let’s look now at the using the recorder itself. Both recorders are about the length of a Snickers bar and about 3/4 the width. They fit nicely in your hand and when placed on a desk is held firmly in place by four tiny rubberized feet. The recorders are housed in an aluminum shell so they are tough and can take some abuse.

Both recorders are super fast at start-up, this will appeal to journalists in particular who need to quickly whip out their recorder to grab sound bites. The record, stop and play buttons are located on the right side of the unit if you look at it face on, this is perfect positioning and takes no thought as to which button to press, this is similar to the tried and trusted design of the Pro range of digital dictaphone, all of which have the record/play/stop controller on the side. By placing the button here makes the device universally acceptable to both right and left handed people, with the mics at the top of the unit it can be flipped to suit either dexterous ethnicity.

Easy Access To Stop/Play/Record Buttons

As you can see from the image above showing the play/stop/record button location just above on the top of the unit is the grill protecting the phenomenal stereo mics, which are not only gorgeous (you have to be a digital recorder fan to think that a mic grill is that good) but super sensitive. A new feature introduced in this range of digital recorders is the zoom mic. This can vary the range of audio pickup from narrow to wide. For the vast majority of your recordings you would choose a wide setting. Zoom would be rarely used except for when in an audience and you are struggling to hear a speaker, flick to zoom and point at the presenter to get the best chance of audio pickup. As always, my general rule of thumb, if you can hear what is being said, so will the record. If you are struggling to hear, zoom will be your best chance of audio pickup.

The DM-450/DM-550 are powered by 2x AAA Ni-MH rechargeable batteries (included) and can also be powered by standard alkaline AAA’s. They can also be powered via USB, both PC/Mac connected or via mains power. Olympus claim that you will get 51 hours of recording off the batteries in LP mode. Nobody uses LP mode so expect less than that, personally I recommend USB powering the units if you are going to be recording long sessions.

Essentially the DM-450 and DM-550 are now the work horse Olympus units for recording interviews, sound bites, conferences, lectures, meetings and with the PCM capabilities of the DM-550 music and nature sounds. In our business we use the DM-450 for any onsite recording we do for clients.

The DM-450 retails for $349.00 incl. GST and the DM-550 is $449.00 incl. GST in Australia.

On a budget, short of cash, funds a bit low, boss won’t spend big on technology? Then do Philips and Olympus Voice have a cheap digital voice recorder for you.

The range of digital voice recorders on offer from the two big boys, Olympus & Philips, can be a little bewildering to the average person. With Olympus alone having a range of around fifteen digital voice recording devices starting at the AU$99 (VN-8500PC) and going all the way up to AU$945 (DM-5000iD) the consumer can be forgiven for being a little overwhelmed by the choice.

At the bottom of the pile, in a nice way, are the cheap budget digital voice recorders (note takers) which range from AU$99 to AU$129. These are the most basic of voice recorders but will get you by if you are pinching pennies or do not require all the features and functions that some of the more mainstream recorders provide. Your typical lower end digital voice recorder still however picks up and records pretty good audio. They would not be recommended for important board meetings, focus groups and even sound bites if you are a journalist. But if you are looking to record informal chats, your strumming on a guitar, family oral history recordings and at a push lectures and the like, then these digital recorders will be of interest to you.

What You Get:

• Simple, easy to use recording
• Mac & Windows compatible recorders
• .MP3 or .WMA (Windows Media Audio) Recording
• Digital note taking

What You Don’t Get:

• A digital dictaphone
• High quality, high bit rate stereo recording
• Background noise filtering
• Mic Level adjustment
• PCM Recording
• Mic adjustment – Wide/Narrow/Zoom
• Software for editing, adding notes, sending etc
• Large amounts of memory for storage
• This list would go on and on

So lets take a look at what Olympus and Philips have to offer in their budget range, both have two recorders…

Philips Digital Voice Tracer LFH0612 & LFH0632

From Philips there is the Digital Voice Tracer, DVT for short, models LFH0612 and LFH0632. You would be hard pushed to spot the difference between these two recorders other than the obvious colour. Both have 1Gb of memory, 3 recording modes (HQ, SP, SLP) and both record .mp3 audio files. The only difference we can find is that the LFH0632 has a voice volume indicator whereas the LFH0612 does not. Both units last around 15-20 hours of recording off the 2x AAA batteries.

Olympus VN-8500PC & VN-8600PC

From Olympus we have the VN-8500PC and the VN-8600PC. These little beauties you can tell the difference between on the spec sheet, although interestingly not to look at (unless you look closely and you will see that the VN-8500PC has a narrower speaker grill than the VN-8600PC). The key differences between these two are; VN-8500PC only records in .WMA (can be painful on a Mac) whereas the VN-8600PC records in your choice of .WMA or .MP3. VN-8500PC only has 1Gb of memory whereas the VN-8600PC doubles up with 2Gb of memory giving you longer maximum recording times. Olympus claim to get 51 hours of usage out of the 2x AAA batteries.

Most who buy these recorders would be hard pressed to find much difference between them, alot would be swayed by brand loyalty. Are you a Philips person or an Olympus person?

• Small and lightweight
• Very easy to use
• Excellent audio pickup and quality
• Great price point for a quality voice recorder
• Compatible with Dragon NaturallySpeaking v10 Preferred
• Both Windows and Intel Mac compatible
• Fully featured with variable voice activation (VCVA) and low cut noise filtering

These are just a few of its qualities. So lets look a little closer at this recorder and what it can do.

Click image for larger view

What Can It Be Used For?

The Olympus WS-210S is a bit of all rounder when it comes to digital voice recorders. It is excellent for single speaker note taking, but if you are going to use the recorder for this bear in mind it is a notetaker and not a dictaphone, so audio is recorded in one take, unlike a dictaphone which allows you to stop/start rewind/review your audio. So, because it is a one take recorder it makes it excellent for interviews and small meetings (upto 6 to 8 people but this also depends on the location where recorded). The recorder can also be used in lecture and conference situations where the attendee wants to record what is being said. As a general rule of thumb I tend to say if you can hear the audio clearly then so will the recorder. If you are struggling to hear then recorder will also struggle.

How Do I Listen To My Recordings?

You have a few options.

1. The recorder itself has a small speaker built into the back of it, you can play the audio on the recorder through this small speaker. Be warned it doesn’t sound great through the speaker but is ok for checking that you have captured some audio.
2. Using the supplied stereo headset simply plug that (or your iPod headphones) into the earpiece jack in the top of the unit and listen through the headset where the audio quality will sound alot better than the inbuilt speaker.
3. On your Windows computer or Intel Mac using a huge range of audio playing software like Windows Media Player, Player Lite from Olympus,  ExpressScribe, Audacity the list goes on.

What Software Do I Need?

The recorder does not come with software, it doesn’t need any. The device is pure plug-and-play on any Windows computer or Intel Mac. Once connected the recorder becomes an additional drive and a USB mass storage device allowing you to also store files on the recorder. Audio is recorded to any of the five folders on the device and moving the audio off is simply drag and drop from the recorder to your computer. The Olympus WS-210S records its audio in .WMA (Windows Media Audio) format.

I Use A Mac, I Thought Mac’s Couldn’t Play Windows Media Files?

I use a Mac also and am a huge fan. By default .WMA files can not be played on a Mac, however there are a couple of free plugins that will let you play your .WMA audio on your Mac. One is from Microsoft itself and is Windows Media Player, the other is Flip4Mac – both can be downloaded free from the Microsoft for Mac website – www.mactopia.com

Recording Modes

The Olympus WS-210S comes with 6 different recording modes ranging from Long Play (LP) which will give you a huge 138 hours and 30 minutes of recording time down to STereo eXtra high Quality (STXQ) mode which will give you 8 hours and 50 minutes of recording before the internal memory (512Mb) is full. Please don’t be too excited by the huge amount of recording time in LP mode, there has to be a trade off and this comes in terms of audio quality and pickup.

Whenever I speak to people about the recorders I always recommend you record in the highest recording mode you can, this gives you crisp audio and excellent audio pickup. In STXQ mode you may think 8 hours plus is not much but it is generally way longer than the majority of meetings, interviews and lectures will ever go for. If you are concerned about using up the internal memory just move the audio off the recorder and onto your Windows machine or Mac, the USB 2.0 connection will quickly transfer the audio files from the recorder to your computer. Below is a breakdown of the recording modes and recording times in those modes:

• STXQ (Stereo) Mode – 8 hours, 50 minutes
• STHQ (Stereo) Mode – 17 hours, 40 minutes
• STSP (Stereo) Mode -35 hours, 25 minutes
• HQ Mode – 35 hours 25 minutes
• SP Mode – 69 hours 40 minutes
• LP Mode – 138 hours 30 minutes

Microphone Sensitivity For Dictation or Conference/Meeting/Lectures/Interviews

One of the features of the WS-210S is the ability to change the microphone sensitivity. There are two settings, High Sensitivity to opens the mic up to record sound from all around and Low Sensitivity which narrows the directional recording of the microphone.

High Sensitivity should be used for multi speaker recording like interviews and meetings as well as when picking up audio from a distance like when in a lecture or conference. Low Sensitity mode would be used when recording single speaker dictation and note taking. The sensitivity level set on the recorder is clearly visable on the LCD display.

Even Your Computer Can’t Tell The Difference Between The Recorder And You

The audio that the WS-210S produces is recorded in .WMA (Windows Media Audio) format, this is one of the formats accepted by Dragon NaturallySpeaking Preferred version 10 for deferred transcription. This is when you record your dictation away from your computer, so for example on your WS-210S and when you return to your home or office you can play your recorded voice into Dragon and have it transcribe your dictation for you. Dragon NaturallySpeaking relies on the user training the software to recognise their voice by way of voice training. Training involves you reading a number of short text paragraphs to Dragon NaturallySpeaking and the software learns the way that you speak.

I created a small sample audio file on my Olympus WS-210S and played it into Dragon NaturallySpeaking Preferred to show you exactly how it works. The original audio file I used can be downloaded from here: WS210014.WMA or you can listen to the audio by clicking the icon below:

What’s In The Box?

The Olympus WS-210S comes in a snazzy looking black box and contains:

• Olympus WS-210S (obviously)
• 1x AAA Battery
• 1x Stereo Headphones
• 1x USB Extension Cable
• 1x User Guide (in a gazillion languages)

Are There Any Accessories That Go With The Olympus WS-210S?

The only additional options for the WS-210S are a range of microphones for specific tasks (recording phone conversations, noise reduction, tie pin mic) or a rather ugly brown protective case known as the Olympus CS116 WS Series carry case, there used to be a very nice black leather deluxe case for the WS series recorder called the CS115, this has been discontinued. The microphones available are:

• TP7 for recording telephone calls
• ME52W tie clip high sensitivity noise reduction mic
• ME12 noise cancellation mic
• ME15 tie clip mic

So to sum up the WS-210S is an excellent all round digital voice recorder. The only negatives I can find with it are that it is battery operated only, there is no USB power or external power option although on a single AAA it can go for upto 13 hours on STXQ mode using alkaline batteries. The other small niggle is the battery compartment can be fiddly to open if yuo have large fingers like me and some care needs to be taken with the battery cover door when it is open. As long as you remember this you will have a long happy relationship with your Olympus WS-210S.

The Olympus WS-210S, if purchased from an authorised Olympus Voice Australia reseller like Dictate Australia is covered by a 1 year parts and labour warranty. The RRP in Australia is $395 incl. GST.

Philips DVT Digital Voice Tracers are Windows, Mac & Linux Compatible

In the box I am impressed by the number of goodies. Along with the recorder and the mandatory instruction manual in 752 languages comes a neck strap (handy), batteries so you are ready to go (essential), USB connecting cable (long so no messing around the back of your PC or notebook), stereo headset (nice touch) and a very nice stereo lapel mic, usually an optional extra for most voice recorder manufacturers.

Philips Digital Voice Tracer - DVT - 880 - LFH0880

The recorder itself is lightweight with the batteries in and about the size of a Nokia chocolate bar mobile phone. There is a sticker right over the built in speaker on the front of the unit which is stuck with that special glue, you know the kind that leaves half the sticker attached as you peel it off. Tad annoying.

Powering up the recorder the display is backlight blue so looks good but the display is big and clear. Flicking through the menus isn’t as intuitive as it could be and some initial manual referencing is required to work out things like changing the recording mode and mic sensitivity.

USB plug and play is a breeze on Winows, Mac and also Linux, the device is simply a USB drive so audio is easily accessed via the voice folders where they are stored.

This is recorder has a PCM mode for better than CD quality recording. In our office testing we did find the audio pickup at close range to be excellent like all recorders however it did seem to struggle a little with voices at the end of a large boardroom table. We did the same distance test with an Olympus WS-210S and the picked up clearer audio from a distance that the 880.

Some will like the ability to play music (mp3 and wma) on the recorder and to listen to the radio. I still find this a bit of a gimic in a voice recorder so we didn’t test these functions although I am sure it playes back music as well as any other USB music player. The ability to record FM radio will also appeal to some.

Summing up, the 880 is a good, cheap voice recorder for close range meetings (max 4 or 5 people) and for single speakers. It is very easy to get the audio off of the recorder no matter what platform you use.

Pros:

• Well priced entry level PCM recorder.
• Easy to use.
• Fast easy transfer of files on all platforms – Windows, Mac and Linux.
• Can be USB powered conserving battery life.
• Firmware is user upgradeable giving the end user access to bug fixes and improvements as they are released from Philips.

Cons:

• Poor audio pickup around larger number of speakers, i.e. large boardroom table.
• Navigating the menus could be simpler.