Olympus voice are an innovative bunch, they don’t tend to sit on their hands doing not a lot, they keep refining and evolving their range of digital voice recorders. It is not uncommon to see digital voice recorder models come and go in the space of a single year. As such we often find customers coming back after years of use to replace their digital note taker or dictaphone only to find that their old model voice recorder has been replaced by a newer model.

In an attempt to make finding the current equivalent voice recorder to replace your old trusty Olympus digital voice recorder a little easier I have compiled a list of old models and their latest equivalents. This list covers PCM music recorders, interview/meeting/focus group recorders, budget recorders, the Pro range of digital dictaphones and finally Olympus digital transcription kits.

Olympus WS Series Digital Note Takers

The latest range of WS Series digital voice recorders from Olympus are:

• Olympus WS-811 – 2Gb – WMA, MP3 recording
• Olympus WS-812 – 4Gb – PCM WAV, WMA, MP3 recording
• Olympus WS-813 – 8Gb – PCM WAV, WMA, MP3 recording

These three replace the following list of WS series recorders:

• Olympus WS-100
• Olympus WS-110S
• Olympus WS-200S
• Olympus WS-210S
• Olympus WS-300M
• Olympus WS-310M
• Olympus WS-311M
• Olympus WS-320M
• Olympus WS-321M
• Olympus WS-331M
• Olympus WS-450S
• Olympus WS-550M
• Olympus WS-560M
• Olympus WS-650S
• Olympus WS-750M
• Olympus WS-760M

Olympus VN Series Basic Digital Notetakers

• Olympus VN-2100PC discontinued, equivalent Olympus VN-8500PC or VN-8600PC
• Olympus VN-3100PC discontinued, equivalent Olympus VN-8500PC or VN-8600PC
• Olympus VN-3500PC discontinued, equivalent Olympus VN-8500PC or VN-8600PC
• Olympus VN-5500PC discontinued, equivalent Olympus VN-8500PC or VN-8600PC
• Olympus VN-6800PC discontinued, equivalent Olympus VN-8500PC or VN-8600PC
• Olympus VN-8500PC discontinued, equivalent Olympus VN-711PC
• Olympus VN-8600PC discontinued, equivalent Olympus VN-712PC

Olympus DP Series Basic Digital Notetaker

• Olympus DP-20 discontinued, equivalent Olympus DP-211

Olympus DM Series Digital Meeting Recorders

• Olympus DM-450 discontinued, equivalent Olympus DM-3
• Olympus DM-550 discontinued, equivalent Olympus DM-5

Olympus DS Series Digital Meeting Recorders

• Olympus DS-30 discontinued, equivalent Olympus DM-3
• Olympus DS-40 discontinued, equivalent Olympus DM-3
• Olympus DS-50 discontinued, equivalent Olympus DM-3
• Olympus DS-55 discontinued, equivalent Olympus DM-3
• Olympus DS-65 discontinued, equivalent Olympus DM-3

Olympus DS Series Digital Dictaphones

• Olympus DS-2200 discontinued, equivalent Olympus DS-2500
• Olympus DS-2300 discontinued, equivalent Olympus DS-2500
• Olympus DS-3300 discontinued, equivalent Olympus DS-3500
• Olympus DS-4000 discontinued, equivalent Olympus DS-7000
• Olympus DS-2400 discontinued, equivalent Olympus DS-2500
• Olympus DS-3400 discontinued, equivalent Olympus DS-3500
• Olympus DS-5000 & DS-5000iD discontinued, equivalent Olympus DS-7000

Olympus LS Series Digital PCM Music Recorders

• Olympus LS-10 discontinued, equivalent Olympus LS-3
• Olympus LS-11 discontinued, equivalent Olympus LS-3

Olympus Digital Transcription Kits

• Olympus AS-2300 discontinued, equivalent AS-2400
• Olympus AS-4000 discontinued, equivalent AS-7000
• Olympus AS-5000 discontinued, equivalent AS-7000

If your older model Olympus digital voice recorder is not on the list please leave a comment with the model number and I will add it.

Some surprising news out of Olympus Australia yesterday, the Olympus DS-50 digital voice recorder which was perfect for large meetings and focus groups has been discontinued in Australia and replaced with a new model the Olympus DS-65.

With the demise of the DS-50 I would assume that the days are numbered also for the popular DS-30 and DS-40 recorders, likely they will both be replaced when the DS-55 comes down under in the near future.

From the outside the blue DS-65 looks the same as the DS-50, same size, same fantastic stereo mic tagged on the top. The difference between the models lies in the internals. Some of the key differences with the Olympus DS-65 are:

• 2Gb of internal memory (double that of the DS-50 which had 1Gb)
• Max. recording time of 33hours 50mins on the highest quality recording mode STXQ
• Support for Audible .aa audio format for audio books

The Olympus DS-65 comes in at the same RRP as the DS-50 which is currently $795 incl. GST and is available now from Dictate Australia and other official Olympus Australia distributors.

Here are the full specifications for the Olympus DS-65…

Storage Media
Internal memory    2 GB

USB functionality
USB storage class    Hi speed

Display
Display Backlit    Yes

Recording Mode
Recording format    WMA (recording), WMA / MP3
LP    530 h 50 min
SP    266 h 50 min
HQ    135 h 30 min
STSP    135 h 30 min
XHQ    67 h 40 min
STHQ    33 h 50 min

Sampling frequency
STXQ    44.1 kHz / 128 kbps
STEREO HQ    44.1 kHz / 64 kbps
STEREO SP    22 kHz 32 kbps
HQ    44.1 kHz / 32 kbps
SP    22 kHz / 16 kbps
LP    8 kHz / 8 kbps

Overall frequency response
STXQ    50 – 19.000 Hz
STHQ    50 – 16.000 Hz
STSP    50 – 9.000 Hz
HQ    50 – 13.000 Hz
SP    100 – 8.000 Hz
LP    100 – 3.000 Hz

Data organisation
Folder voice:    5 + Music (variable)
Files per folder:    200 / Variable (Music)
Folder Audible:    1
Temp mark:    Yes

Record & Playback function
Rec Monitor:    Yes
File move:    Yes
VCVA recording:    Yes VCVA (voice activation) for hands free recording
Voice filter:    Yes
Index:    Up to 16 in one file
Noise canceling function:    Yes
Cue/Review:    Yes
Fast forward and rewind:    Yes
Erase function:    all / single / lock file
Playback speed:    Adjustable (50 – 200%)
EUPHONY:    Yes
Zoom Mic. Setting (DVM):    Yes
Skip Playback:    Yes
Alarm playback:    Yes, of preset file
Repeat playback:    Yes
Continuous playback:    Yes
Noise canceling feature:    Reduces backround noise

Other Features
Low-cut recording    Yes
Audible support    Yes
Podcast support    Yes
Voice feedback / guidance    Yes
Remote Control for DS-30/40/50    Yes

Interfaces Input
Microphone sensitivity    Dictation / Conference / Lecture
Microphone jack    3.5 ø mm / Impedance, 1.4 kΩ
PC interface    USB Cable

Interfaces Output
Speaker    Built-in ø23 mm round dynamic speaker
Max. working output    250 mW or more (8 Ω speaker)
Earphone jack    3.5 ø mm jack, impedance 8Ω or more

Power Supply
Power Supply    2 AAA Batteries, Plug-in power system
Alkaline battery life    Recording: 32 h

Playback: Approx. 28 hours

Dimensions
Weight    80 g (incl. alkaline batteries)
WxHxD    111 x 37.5 x 16 mm (with microphone)