New Olympus DS-65 Digital Voice Recorder Launched In Australia – DS-50 Replacement

Olympus DS-65 Digital Voice Recorder Stereo Mic

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.

Olympus DS-65 Digital Dictaphone

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

read moreNew Olympus DS-65 Digital Voice Recorder Launched In Australia – DS-50 Replacement

Review: Philips 2310 & 2320 USB Foot Control – Express Scribe Compatible

In the dark and mysterious world of transcription, well not really dark and mysterious just needed to make it a little more exciting than it really is, the most common software used by transcription typists is Express Scribe from NCH SwiftSound. This is great software for two key reasons, 1) it is free $0 2) it is Australian made, NCH Swift Sound are an Australia company based in Canberra.

Ergonomic design of the Philips 2310 and 2320 USB Foot Control - Express Scribe Compatible

Primarily because of key reason 1 above this makes it very popular with the army of Virtual Assistants (VAs) around the world who like to include transcription in their portfolio of services offered. Sure on its own Scribe works really well and for some, especially those with no transcription experience, having no footpedal is not a big deal. But for the serious transcriptionist or for people converting from analogue transcription kits (ahh those trusty Pearlcorders), a good reliable foot pedal is a must.

read moreReview: Philips 2310 & 2320 USB Foot Control – Express Scribe Compatible

Ease The Pain When Typing Notes From Digitally Recorded Interviews, Meetings or Focus Groups

I love my job. One of the main reasons for that statement is that I get to speak to broad range of people from all walks of life all across Australia daily. One minute it might be a family member in the bush who wants to record a grandparent telling stories of their life for future family generations to hear and for them to transcibe into a family history record. Next minute it might be a journalist in Melbourne looking for the best voice recorder to grab quick, clear soundbites of someone in the news ready for them to quote in a story later that day.

One thing most people who buy a digital voice recorder have in common is the need to listen to the audio while typing up notes or a verbatum account of the audio. For those who are not in the know, this usually involves playing the audio back through Windows Media Player or QuickTime flicking quickly to Word to type a few words then flicking back to the audio player to stop and rewind so you can hear the last sentence or two again. This in itself will very quickly become tedious and a truely painful experience.

read moreEase The Pain When Typing Notes From Digitally Recorded Interviews, Meetings or Focus Groups

The Easy Way To Record Phone Conversations On Any Telephone

Have you ever finished a phone call and thought gee I wish I could have recorded that conversation? Maybe you are a journalist and regularly interview people by phone or you have regular business meetings by phone? The TP-7 telephone pickup mic from Olympus is a microphone that can be used with any Olympus digital … read more

Help! My Transcriptionist Can’t Play The Audio From My Olympus DS-5000

The Olympus DS-5000 records by default in DSS Pro .ds2 format, this can be changed to standard DSS .dss format by switch to Classic Mode, heres how.

I Dictate, Do You?

Welcome to the start of what I hope will be a long and interesting voyage through the world of digital voice, be it recorded on a dictaphone or notetaker or recognised by your PC or Mac. The digital voice recorder world in Australia has long been dominated by Olympus Voice and closely shadowed by Philips … read more