Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 6-10 of 90
 Quality of the actual equipment is stellar but using it makes you want to pull your hair out. February 12, 2008
Mary Jean Wallace (Louisiana)
33 out of 33 found this review helpful
I'm am oral historian using the recorder to record oral histories from elderly interviewees. I actually bought this recorder to upgrade from my old "Sony ICDP320 - 64MB Digital Voice Recorder w/ PC connectivity" I purchased from AMAZON a few years ago for around $60.00. I needed to upgrade my sound quality, I figured at an original price of 200.00- and all the great reviews, the Olympus was the way to go.
First of all, the sound quality is amazing. I use it with an external microphone, "Sony ECMMS907 Digital Recording Microphone" also purchased on AMAZON for around 75.00. It's great as it cuts down on the external noise that the recorder tends to produce. Less paper shuffling background noise, or when you have to pick up the recorder-- it doesn't distort the sound. This recorder plus the sony microphone produce wonderful quality audio. I'm not a professional, but I am very happy with the results.
When I got home tonight to upload my audio on my computer and do a little editing, I was shocked to find the recorder WILL NOT CONVERT THE FILES FROM WMA. I did not realize I could not edit/move or generally touch the WMA files with any program. There is a button on the task bar that offers to convert the files to .WAV, but it never lights up. After much hair pulling I purchased the $10.00 editing program upgrade offered. No luck and still no conversion. 10 bucks wasted.
Interestingly, my old 70.00 recorder will download the audio into ANY format you want, MP3, Wav, WMA- whatever. I am shocked to learn this 200.00 recorder limits me to one format. Now I have to search the internet to find a free conversion program that will not sacrifice the quality I just paid so dearly to get. I certainly don't want to shell out another 50.00 for a conversion program just to be able to access MY files!
Also, the downloading program is not intuitive and it is difficult to use. Editing is a joke.
I don't understand why the software side of this recorder is SO horrible when the recorder is SO good! I don't know whether to keep it and deal with the frustration or return it and deal with bad quality.
 Nice recorder. Works great on my MAC. January 29, 2008
Stanz (New York)
25 out of 25 found this review helpful
FYI, I don't know why people are saying this recorder is not Mac compatible, I've had no problems. I'm not using it for podcasting or anything, but I can attach the cable to my machine, it pops up in finder, and I can copy the .wma files to wherever. Quicktime has no trouble playing them, but more than that, you can still install the DSS software that comes with the recorder. Yes, there is a DSS-Installer.app file in the ENGLISH subdirectory of the installation CD that will install the application to your Mac. Then you get all the editing and cue-ing etc. functionality that the windows users are enjoying. FYI, I'm using OS X (10.5.1) Leopard.
As a recorder, it's great so far. Haven't had any problems, could do with a longer battery life, but I'll live.
 Versatile and Dependable May 25, 2007
Charles Lyons, Ph.D. (Houston, Texas)
23 out of 23 found this review helpful
Let me say at the outset that I have been very pleased with the Olympus DS30. This is the third recorder of this style that I have owned. The first was a micro-cassette unit and latter an Olympus Digital VN-1000. Although both are still in working condition the DS30 is far superior in quality of sound and of course the speed of transfer of recorded sound to my PC for storage and additional applications.
While my previous recorders had to be audio cabled to my PC and then transferred or recorded in real time, the DS30 transfers by a USB cable and the software which is provided. The process is simple and I had no issues the first time I went through the process. I accomplish editing of the files by using the software that came with the DS30 to simply export the file to a folder on the PC. I then use my Cakewalk recording / editing software to edit (clip off rough beginnings or pull out portions I need for saving or editing.)
The whole process is pretty simple if you are used to using audio editing software. I use the DS30 for 3 basic applications. I receive a lot of voice mail, typically about 200 messages a week, and these messages are long and detailed, about 3-5 minutes in length. When I review the messages I need the detail and need to be able to stop and start and often transcribe. The voice-mail package is not designed for easy stop and go or editing. So while retrieving the voice-mail messages I leave the recorder by the speaker phone and transcribe as fast as I can. Then I can play back, stop and start with ease using the DS30 later. Messages that need to be retained can be moved to the PC and archived.
Second big application is for interviewing. I am a writer and it is so much better to have the audio recording of the interview to work with. Although I take a lot of paper notes, knowing that the recorder is going allows me to get more detail. The recorder gets all the words and the background sounds that I may actually miss while interviewing. I get down on paper all the facial expressions, ambience of the location and details to refer back to, and of course great quotes - after all writer's write.
Finally, I keep it with me at all times. Even my trusty Franklin Planner hasn't yet learned to open itself and take notes while I drive. In dictate mode (did I mention the DS30 can adjust the recording sensitivity from lecture to conference to dictation?) I can make audio notes of ideas while I'm driving or recording locations and address information when it is not safe or convenient to stop the car and make notes.
If you haven't had a similar style recorder the experience will seem forced at first. If you adapt to it you will soon find that you can't imagine not having it with you. I can't address the battery life yet as I have been using the DS30 actively for about three weeks and still the batteries are fine. My first concern with the unit was that it seemed fragile for the way I use it. I looked for a cover of some type for it with no success. Yet to my surprise after three weeks of active use there is not so much as a scratch on the unit. I am very pleased with the DS30's performance, price, quality and dependability.
Wow! Super-intuitive design and superior sound. Very happy. February 15, 2007
Pen name (Chicago, IL USA)
21 out of 21 found this review helpful
I stumbled on the Olympus DS 30 when looking for a replacement for the DS 2 which was kind of a disappointment and ultimately I chucked it.
No one had reviewed this model yet (it must be very new) so I was leery to purchase it. But I did and I'm very happy. I can't speak to the raw technical details of digital recorders, but for the laymen's purposes, this is a superior recorder for dictation and much more.
For example, I recorded a flamenco concert last night with the DS 30 and even though the acoustics in the theater were poor, I have a very good recording which I easily downloaded into my itunes. It wasn't nothin' but a button to do, either. Very simple to use and to download. I may experiment with the podcasting features next.
The design is much better than the DS 2. The controls are intuitive and I easily navigate from menu to menu whereas I said a little prayer before doing any maneuvers on the DS 2. The screen is bigger and much brighter than the DS 2.
I was also leery about the stereo mike attachment. I thought it would compromise the compactness of the recorder. I was very happy to be wrong. Even with the attachment, the DS 30 was shorter and thinner than the DS 2. It's easily removable too. There's also a built-in mike so you don't have to use the stereo mike attachment if you'd rather not. But since it's so compact, there's no reason to remove it.
Purchase this recorder with confidence. It's run a few laps around my expectations already.
 Not for Mac users September 4, 2007
Gracenote Editorial (Phoenix, AZ)
20 out of 22 found this review helpful
I bought the DS-30 in part because of the Olympus reputation for compatibility with Mac operating systems and because, in addition to offering folders for voice recordings, it had folders for downloading audible and podcasting files. Turns out: Nah. If you have a Mac (OS X), you're out of luck. They wrote no code to handle that. Something they did not bother to mention on their DS-30 page. And apparently they have no plans to change that, or they might have actually responded to my (snail-mailed) inquiry.
If you use OS X, half of this equipment will be inoperable. Look elsewhere.
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