( 90 reviews )
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( 1 of 2 found this review helpful ) Posted: Aug 13 2009
I did not have a chance to try the recorder in action. I received it and was much exited, but the recorder turned out to be defective. I am returning it . Poor quality product for the price
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Posted: Aug 9 2009
I'm glad that my extensive research in voice recorders paid off. You know, is rare when you come across a gadget that makes you almost entirely happy. :))) I can see that Olympus has refined this solid voice recorder through the years. This makes it a mature product which is a better option than going for a MP3 players with integrated mics as your voice recording solution. The DS40 is a versatile machine that ca do many things. The on board mono mic is really good and it compares well with a large external Dynamic mic I have. The stereo mic that is included is also good but no great. I'd recommend getting the external mic Olympus ME52W microphone, which can be used as a lapel microphone, or you can get two of them to use in a binaural setup. The part that I like the most about the DS40 is that it works as an excellent USB microphone, very clean signal and it can operate with no batteries. You can even record up to 96Khz 16bit PCM stereo quality !! For windows XP and newer you don't need any drivers nor to install the included software for it to work as either a USB Audio class Microphone or a USB storage device. As a portable device at its highest quality setting it records using WMA 128 kbps, 44.1 Stereo and the recording is pretty much free of noise or compression artifacts. Also it is a blessing to have an on board speaker, what a difference it makes in comparison with the hassle to carry headphones with the typical MP3 player. In all I'm very happy with the DS40. The imperfections ? No SD card which limits it as a serious music player. No PCM 48Khz stereo recording in stand alone mode. WMA is the only format it records on. Conclusion: The DS40 is a great portable audio capturing device that is much versatile that many other options out there. It excels as a Voice Recorder and as a high quality USB mic which can be enhanced even further with the addition of external mics. If you need only the voice recording part, with no need for stereo or the USB mic, get the Olympus VN-5200PC instead, but the DS40 will retain more it value in time.
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Posted: Aug 8 2009
This has been a wonderful item, from recording my grandsons voices to letting my daughter use it for classes.
