Big benefits, small shortcomings I wasn't sure what to expect with this thing but I've been pleased thus far.
SOUND: Great quality, amazingly crystal clear sound in STXQ mode (highest setting). Stock stereo mic is actually pretty nice as well; I expected to have to buy another mic, but I don't know quite yet if that's necessary.
INTERFACE: Controls are a bit clumsy but a small price to pay for this quality, and given the extremely limited real estate on this tiny thing, I suppose they did a great job with design. ...
[Olympus DS-40 Digital Voice Recorder review can be read at Amazon.com] | | Amazon.com Rating: 8.0  |
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| Reviewed by: | | | Review Date: | 03/16/2007 | | User Location: | | | Review From: | User Review |  |  |
100% (104 of 104) Users Found This Review Helpful |
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An excellent unit I agree with Jeffery Kissinger's review below, but there are a few points he passed over. My previous recorder was an Olympus WS-310, and the DS-40 is superior in every way.
The DS-40 has great battery life, and ergonomically it has a much better design because button operation is much more positive, and since the screen is very clear, it is easy to see at a glance what is happening.There is never a doubt whether you are recording or not. Another improvement is the ability to play re...
[Olympus DS-40 Digital Voice Recorder review by A. Williams can be read at Amazon.com] | | Amazon.com Rating: 10.0 |
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| Reviewed by: | A. Williams | | Review Date: | 03/09/2007 | | User Location: | Colorado Plateau | | Review From: | User Review | | | |
100% (37 of 37) Users Found This Review Helpful |
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Very good - a few minor issues I am very happy with this device which produces good quality recordings and is easy to use (didn't need to read the manual).
Here are a list of good and not-so-good points:
... Good bits ...
Very good sound quality. The supplied stereo mic (ME-53SH) does a great job and recordings sound very lively. I tend to use the middle sensitivity which gives great near-field recordings. The XQ quality setting sounds fine.
Good battery life. Using XQ (highest qual...
[Olympus DS-40 Digital Voice Recorder review by Andrew Delin can be read at Amazon.com] | | Amazon.com Rating: 8.0 |
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| Reviewed by: | Andrew Delin | | Review Date: | 09/09/2007 | | User Location: | Australia | | Review From: | User Review | | | |
100% (28 of 28) Users Found This Review Helpful |
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Great recorder for a band I upgraded to the DS-40 because of its better stereo microphone, higher output to a stereo and better bass response. I use it to record a rock & blues band at practices & gigs. It records incredibly well with plenty of definition and does NOT distort under even very LOUD conditions. Easy to edit with the included software, I can separate the individual songs out from the hour long set tracks easily. Index marks make it easy to mark beginnings & ends of songs or solo's for editing. Solidly built,...
[Olympus DS-40 Digital Voice Recorder review can be read at Amazon.com] | | Amazon.com Rating: 10.0 |
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| Reviewed by: | | | Review Date: | 06/07/2007 | | User Location: | | | Review From: | User Review | | | |
100% (20 of 20) Users Found This Review Helpful |
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Easy and convenient I bought this product to record stories my 4-year-old daughter made up at bedtime. I was amazed how well the built in microphone picked up her voice--very clear. I have a MAC and plugging in the USB and opening files was seamless - it acted just like a jump drive. Additionally, with a free converter (iPod doesn't like WMA files) I was able to put the recodings on my iPod. Very, very pleased with this product.
[Olympus DS-40 Digital Voice Recorder review by Kimberly A. Selber can be read at Amazon.com] | | Amazon.com Rating: 10.0 |
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| Reviewed by: | Kimberly A. Selber | | Review Date: | 03/28/2007 | | User Location: | Austin, TX United States | | Review From: | User Review | | | |
100% (20 of 20) Users Found This Review Helpful |
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Very useful and well designed, with enough features to meet my future needs As an aspiring writer I use this digital voice recorder to remember ideas, record dreams and free associate. To these ends, the different folders available on the device help me to keep these different recordings organized. There are 5 primary folders labeled A-E that can be given folder names such as Ideas, Dict., and Archive.
The microphone has three settings: Lecture, Conf(erence) and Dict(ation). I mainly use the dictation setting with the recorder a half foot from my mouth. T...
[Olympus DS-40 Digital Voice Recorder review by B. Turner can be read at Amazon.com] | | Amazon.com Rating: 10.0 |
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| Reviewed by: | B. Turner | | Review Date: | 09/18/2007 | | User Location: | Dallas, Texas USA | | Review From: | User Review | | | |
100% (18 of 18) Users Found This Review Helpful |
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learn the basics first, then start recording to save hassles * good sound, but learn about various recording levels (ST XQ, ST HQ, HQ, SP, LP) first before recording. the long recording time they promise is actually LP-setting, which is a narrower width/lower quality of recording.
* advice: set the VCA as soon as you get it to prevent accidently shutting off mid-recording without you knowing it. familiarize yourself with mic levels early, as well as noise reduction, lowcut filter.
* stylish, thin, light, easy to navigate once you...
[Olympus DS-40 Digital Voice Recorder review by Echo can be read at Amazon.com] | | Amazon.com Rating: 6.0 |
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| Reviewed by: | Echo | | Review Date: | 04/14/2008 | | User Location: | NY, NY | | Review From: | User Review | | | |
100% (17 of 17) Users Found This Review Helpful |
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Forget Sony products, Olympus is taking over in the classroom... I am in business school and experience difficulties simultaneously taking notes for two hours straight and absorbing all of the professors' dictated material. I originally bought the Sony ICD-SX46 and was sorry I did. It's dependent on the Digital Voice Software and is egregiously slow transferring files. I went to B & H Photo and a salesman recommended this unit. The DS40 is so much better! You don't need the 3rd party software, since your pc will see it as another drive. In addition, the trans...
[Olympus DS-40 Digital Voice Recorder review by Peter P. Kim "amateur bowler, can be read at Amazon.com] | | Amazon.com Rating: 8.0 |
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| Reviewed by: | Peter P. Kim "amateur bowler, | | Review Date: | 05/31/2007 | | User Location: | New York City, USA | | Review From: | User Review | | | |
100% (16 of 16) Users Found This Review Helpful |
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Superb field recorder Using for dictation, field audio (nature sounds), podcast audio, multimedia sound track raw audio. Excellent with many handy features at a fraction of the price of "real" field recorders. Great for many audio purposes. Using with built-in mic and professional (Sennheiser) short shotgun mic.
[Olympus DS-40 Digital Voice Recorder review can be read at Amazon.com] | | Amazon.com Rating: 10.0 |
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| Reviewed by: | | | Review Date: | 06/26/2007 | | User Location: | | | Review From: | User Review | | | |
100% (12 of 12) Users Found This Review Helpful |
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Olympus DS40 Digital Voice Recorder Generally very satisfied with this latest technology product. My only negative is the fact that very little info is in the user manual on using a digital recorder, with the capability of uploading the recordings to a PC, for copying my considerable collection of mini-cassette recordings.
I called customer service and it seems they were not prepared to give me help with using the proper settings for going from cassette to digital recorder. It seems to me that many others might want to do ...
[Olympus DS-40 Digital Voice Recorder review can be read at Amazon.com] | | Amazon.com Rating: 8.0 |
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| Reviewed by: | | | Review Date: | 04/23/2007 | | User Location: | | | Review From: | User Review | | | |
100% (12 of 12) Users Found This Review Helpful |