Olympus WS-321M Digital Voice Recorder and WMA Music Player

I preface this with the one caveat that this is my first digital voice recorder, and thus have nothing to compare it to. That said, this little number is fantastic. I'll start with my complaints, as they are generally so minor that I may as well get them out of the way so the reader can safely forget them: Navigating within an audio file can be a pretty arduous task; I tend to record hours at a time and the only way to review it (on the device) is scanning through, which can take quite a while and one has to start all over again if the scan button is accidentally tapped. This is pretty minor though, as the whole point is to transfer the files over to a computer for this sort of operation. Second, the construction feels a little flimsy. Actually, that's probably the wrong word. Light. It feels light. I'm a pretty hands-on kind of guy and heaviness, for me, inspires confidence. On the other hand, it's lightness does allow me to carry it in my breast pocket without shifting my shirt. (It sounds stupid, I know, but regularly carrying heavier things like my cell phone in shirts with stiff collars has given me neck chafing, so it's lightness is probably actually a plus.) Lastly, a memory expansion slot would be nice, maybe microSDHC. I worried about this before buying and, while I have been very pleasantly surprised and satisfied with between thirty and forty hours worth of recording space at the default bitrate, I can see available space becoming an issue for buyers who do plan on using the WS-321M for its MP3 playback. As for the device's positives, basic use is as simple as turning it on and hitting record and navigating the file structure took me all of about fifteen seconds to figure out. I've been almost tempted on a few occasions to actually dig the manual out of my drawer to find out if there's something I'm missing, because nothing should be this simple. The battery life is great; I haven't timed it, but I have been hitting upwards of ten hours of recording, and that is changing the battery (AAA) WELL before it dies. (I'm currently working on an assignment on conversational styles, thus changing batteries would cause subjects to "remember" the recorder and impede the natural flow.) The audio is great as well. I've had it sitting in the middle of my living room, clearly capturing voices all around the room and even in the kitchen (open floor plan, don't know how well audio coming around walls would be captured); in my breast pocket recording conversations while driving; and have even used it for recording music. Granted, it's not so acoustically endowed as to be able to be used for production-quality audio, but capable enough to capture distinct intonations for recording practices, jam sessions, or new song ideas. I have yet to use the MP3 player function, so I will refrain from speaking on that. All in all though, I am EXTREMELY satisfied with my Olympus.

I needed a good digital recorder for law enforcement. So after reading many many reviews. I came up with the Olympus WS-321M digital voice recorder. What I like about this recorder. First I like the simplicity you don't even need instructions to use this. Some I have looked at make you feel like you need to take Digital Recording 101 to use it. I like that you don't have to worry about cords or extra parts to download your interview into evidence. Just plug it into the computer via USB and your done. This recorder is a little more expensive than the $50 models but again I wanted a time saver and not to have to keep up with a cord to down load files, so that aspect was almost invaluable to me. Additionally you can spend a $1000 on these things. I spent $69, found a refurbished one. The going price is about $145. I have had great luck with refurbished electronics. And this recorder is working great as well. The other thing my husband and I tested the sound quality. I wear an external vest carrier at work so my concerns are do I need and external mic with this. The answer no. I actually held the recorder squeezed between my hands covering all the mic ports and speakers. I was able to clearly pic up my husbands voice normally speaking from the next room about 15, to 20' away. Very impressed, I didn't expect that at all. I haven't tried it at work but we did quite a few tests with different background noise levels and simulating an interview. I just can't say enough about how happy I am with this recorder. I'm convinced that I don't ever need to buy the zillion dollar model, this one is great.

Outstanding digital recorder. The ability to directly plug into your laptop or PC makes transferring your data seamless. Also has the ability to create folders to make organization of digital notes very easy. Also has the ability to bookmark specific sections of the recording to make that spot in the recording easy to locate. If you're looking for a digital recorder, I would highly recommend this product as a great option.

I bought this for my wife, a piano teacher, to record her students during their lessons leading up to the annual recital. She is not very techy so I wanted something simple yet with decent recording quality and ease of playback. This unit does the job. She is able to make the recording and play it back immediately for the students so they get instant feedback. Not only that, she is able to connect the unit to her laptop and send the file to the students via e-mail. Everyone has raved about it. The students love hearing themselves and they get to share their music with others. Parents like being able to hear how the kids are doing. In short, it has been a perfect choice for this application.

I'm really not happy with this little guy. It's great that it's just USB, it holds tons, and is nice and tiny, but every recording has an audible hiss, one that gets worse the quieter the voice is--which really gets in the way of trying to capture softer voices. And a total dealbreaker if you're trying to use the actual recording for anything other than transcription. I'm hunting for a different model, one that has all the benefits but less of the hiss. For you, I'd suggest doing the same.