| I have sold many brands and models of Digital Voice | | | | reduce background noise in recordings made in noisy |
| Recorders, during this time I have tested many | | | | surroundings. In effect, the function treats the loudest |
| recorders. I would have to say that the Olympus | | | | sounds as the most important and reduces other |
| DS-30 Digital Voice Recorder is one of the most well | | | | sounds to make dictation clearer. |
| rounded voice recorders as far the design and | | | | You can adjust the playback speeds with the DS-30 |
| features it offers for the price. I like the Olympus | | | | to meet your listening needs! Playback speeds vary |
| DS-30 so much that I use it for a lot of my dictation | | | | from .5 times the speed of the original recording for |
| and personal recording. | | | | slow playback to 1.5 times the original speed for faster |
| I use this recorder for dictating a daily audio journal, | | | | playback. The slow speed comes in handy when you |
| recording memos, and recording meetings. Recording | | | | are transcribing while the faster speed comes in handy |
| memos works great because of the compact design | | | | when you need to listen to a lenthy recording that you |
| of the DS-30, I can carry it around easy in my pocket | | | | need to speed through. |
| and I hardly notice its even there, and when I need to | | | | Pros |
| record a quick reminder or an idea it's always with me! | | | | As an overall voice recorder the pros of the DS-30 |
| I have been very impressed with the ability of the | | | | far outweigh the cons! The display on the DS-30 is a |
| DS-30 to record in settings where there is a large | | | | blacklist display that lights up when being used, so you |
| group of people. I have used the recorder in many of | | | | can easily see the screen in complete darkness! The |
| my church meetings; I record in a meeting room full of | | | | external speaker packs a punch and can easily be |
| at least 200 people including children and babies. I just | | | | heard even in a noisy room. The DS-30 has five |
| set it to record in lecture mode with the low-cut filter | | | | different recording folders that can hold 200 files a |
| on and then when I play it back I set it to play back | | | | piece; you can custom name these folders with the |
| with noise canceling. When I play back recordings from | | | | DSS Player software that comes with the recorder. |
| church meetings I am very impressed with how clearly | | | | The DS-30 recorder also comes with a USB cable |
| I can hear the speaker despite all the back ground | | | | that easily enables you to transfer files to you |
| noise and poor recording conditions! | | | | computer, your computer automatically recognizes it |
| One of the greatest features the Olympus DS-30 has | | | | when you plug it in! An external detachable microphone |
| is the ability to Index Mark. Index Marks: are digital tags | | | | (ME-53) comes with the DS-30 which enables higher |
| that can be inserted while recording or during playback. | | | | quality stereo recording. Cosmetically the DS-30 just |
| They are used to skip forward or backward in | | | | looks sleek, stylish, and compact. You can also load |
| recordings to pre-selected points. Up to 16 Index Marks | | | | some of your favorite MP3 music files and play them |
| can be added to a single file. When I am listening to a | | | | back. |
| lecture and I hear something interesting I can mark key | | | | Cons |
| points in the audio file that I can easily navigate back to | | | | Believe it or not, I did find a few cons for the DS-30. It |
| at a later time. | | | | records in WMA format which can a bit of headache |
| Recording Modes | | | | for people using a Mac computer because it can only |
| With three recording modes Olympus really knows | | | | be played on a Mac if you get Windows Media Player |
| how to make a Digital Voice Recorder they have | | | | for Mac. The DSS software that comes with the |
| taken into account all the environments someone | | | | recorder does not have a feature to convert the audio |
| would need to record in with the DS-30. Lecture Mode: | | | | into any other format. So you're stuck with WMA files |
| has the highest microphone sensitivity and works great | | | | unless you download or purchase a third party audio |
| with large crowds and recording audio at a distance or | | | | conversion program. |
| low volume. Conference Mode: works great in | | | | I was not impressed with the overall quality of MP3 |
| recording meetings and seminars with a small number | | | | audio playback, if you are looking for a recorder that |
| of people. Dictation Mode: perfect for individual | | | | gives better quality MP3 playback I would consider the |
| dictation. The DS-30 records as much as 67 hours in | | | | Olympus WS series. The WS series has an equalizer |
| the lowest audio quality mode while it records about 4 | | | | and SRS Wow technology for enhanced playback. |
| hours in the highest recording quality mode. | | | | The DS-30 has a good amount of memory, 256 |
| There are also other recording settings you can adjust | | | | megabits; this is enough for most folks but can come |
| with the Olympus DS-30; my favorite is the LowCut | | | | up short for many users. The DS-30 Boasts an |
| filter. The LowCut Filter: minimizes low-frequency | | | | incredible 67 hours of recording time but this in the |
| sounds and record voices more clearly. The function | | | | lowest possible quality mode, which I never use (the |
| can reduce noise from air conditioners, projectors, and | | | | quality is simply awful) and it only records 4 hours in |
| other types of "white noise." | | | | the highest quality mode. For someone who wants to |
| Playback Modes | | | | record for long periods of time in high quality modes I |
| You can set the DS-30 to several playback modes so | | | | would recommend the Olympus DS-40 or DS-50 |
| that you will get the best quality playback and optimum | | | | which are basically the same recorder but with more |
| speed. The Olympus DS-30 Digital Voice Recorder | | | | memory. |
| features Noise Cancel: which can be enabled to | | | | |