Home > Consumer Reviews > Olympus DS-2 Digital Voice Recorder

The Olympus DS-2 Digital Voice Recorder is one of those breakthrough products that makes me want to recommend it to everyone I see.

Digital voice recorders have been around for a number of years and I have owned a few, a Sony and an older Olympus model. They have previously been very disappointing, mostly because of the poor sound quality. Comparing the DS-2 to older digital voice recorders is like comparing a high-end stereo system with a Victrola.

The DS-2 is a reasonably sized, very configurable digital voice recorder. But the term "voice recorder" is not the best description of this little gem. You will discover, as I did, that the quality of recording can be so good that you can easily record music and be quite satisfied with the incredible sound. It has a built-in stereo microphone and you can also attach an external stereo (or mono) microphone using the mini-jack mic input.

The built in speaker has decent output for its size. You can also use headphones or connect to a stereo or other audio device using the headphone output jack. I use a cassette tape adapter in my car which enables me to listen to my audio notes on my car stereo while driving.

The DS-2 has 5 different recording modes. 2 of them are Stereo (Stereo HQ-Stereo High Quality recording and Stereo SP-Stereo Standard recording) and the other 3 are mono (HQ-high quality, SP-standard recording, LP-long term recording). Olympus uses two different recording formats, WMA and DSS, depending on which recording mode you are in. WMA mode is used for all stereo recordings as well as the highest quality mono mode (HQ). The DSS format is used for the 2 lesser quality recording modes, SP and LP.

Recording time for the DS-2 can be as much as 22 Hours 20 Minutes in LP mode and as short as 1 Hour 5 Minutes in Stereo HQ mode. If you are using the DS-2 strictly for dictation or general voice reminders, you will be quite pleased with the recording quality in the lowest quality mode, LP. And remember that in this mode you can record for over 22 hours. I think that is pretty amazing. If you bump up the quality to SP, you can still record for over 10 hours. HQ mode records for over 4 hours. Stereo SP mode records for over 2 hours and Stereo HQ mode records for just over 1 hour.

You can alternate recording modes and your total time will adjust according to whatever mode you happen to be in.

The DS-2 display is small but more than adequate. The text is sharp and clear, while the back-lighting makes visibility excellent during daylight or in dark situations. There is contrast adjustment

The unit uses 2-AAA batteries. You can also use NIMH batteries if you want to be able to recharge batteries. Battery life is pretty good averaging about 10-12 hour while recording or 8-10 hours of playback.

The unit also comes with a USB docking station and software which works on both Macs and PCs. This enables you to upload audio files to your computer where you can then listen to them or just store them

Here are some of the other features of this device...

-5 folders which can hold 199 files each for a maximum of 995 recordings. You can also name your folders something other than the default "Folder A, Folder B", etc. There are also some pre-set folder names available such as ""Meeting", "Memo", "Note", and so on. Although it is tedious to change folder names on the player itself, using the DSS software and making the changes via the computer is a breeze.

-VCVA (variable control voice actuator). A fancy phrase that simply means you can set the device to only record when a certain loudness threshold has been reached. This enables you to avoid recording silence thus effectively extending the total recording time. This feature is very adjustable and you can adjust it to compensate for ambient background noise.

-Mic sensitivity can be adjusted for either "Dictation" which is lower sensitivity or "Conference" which is high sensitivity.

-Timer record function lets you set the recorder to begin recording at a specified time.

-File Comments: You can enter up to 100 characters to name a file. There are also 10 pre-set comments such as "Important", "Confidential", "Priority" and so on. Although it is tedious to add file comments on the player itself, using the DSS software and making the changes via the computer is a breeze.

-Noise Cancel Function: The recorder has a feature to reduce background noise during playback. This can be useful if the recording was made in an environment with a lot of background noise.

-Alarm: You can specify a time for an alarm to sound and you can also attach a specific file to play after the alarm is turned off. This is a great feature for giving you audio reminders at specified times.

-Variable playback speed: You can vary the playback speed in intervals up to 2x. This is great for listening to long recordings in half the time.

-Index Marks: You can "mark" files during recording or playback with up to 16 index marks per file. This is handy for quickly accessing specific parts of a long lecture, for instance.

-Files can be moved from one folder to another.

-The device can also be used as external memory for your computer...for the transport of files to another computer for instance.

The features are numerous, but easily accessed via an intuitive menu system.

I absolutely love this little device. It is an excellent performer with great features at a very good price. It is an excellent value overall.

As far as I can tell only Sony, Panasonic, and Olympus manufacture digital voice recorders. The Sony web site SORELY lacks good technical information on their units. In contrast the Olympus web site is rich in technical info and specs for their units. You can even download the DS-2 manual in .pdf format. The DS-2's sofware (DSS Player) is Macintosh compatible (OS X). It is clean, intuitive, and very functional even though it looks a bit OS 9-ish. It converts the .wma or .dss files to .aiff for manipulation in Garageband, iTunes, or Quicktime Pro. The DS-2 is simple to use and I am pleased with the sound quality right out of the recorder.

The Olympus DS-2 has become my memory, and my safety net at work. I can't imagine working without it.

So why would I only give it 4 stars? It's not perfect. Let me give a few reasons and caveats:

First, the bad...

It's 64MB. I knew the recording time going in, and I'm not complaining -- it's just a touch expensive given the memory size in my opinion. Wish it were 128 for this price.

There is no on-off; just a "hold" that essentially turns it off, sort of. Not a big deal, but you wouldn't know it unless you read the instructions thoroughly.

Finally, the menus. I really would suggest reading the manual about the recording lengths and qualities. Within the menu structure, it doesn't say whether you're recording as .wma or .dss, just hi-quality, super hi-quality, etc. etc.

Now the good...

It records in .wma file format. This is key for me. I did not, and will not be installing the software that comes with the product. I'm sure it's fine, but a great selling point for me was that the recorder acts as a mass storage device under Windows XP. What's that mean? You plug it in, and it's recognized as a drive. You open it, and it has a matching 5 folders - the same 5 folders that are available on the menu. Open them, and you see the .wma files. Drag them on your desktop. Double click, and they play. Windows Media Player goes to work without any conversions or proprietary software. Also, Ctrl-Shift-G speeds up the recording to 1.5 times. Even better! Read the manual to be sure that you have the device in Mass Storage Class mode.

The microphone is excellent! You'll notice the frequency response on the specs. It's pretty darn wide. Nothing below 100hz, but that's fine for voice. I don't think I'd try hi-fi recording, but the .wma at 128 is pretty darn crisp, even if you only get 1 hour of that. If you're picky, it has a mic port on a 1/8" on top.

Oh yes, the mic plug port. My lifesaver! (Follow all of your local laws here, of course.) I record business calls. Find a $7 phone mic (your local RShack) and you can keep a phone record of conversations, too. How many foreign dialects have you heard that you wish you could go back and listen to again?

It's USB. Very important to me. I don't have to do anything special to move files. The little dock is nice, but totally unnecessary. I generally just take the included cable.

I wish I had this in college. I could have slept a whole lot more.

I bought this digital recorder solely for the purpose of using it with Dragon NaturallySpeaking 8 voice recognition software. As other reviewers have previously pointed out, installing the DS-2 software and integrating it with Dragon NaturallySpeaking 8 is not as user friendly as I would have liked. I had to pay $9.95 to upgrade to "Plus" status, and then instructions were unclear as to how the DS-2 software actually got upgraded (e.g. I had no idea what form the upgrade came in). This was terribly frustrating since I had paid for an upgrade but wasn't told what the next steps were to find and to install the upgrade.

Once payment for your upgrade is accepted,however, you receive a licence number with the payment confirmation. I found a place in the DS-2 software to enter the licence number and presto!, the software upgraded itself. It is a shame that I had to experiment and improvise to figure out what to do next.

The Olympus manufacturers seem to assume that consumers know what they know and therefore do not need to be instructed clearly on what to do to upgrade and when to do it.

If you are smart and focused, you will figure it out. It's a shame that Olympus doesn't include easy instructiions for the consumer.

Bottom line, however, I got the DS-2 software and Dragon NaturallySpeaking 8 to integrate and I am one very happy camper. The recorder is light, records beautifully and crisply, and is easy to operate.

I have owned two DS-2 recorders and both have broken within months of buying them. The first just died. One day I turned it on and ... nothing. Dead. On the second, the control screen went blank. The recorder still functioned for a while, but I couldn't see what I was doing.

If I pay $125 for something, I expect it to last longer than a couple of months. While I used the recorders often, I never put them through any excessive wear and tear. Most of the time, they remained in my briefcase, padded and protected.

Olympus Customer Service gets a big F. I tried calling Olympus tech support three times, and each time I got stuck on hold in voicemail limbo. Finally, on the fourth call, after spending half an hour on hold, I got a representative who told me what to do: ship it back and wait for weeks before they could tell me even if it could be fixed or if it would cost me anything. I'm a newspaper reporter, so working without a recorder was not an option. (That's why I bought the second one, which I admit was stupid.)

What's more, they wanted me to show a receipt to prove the warranty was still in effect - never mind that the DS-2 recorders had not been on the market long enough for the warranty to have expired.

When it worked, I loved the DS-2 because the controls were well designed and easy to use, the sound quality was astonishing (especially in stereo), and the device was compatible with my Apple PowerBook. However, if I owned a PC or if Sony made a Mac-compatible voice recorder, I would stay away from Olympus products for good. If you have another option that doesn't involve Olympus, take it.