Which Digital Voice Recorder Is Right For Me?

Buying a digital voice recorder can be a little perplexing. The range of models, features and price varies and requires quite a bit of Googling to work out which model does what.

We try to take some of the pain away by having a "compare" box on the left side of the website to give you as much detail as possible about all the recorders. Here are the links:

Compare Olympus VN2100-PC & VN3100-PC - Basic Notetakers
Compare Olympus WS Series Digital Recorders
Compare Olympus DS Series Advanced and Pro Digital Voice Recorders

We can also help you narrow down the right model for your needs. Just give us a call, send us an email or grab us via the live chat on our website. If you are shy and don't like the idea of talking to someone who is excited about digital voice recorders (er .. thats me) then here is a simple guide for you.

• I want to record single speaker (i.e. only me talking) recording notes and letters.
• I want to record one on one interviews that will always be carried out in a quiet office across a desk.
• I do not need the ability to rewind audio, hear what I just said and then tag audio on the end, much like the old style analogue dictaphones. I am happy just hitting record to start and stop to end the recording.
• I use a Mac. I use Windows XP. I use Windows Vista.

The best recorder for you would be the Olympus WS-110.

• I want to record single speaker (i.e. only me talking) recording notes and letters.
• I will be recording interviews with two or three people in my office and in quiet environments.
• I do not need the ability to rewind audio, hear what I just said and then tag audio on the end, much like the old style analogue dictaphones. I am happy just hitting record to start and stop to end the recording.
• I use a Mac. I use Windows XP. I use Windows Vista.

The best recorder for you would be the Olympus WS-210S.

• I want to record single speaker (i.e. only me talking) recording notes and letters.
• I will be recording interviews and meetings with a few people both in my office and over lunch or in a cafe with background noise.
• I am a reporter and need to grab sound bites while out and about.
• I am a student and want to record lectures I attend.
• I am going to a conference and want to record the audio at a conference.
• I want the ability to record directly to my computer hard drive bypassing the inbuilt memory.
• I do not need the ability to rewind audio, hear what I just said and then tag audio on the end, much like the old style analogue dictaphones. I am happy just hitting record to start and stop to end the recording.
• I use a Mac. I use Windows XP. I use Windows Vista.

The best recorders for you would be the WS-311M, WS-321M or WS-331M.

• I want to record single speaker (i.e. only me talking) recording notes and letters.
• I will be recording large board meetings or focus groups.
• I don't want to worry about batteries and want the ability to plug my recorder into mains power.
• I want the ability to record directly to my computer hard drive bypassing the inbuilt memory.
• I do not need the ability to rewind audio, hear what I just said and then tag audio on the end, much like the old style analogue dictaphones. I am happy just hitting record to start and stop to end the recording.
• I use Windows XP. I use Windows Vista.  *I use a Mac.

The best recorders for you would be the DS-30, DS-40 or DS-50.

* The DS-30 / DS-40 / DS-50 can be used with a Mac, the software provided with the recorders can not. 

Click Here for a YouTube video explaining.

• I am a professional, I need a digital dictaphone to record notes and letters.
• I need to be able to rewind what I have just said and add audio on the end.
• I will be mainly just recording single speaker audio and the occasional small meeting.
• I want to be able to power my recorder by battery or mains power.
• I want to put my recorder in its dock and have it automatically recharge itself and send the audio to my typist or online transcription business.
• I use a Mac. I use Windows XP. I use Windows Vista.
  

The best recorders for you would be the DS-2300, DS-3300 or DS-4000.

*As of 1st September 2008 the DS-4000 has been discontinued and replaced by the new DS-5000 and DS-5000iD model.

However, please call to discuss your exact requirements as each models has different levels of functionality.

That is just a very rough guide. It is always best to call or live chat us on our website to discuss your exact needs.

Olympus LS-10 In Australia - They Came & Went

Well they finally arrived. The Olympus LS-10 made its debut in Australia last week and we got our grubby hands on two of them on Wednesday 4th June. Unfortunately for us as soon as they came in they went straight out to a couple of very keen customers. Because of this we were unable to pop the box and have a play.



We will be sure to put one aside in our next batch to test and review. Next release of LS-10's in Australia is expected mid-July and then with a ramp up of supply soon after that.

Price Drop On The Olympus DS-40 and DS-50 Digital Voice Recorders

News in from Olympus Australia today is that the RRP on the amazing Olympus DS-40 and DS-50 digital voice recorders have been cut.

RRP on the DS-40 has been reduced from $625 to $595 incl. GST.

RRP on the DS-50 has been reduced from $795 to $695 incl GST.

In line with this RRP reductions Dictate Australia have also reduced our online price for these incredible machines. Check our website - www.dictate.com.au - for details.

The DS-30 , Ds-40 and DS-50 are excellent digital recorders for larger meetings. They are not Mac compatible so only work with Windows machines, both XP and Vista and support direct record meaning using the supplied software than can record directly to the hard drive on a PC bypassing the internal memory.

Australia Model Olympus LS-10 Due For Release This Week

The LS-10 first came to our attention earlier this year while we were looking through the Olympus UK website. We quite often get calls in the Dictate Australia office asking which voice recorder would be good to record music. The answer from this week in Australia will be the Olympus LS-10 Digital PCM Music Audio Recorder.


Continuing there trend of releasing excellent new recorders in 2008 Olympus Australia this week release the LS-10. Initial Australia quantities of this amazing recorder will be very limited but we expect quantities to ramp up from the Q3 2008 onwards.

We can't wait to get our hand on this little recorder when our delivery arrives on Wednesday. The RRP in Australia has been set at $695 and at the same time the RRP on the DS-40 and DS-50 have been dropped.

News and videos of this machine will be following soon. :-)

Dragon NaturallySpeaking Preferred - Transcription From An Olympus Digital Voice Recorder

Dragon NaturallySpeaking Preferred has the ability to transcribe audio from a digital voice recorder, this is known as deferred transcription.

By simply loading an audio file into Dragon NaturallySpeaking it will automatically transcribe what it hears from the audio file. The video demonstration below illustrates this technique. The audio was recorded on an Olympus DS-4000 digital voice recorder.



Dragon can take audio in .dss, .wma and .mp3 format meaning the excellent WS series note takers, the DS-30/40/50 and the digital dictaphones DS-2300, DS-3300 and DS-4000 can all be used with Dragon.

The video was recorded using iShowU. Dragon NaturallySpeaking Preferred version 9.5 was running on a Windows Vista virtual machine running on an iMac host. Dictate Australia uses VMWare Fusion.

Dictate Australia - Voice Recognition For Windows

Exciting news for us here at Dictate Australia, following on from our recent move into voice recognition software for Mac's we were so impressed by how accurate and easy to use this software is we have joined forces with Nuance Australia to become a distributor for the very popular and highly accuarate Dragon NaturallySpeaking software for Windows.



Initially we will be stocking the Standard and Preferred versions of Dragon and will later supply, support and advise on the Medical and Legal versions once we have undergone some training with Nuance.

We have also linked up with Plantronics, leaders in computer, telephone and VoIP headsets and microphones to bring you quality headsets to use with your Dragon, including the very cool Plantronics CS60-USB DECT wireless headset.



Stayed tuned or watch the website for more information and some new YouTube videos coming soon based around Dragon Naturally Speaking 9.

Its Here And Boy Is It Good ! MacSpeech Dictate

Voice recognition for Mac OS X users has finally arrived, it didn't just fly in on a chartered flight this software arrived in a stretched limo it is that special.

For a few years now Mac users have lagged behind the Windites with their Dragon Naturally Speaking but not anymore. MacSpeech Dictate which is powered by the Dragon engine from the people at Nuance is really something special.

It is version 1.0 so yes not every single feature you would expect of a mature voice recognition software package is there ... yet ! Regular updates are promised and will happen quite soon.

In the meantime there are quite a few YouTube videos floating around including some made by us showing Dictate in action.

Here are just a couple ....