Olympus WS-331M Digital Voice Recorder and WMA Music Player

I work by phone with people from all over the world. I needed a more efficient and cost-effective way to record and electronically send those sessions to anyone, anywhere.

The WS-331M has been the perfect solution. The recording quality is excellent. It's easy to use -- even for anyone not familiar with or into the latest tech gadgets (like me). The instruction manual is thorough, clearly written, and easy to understand. Even if you can intuitively figure out how to use the WS-331M without reading the manual, it would still be worth your time to read it because you'll pick up many useful shortcuts and tips. Since many other reviewers have gone more into the particulars of files, folders, etc., I'll spare you the repetition and stop here.

The best part for me is how easy it is to electronically send a recording. All I need to do is plug the recorder into my PC, download the session file onto my destop, upload it to Senduit-dot-com, and then send that link to the client. No worries about file size or email incompatibilities. It's brilliant.

I have been using this recorder for the past few weeks and I love it. I highly recommend it. I've only had one issue with it since a purchased it several weeks ago. When using the Variable Control Voice Actuator (VCVA)at the factory setting, the beginning of every recorded segment after a pause is clipped off. It's possible that this can be corrected by adjusting the VCVA level but I haven't tried that yet. Also, according to the owner's manual, when using VCVA, recording automatically stops after one second when the sound volume is lower than the preset threshold sound level. I would like to be able to adjust this setting to two or three seconds, which would result in a more natural sounding playback, but that's not possible.

Does anyone know how this product can be used with Mac/iTunes? I purchased the recorder and like the USB feature, but don't see how to convert the files this recorder creates without third-party software, which I will not use. Has anyone been able to add the files the Olympus creates to iTunes so that recordings can be stored/burned, etc. as MP3 or other iTunes compatible file? Many thanks in advance for your thoughts.

I've heard good and bad about these little recorders. But, after seeing the advertised long record time, I just had to give one a shot. Man, am I glad I did! These recorders are AWESOME! One battery will usually last about 3 hours approx. But just pop in a new one and it's ready to go again. It really will record hours and hours and hours and hours! I've taken it out on investigations and been able to have it record upwards of 20 hours is the highest, best mode, stopping only to load a fresh battery.

The little recorder was so good, they are now the new "gold standard" for my group. We have now bought several of them...all with the same great results. And they are small and light enough to really take anywhere. I keep one in the car, one in my equipment bag, and one in my purse. And, it doesn't require a lot of power via the USB. So I can plug it into my laptop running off only battery power with no problem! That's true ease of use!

Just got the digital recorder a couple of weeks ago and haven't had any complaints about it yet. Compact, light-weight and so portable that it easily fits into your shirt pocket or pants. Really like the fact that you can download files by simply plugging it into any computer USB port without any other software. The playback sound is a little low, but no a major problem. Also like the amount of memory in this little gadget.