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

We did a lot of research and found this product to be just what we wanted. We bought it to capture information in a large envirement and it works well. It does not provide concert hall sound it captures a speaker or someone provideing information. Direct mic it is wonderful. We will buy some cables or plugs to met our spicific needs even better.

The recorder is what I wanted. However, I haven't had time to use it yet. Therefore, No Real Rating.

Finally moved to digital with the Olympus WS-321M. What a wonderful tool! Easy to learn and use. Controls are accessible even with my less than dainty fingers. LCD panel lights up and helps me monitor recordings. Very light. Fits comfortably into my shirt pocket. I was able to record sound from audio cassettes that I've recorded on earlier. Transferring files to my Mac was incredibly easy with the built in USB connection. Five folders with plenty of files within each is more than enough for my current recording purpose . . . with room to grow. Looking forward to applying my speech recognition software (iListen). As an educator, with reflective tendencies, I can now collect random thoughts (my own or others) on the fly with minimal distractions. The Great American Novel is still well around the corner but I've moved one step closer.

While I originally bought this to use as a recorder, I have found that using it for MP3s and as a thumbdrive to move files have made it even more useful. The sound quality is excellent with all applications, and the built in USB connector keeps me from having to fumble around looking for a connector cable every time I want to hook up to a computer. Well worth the price.

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.