The Olympus DS-30 is one of the latest digital voice recorders on the market. The question is would it meet my exacting demands as a journalist? Nowadays, a recorder needs to be able to play a variety of roles, from dictating copy to interviewing a celebrity over the phone and a politician at their doorstep.

 For me, any gadget has to fill four basic criteria. These are:

1. Is it easy to use?

2. Is it reliable?

3. Is it easy to learn how to operate?

4. Is the price right?

Is it easy to use?

Attending events can be a bind, but the Olympus DS-30 is easy to use and can be useful in getting those all important quotes accurately recorded, since you can keep track of useful quotes by book marking as the recording is being made. Then, later when you wish to review your recording, you can skip to the appropriate bookmark without having to listen to the whole recording again, an especially useful feature when you have attended a long press conference. Unlike in the old days with tape recorders where you had to keep skipping through the entire tape to find what you wanted.

Recently, I was at one of those expert discussions on energy that take place at Oxford University. Despite being seated some 10 metre distant from the speakers, the Olympic DS-30 with its high-sensitivity microphone managed to catch every word spoken by the speakers at the front. Making use of the noise cancelling software provided enabled me to make a recording suitable for pod casting over the web or downloading to the DS-30 for later listening. 

Dictating Copy

As a Dictaphone, the in built microphone, with its handy controls on the side meant one did not have to grope for them.  What many writers will appreciate is the ease with which one can transfer recordings to the computer using the DSS Player software for future reference, editing or emailing the sound file for transcribing by a professional audio typist service that has Olympus DSS transcription technology, which will convert the file into a Word file for return by email.

As for interviews, depending on the quality of recording being made, one can record up to 68 hours of recording time, within its 256 MB worth of internal flash memory. This means you do not have to visit your PC too often to sort out and back up your copies. To download your files you have to use a USB cable to link your DS-30 with your computer, and then you can transfer your files to your computer or vice a versa.

Making Telephone Interviews

Nowadays, it is not always possible to interview face to face, often it is over the phone. If you want to record both sides of a telephone conversation over the telephone, then I recommend the ReTell ‘Telephone Handset Connector (THC)– part 156’ which you connect to your home phone and Olympus DS-30 digital voice recorder. To record your phone conversation, you simply plug both your phone and recorder into the THC which then plugs into the telephone wall socket. When connected, the sound quality of the recordings is good with no extraneous noise. Remember it is good manners and legally advisable to notify your interviewee that you plan to record the interview. For further legal_advice_on_recording_phone conversations. 

Is it reliable?

In my experience Olympus has a reputation for reliable products and this proved to be the case with the DS-30. Its 30-hour battery life, (running on two AAA batteries) was a useful bonus, and this can be extended by buying Olympus A321 AC Adapter Works. As an added bonus its large storage capacity means you can download your favourite pod casts for easy listening on those long trips between jobs.

Being light weight at 2.8 ounces and easy to hold in the palm of your hand, means you can easily move the digital voice recorder between you and the interviewee in a face to face interview, without getting wrist strain. 

Finding Your Way around the Olympus DS-30

To help users navigate through the 5 voice folders and 200 sub files in each folder, the DS-30 has a relatively large monochrome screen, which can be backlit to illuminate the screen in difficult light conditions. However, I think the designers have tried too hard. They have crammed too much information on the screen display. This means it takes a few moments to comprehend what is on the screen display. To overcome this difficulty, the Olympus has provided a nifty voice guidance mode to help you navigate through the index, which takes some getting used to.

Is it easy to learn how to operate?

Getting started was no problem, Olympus had provided a 163 page well written manual that was also available on the CD as a PDF file to make it easier to read. In addition for there was an easy to understand ‘Getting Started' leaflet, giving us users some basic instructions on installing software and use of equipment.

Possible Improvements

 As for future improvements that Olympus might consider:

1. To improve handling the gadget’s buttons should actually be made larger and more robust in design.

2. The information on the screen should be made simpler.

3. The DS-30 should have had a built in USB plug for connecting directly into the PC for both file transfer and recharging the device. Also, some would appreciate if it had blue tooth capability for transferring recordings.

4. The flash memory capacity needs to be improved to be at least 1GB.

5. It should be available in a range of bright colors, so that it is easier to find.

Overall, I found the Olympus had met all four of the criteria I set out to test. It’s a very handy and useful device, which unlike many of its rivals in the market it proved to be a very useful reliable aid for my work as a journalist.