Olympus DS-2500 Voice Recorder

I dictate for a living, 50+ hours a week. I have tried many recorders, but this one fits my work flow the best. I like the controls - easy to run back and start again when I need to correct something I said. Unlike some other styles, I can continue on a single voice file for hours. Interfaces well with Dragon Dictate.I like the DSS player software, allowing me to listen to myself at double speed while editing (on my computer) my voice-recognized text files, with the audio up/down sampled in such a way that I don't sound squeaky.The problem is that I use these things so hard that they wear out. Over the years I have been through a half-dozen of them. (I feel that they are adequately robust, just that I use them hard, sometimes in dirty environments.) I am so tied to this particular model that I will pay hundreds of dollars for a replacement, when perhaps another devices would work just as well for me....

I bought this voice recorder to replace an old cassette tape dictation and transcription machine. Construction appears solid. Controls are simple if not exactly intuitive. The sound quality is excellent, even better than cassettes. The supplied software allows you to automtically download a file to your PC where you can play it back for transcription or processing by a voice recognition program like Dragon (a separate purchase I have not tried because there will be many different voices and no opportunity for training). My only disappointment thus far: Recorded files cannot be renamed in the Olympus PC software, at least not as far as I can see. You are stuck with a relatively arbitrary and uninformative name assigned by the recorder. So for example if you interview someone, you cannot name the file after the interviewee unless you copy the file to a separate folder outside those managed by the software (e.g., to a folder named after the interviewee). This copied file can then be renamed, and it can be immediately played by the Olympus software without formally importing it back. The other reason for the 4-star review was the horrible delivery experience with DataVision and FedEx. I could not be present to sign for delivery at my home, the delivery could not be redirected to my office, and it could not be held in the town where I work (which has a FexEx location, not just drop-offs). DataVision and FedEx blamed each other for these problems, and eventually I had to drive 100 miles to pick the recorder up. Not a product defect, obviously, but Olympus should know about its distributors.

My boss was old school and still recorded to an old tape dictation unit. He said the digital recorders didn't have the same feel and ease of use. I ordered one of these and it was easy for him to learn, functions well. Does exactly what we ask of it. We actually started out with the model before this and it lasted several years and when it was time to replace, we had to get this model - which is excellent as well.If I had a beef at all with this product it would be the proprietary audio files that require our transcriptionist to have their software as well. But, the files are well compressed, clear and easy to work with and I don't know if I could say the same if they were mp3. So I can't take a star away on this awesome little device just for that. We have all of our team using these for dictation now. We even bought a couple of extras when we saw the model we like was being discontinued. I'm sure the next version is great too, but they function great and are durable and I don't want to have to teach my boss a new device.We are heavy users of these devices (daily dictation of several hours - 6 days a week) and they hold up well. Highly recommended.

Works very well. Audio quality is excellent. Button arrangement is fine. I read of one user's problem with accidental file deletion but don't see how that can happen given that there is a lock button that prevents this. The software installed on both Mac and PC without any problems and works exactly as described on both. The recorder is small enough to be easily placed in a pocked or briefcase but large enough to allow you to actually use it with one hand without being too small, like so many cellphones. The voice-actuated option ("vox" inthe old days) lets you dictate much more easily and minimize dead air, provided you can hide in a quiet environment without phone calls and knocks on the door. It's been a big help compared to a much older Olympus non-digital basic recorder. For me it's been well worth the money.

The setup instructions are terrible.The screen contains unreadable, useless numbers and words with no explanation of what they mean. The buttons are much too small. Why can't they make a digital recorder that is as easy to use as a micro cassette recorder. They charge four times as much, and make it virtually unusable. Don't waste our money on this.

Nice recorder. However, I was assured that the software would allow me to save the new .ds2 file format to a . dss file format. It does not. You have to download a firm ware downgrade to do that. Had to spend a lot of time with Olympus to get them to finally admit that. Eventually, one customer service rep admitted that and sent me the downlink to that firmware. It should be native to the supplied software ( as I was told it was) as it has been the standard file format for years. Otherwise a nice recorder.

I had been using micro-cassette recorders for years. I am thrilled with the quality and ease of use of the Olympus DS-2500 digital voice recorder. The sound quality is excellent. Recording over a segment or inserting something is a breeze. The instructions are well written and installation was a cinch. Very good value for the price.

I'm sure this is a very good recorder, but it utilizes a proprietary recording format that you have to use Olympus software to play, which makes it pretty much useless for me. I cannot understand why Olympus did not give the user the option to switch to MP3 or WMA format. I sent the recorder back.