Olympus WS-400 S Digital Recorder

5 Responses to “Olympus WS-400 S Digital Recorder”

1. Lynn Hayes says:

   March 20, 2010 at 2:54 pm

   This is the third Olympus recording device that I have owned and I purchased this because of the direct link into the USB port without having to use a cable. However, it does not work in the front USB ports on my new HP Pavilion computer using Vista. It works fine on my laptop, also using Vista, but because I am low on hard drive space on the laptop I wanted to handle sound files on my new desktop.

   Other than that, this is a great device.
   Rating: 3 / 5
2. K. Pardi says:

   March 20, 2010 at 4:11 pm

   I bought my first recorder at Sears when I was ten-years-old. $20.00 plus %5 tax equaled $21.00 even. It was the Concord “Sound Camera” known to most as the smoking, self-destructing unit in the original “Mission Impossible Series.” I was justifiably overwhelmed with its compact size and the audio quality of the mini reel-to-reel device. I had years or fun and experimentation and never thought twice about its (then) exhorbitant price, the product of many a weekend’s lawn mowing for me. Which brings us to today and my purchase of the Olympus WD 39.5 or whatever its called – oh it’s tiny and white (insert vulgar joke here). Alas, no mid-life techno reprise here for my inner geek. This product fired up fast and was ready to go instantly (entering the day, date, etc. is for patient people – I wanted to record and record now!) The navigation was simple and intuitive although I did make a few wrong turns here and there owed to just looking at the quick start pictures and not reading the instructions. Just as I had done with the vintage Concord, I began an impromptu show of sorts. I spoke a little – test 1,2,3.. Then turned on the classic rock channel in the car to find Frampton’s “Do You Feel…” starting out. I switched the mic from “conference” to “dictate” and back again noting the very cool (if not microscopic) digi VU bars pulsating up and falling off to the sounds of the radio and my voice over. Then came playback, aka, my “WTF” moment. Slow and distorted, Frampton’s intro lead was like a 60’s B-movie acid sequence. I scanned the menu to find two options: slow play and fast play with respective negative and positive speed selections expressed in digital percentagages: 2.0 fast, .50 slow, but NO REAL TIME 1.0 setting! In other words, it’s impossible to accurately review what you’ve just recorded for tonal quality. In addition, bacground noise is exaggerated if slow or fast replay is in place. Maybe everything sounds great when dounloaded to computer and played back but why is the consumer forced to do this instead of being able to hear a “first draft” of the recorded material in a natural speed. Great shell, non-complicated controls, backlit LCD is easy to read. Self-contained speaker is passable. Monitoring through headphones revealed EXTREMELY sensitive and balanced stereo mics. I did not download and check real-time playback but I’m guessing it’s probably excellent for voice and sounds of the city.
   Rating: 2 / 5
3. Janice says:

   March 20, 2010 at 4:56 pm

   I’ve read great reviews of this product and I purchased it because of the high ratings for sound quality and ease of transferring recordings to the computer for making a disk. I just received it, and could not even figure out how to turn it on using the inadequate guide book that came with it. Soooooo, I downloaded the operations manual from Olympus website (72 pages!) and have been trying to learn to operate it. Still no easy task. I’d recommend having a sales person demonstrate the operation of this recorder prior to purchasing to enable you to use it properly. My intended use for this recorder is of great importance — recording the stories of Veterans for inclusion in the Veterans History Project at the Library of Congress, so it’s imperative that I master the complexities of recording and storing the various recordings properly. Olympus should make an easy to follow instruction guide and include it with the packaging. You can download the guide, or purchase one from their website for $10, but it remains a complicated series of steps to operate the device.
   Rating: 4 / 5
4. John Wolf says:

   March 20, 2010 at 5:17 pm

   My WS-100S dumped on me yesterday (sadly I dont know how I will be able to retrieve the audio in the flash drive) so I bought this unit today and thus far its been great! Improved OS, recording features, more features and a much overall improved voice recorder. I bought an extended warranty from Staples so if this one also decided to take a dive on me, I will have the warranty as a replacement. Know as to how to retrieve the audio in the broken WS-100 unit?
   Rating: 5 / 5
5. mediocre says:

   March 20, 2010 at 6:21 pm

   i use it to record lectures and this recorder can detect the professor’s words even when i am in the middle of the lecture hall. but the price varies each time the browser loads the product page so ordering when the site displays the optimum price is necessary
   Rating: 5 / 5