Olympus WS-311M Digital Voice Recorder and WMA Music Player


Manufacturer: Olympus
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours

List Price:$129.00
Our Price:$79.86
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Features:
  • CD
  • Record up to 138 hours of quality stearo voice recordings
  • Doubles as a USB storage device
  • Listen to up to 120 MP3 and WMA music files while WOW XT Technology provides rich bass and three-dimensional sound during playback.
  • From personal notes to school lectures to business-related meetings and music galore, everything sounds great in clear stereo sound from the built-in stereo microphone.

Description:



Olympus WS-311M Digital Voice Recorder and WMA Music Player
Reviews:

starsVery good, plenty of space
Tons of space. I use for lecture recording. Even the lower quality settings sound ok, with which you can hold literally hundreds of hours.
The only negative is that in higher quality/reduced storage mode, you would expect the recording to be very clear, but it really isn't that much better than the lower quality/high storage settings, which have that "watery, metallic" sound (if that makes any sense).
I wouldn't use it for "jotting down" a guitar lick because it won't sound good, but is very good for normal voice recording, even at a distance such as with a lecture - you have no problem understanding what people are saying on the recordings and it connects easily to computer with no wires required.



starsamazing
I have found the ws 311 m to be far better than I had expected- sound quality is excellent, the built in mic is effective for voice, and the controls for noise etc simply briliant to the ear. To say I am satisfied is too much an understatement! I know it is no i pod, but it also does far more of what I wanted-a voice recorder, and still gives me so much versatility with music that I am stunned. I am older perhaps, but I found this technology to be awesome...would I buy it again? I am looking for another to use as a backup. I can record all the trash talk in my office or even important notes to myself--all with one AAA batery, and a built in usb plugin that is just incredible. Go Olympus!!!


starsNice Navigation for Podcasts
This unit has a "music" mode, that allows for playing MP3 files. I use the unit to play podcast (netcast) voice audio. The purpose of this review is to let readers know about how the "fast forward" and "rewind" functions work on this unit. I have not experimented with playback of voice files, but I presume it's the same.

The large plus-shaped control you see on the front of the product allows you to initiate fast forward / skip forward and rewind / skip back. Pressing the right side of the control starts fast forward (FF). As you press and hold FF, nothing happens for a moment, then the unit beeps, then silently begins advancing through the currently playing recording. The longer you hold down the FF button, the higher the RATE of advancement. There is a nice "progress bar" on the screen that shows you the fraction of the recording that has passed. You can effectively position yourself to begin listening anywhere within the recording in just a few seconds. For instance, if you hold the FF button 5 seconds, you'll advance 45 seconds. Hold 10 seconds for a 5 minute advance, 15 seconds for a 20 minute advance, and 20 seconds will take you over an hour into the recording (the rates seem to be about 10 seconds per second for seconds 2 through 5, 48 sec for 6-10, 240 sec for 11-15, and 480 sec for 16-20).

Instead of skipping forward, this unit also has the ability to playback at 150% speed. Of course that doesn't get you very far if you really want to advance ahead, but it's great for podcasts that have clear speech, like professional radio, but not so good for less professional podcasts because they're less understandable to begin with.

Another fact not described in the literature is whether the unit "saves your place" within a track if you have to stop listening. The news is good here: if you stop in the middle of a track, and "power off" (actually called "hold" from some strange reason), then "power on", you will start at the point you left off (not at the beginning of the track). You DO "loose your place" if you plug the unit into your computer via the USB port, or even switch to the voice mode, but are able to change the battery and still keep your spot.

In summary, this unit is great for the podcast listener who doesn't mind plugging in every day or so (it's only got 512MB -- if you need more check the WS-331M). The FF controls are effective to skip commercials in podcasts and you can set it down for an hour or a day and when you hit play, you pick-up where you left off.


starsGreat little recorder!
This recorder is simple to use and has large photograph clarity. I recommend it in high of degrees!


starsUsefull electronic memory help
Excelent device for maintaining a brain memory in the pocket, connection to PC by USB and power to file any kind of document.Best quality stereo sound.


starsQuality recording, good design
We bought this recorder for our son's music class, which requires very good recording quality. This recorder is definitly living up (and exceeding) our expectations. It is easy to record, play, move files to computer and into our iTunes library. We love it. Only minor gripe is that the product did not come with a strap and a carrying case. It costs a fortune to buy those separately.



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