Olympus WS-200s

This stereo voice recorder is designed to provide massive storage capabilities. The WS-200S is roughly the size of a standard I-Pod, easily fitting into your shirt pocket, yet can capture upwards of 54 hours of audio recordings when in the LP mode setting. The standard purchase includes the recorder, neck strap, USB extension cable, earphones, AAA battery and instruction manual. It plugs directly into a USB port, meaning there is no messing with wires or docking ports, and appears right on your desktop. Audio recordings are stored as WMA files with no proprietary software required. That means you can simply drag and drop from this little beauty, but the WMA only format means you must be a Windows user. Users would have been well served with had Olympus offered a WAV format as well.

The unit features incredible recording ability even at mid-quality settings with sound recorded from up to 20 feet away thoroughly clear. Playback on your computer reveals amazing recording ability. The internal microphone is reportedly better than an external due to the stereo recording ability. It’s sensitivity can actually be a drawback as even carefully shutting down while in the record mode produces significant scratchiness on the recording. A drawback is the inability to be able to do incremental rewinding when you desire to correct only a section of a recording making the unit less versatile than even the lower-end microcassette recorders. This yet another unit that offers incredible life with a single AAA battery with one reviewer insisting solid use for a week with no signs of battery fatigue. The built-in Flash Memory provides four hours of recording at the highest quality setting. And the unit can be used as a thumb drive if that is your preferred application. Reviewers indicate that if your desire is for a small recorder to pick up sound at school, at work or while interviewing, the Olympus WS-200s Digital Recorder is a great choice.