The DS-330 combines impressive digital voice processing with a compact and ergonomic design. To take full advantage of PC connectivity, it comes with a USB docking station for fast and straightforward transfer of files to either PC or Macintosh. Equipped with a 16 MB built-in flash memory, the user enjoys a maximum recording time of 330 minutes. Also, the organization of files is no problem with five separate folders available, each capable of containing up to 199 files. The integrated backlit LCD display ensures that note taking is possible even under the low-light conditions of presentation halls and lecture theatres.
1 Use it everyday
My employment in the legal field often requires recording of conversations and interviews. The interviews become evidentiary in nature.
I originally purchased the DS330 two years ago. It has been an excelent tool I use everyday. The unit developed problems after getting kicked, frozen, laid on, etc. After two years of hard abuse, it still records well, plays what it records without problems, and trasfers the information without problems. The problem it developed was a shattered lcd display. I do not blame the recorder though...it was a rough night.....
I promptly went out and bought another as a replacement.
It has a few really great features I have not heard mentioned by others. Every recording it makes gets a unique number assigned to it when you download it to your computer. It includes a date and time stamp for every recording as well. If you need more than the time available to the recorder, just leave it in the cradle, and record directly into your computer with the software that is included with the recorder. (The longest recording I have made in the high quality setting was about 10 hours.)
All in all, it is a great product. I have had problems with other brands that just do not appear with this recorder!!
2 Best when closer to the person speaking
I've read some of the reviews about the recorder being able to record lectures really well, even from far away, but I've found that this recorder will pick up more of the surrounding noise than the lecture if you're more than 6-10ft away from the person speaking. I really love the fact that you can store and listen to recordings on your computer. It definitely saves money and space from regular tape recorders. The battery life I've found last maybe around 2 weeks. Like maybe 6-8hrs each week if you turn it off and on. I bought Rayovac's 15min rechargable batteries for the recorder. It records about 2hrs and 30mins? on SP speed and about 5 hrs or so on LP. I prefer the SP speed because the quality of the sound is better on playback, but I've had to download the files on the recorder more frequently. This recorder is best if you have only 2 classes a day that run about an hour each, or maybe even 3 classes if you want to record at LP speed. Overall it's a great recorder.
3 Very poor support: no driver on Internet
I agree with Reviewer: Andrzej Turski "guru" (Redmond, WA) Very poor support: no driver on Internet, October 12, 2004
The drivers should be available from the web. Thanks for letting me know I'm not the only one who had trouble. What a time waster this has been today. I'm better off buying a new one - and not from Olympus ever again.
Today, a Olympus tech support told me the base software is "usually there but we're revising our web site." Well, Andrzej could not find it about 10 days ago. So it does not seem to be a temporary glich - but a long term oversight by Olympus.
If you buy this, you will have to carry the CD wherever you may go and want to use your DVR because the sofware isn't on the web.
4 Very poor support: no driver on Internet
We bought DS330 to record interviews for our radio program. While the recorder workes reasonably well, I've run into big problems trying to copy the data onto PC. I was filling in for our regular technician. I was given the recorder with a cable and craddle and expected it to work with the computer. No such luck. The driver for the recorder control wasn't recognized. I searched the Internet, but the Olympus Web site has only updates that require the original software to be installed. But the original CD was misplaced and I don't have it!
I understand Olympus doesn't want to give away an "advanced" sound editing software, but why the basic driver is not freely available? I got used to the idea that all the basic drivers for hardware devices can be easily downloaded. Beware! Olympus thinks differently.
5 Perfect for Everyday Tasks!
I've had mine for a week now and can find very little fault with this sleek little device. I've not even hooked up the USB connection to my PC. My purpose in purchasing this device was for simple note taking (dictation and idea capturing) and not for recording meetings. On the "SP" and "dictation" settings, voice playback is crisp and clean, sounding like typical tape-based audio recorders. It seems to provide the best output speaking in a normal voice holding the unit about 1 foot away.
My primary intent in selecting a recorder was ease of use, durability, size, quality and price. So far, the Olympus DS-330 has proven easy to use. Turn on using the "hold" slider, hit "new" for a new file, hit "rec" to start recording and "stop" to stop. The unit defaults to appending to the current file so to continue recording, you simply hit "rec" again. The "rew" rewind function is cool, counting back on the LCD timer to any spot along the way. Hit "play" to listen to your output and hit "erase" and the file is gone, or drop it to your PC for safekeeping.
For this simple mode of operation, it's hard for me to imagine this not being an excellent fit. With lots of time in the field, I'll be interested to see how durable it is and how long the batteries last. It fits comfortably in the palm of my very large hands and comes with a really nice carrying case (like a lot of todays digital phones with a wrap-around, use-in-the-case design). With today's dark (black) colored personal computing devices, this Olympus unit fits right in (did I mention it was sleek looking?). Note, this is kind of a "duh" point, but output is monaural, not stereo, and you'll only get sound in one ear of your headphones using the "ear" plug. The price is a little higher than a lot of units, but I sense it's worth it (particularly if you're after the advanced features).
So far, awesome!
6 Poor Instruction Manual
Good-quality, handy little recorder. However, I, too, had difficulty installing the device driver. The instruction manual is to blame. There are a few instructions on each page in large type, followed by footnotes in small font that at times contradict one another. In one footnote, it says to install device drivers with the recorder on stop. What does that mean? In another, it says if the new hardware wizard comes up, cancel it and install the DSS software. This also is meaningless. In my Dell XP, this is how I did it: 1) when they say make sure the recorder isn't on STOP, what they really mean is to make sure it's off, or in the HOLD position. HOLD, in other words, should be on (the recorder is off at that point). 2) plug the cord into a USB port that you plan to use every time because the driver gets associated with that port and no other. Whether the USB port is in the front or the back of the computer doesn't matter, even though the instructions say that. 3) Once plugged in, THEN turn on the recorder by taking it off HOLD. The screen will say REMOTE. 4) Make sure you've already installed the recorder software on your hard-drive, which by the way, does NOT auto'lly install the device driver. 5) Once the REMOTE screen comes on, your XP PC will sense its presence, and throw up the new hardware device wizard. Don't Cancel, as the Olympus manual suggests, but instead select to manually install certain portions of the software (the device driver). The next screen will offer to install a device driver and ask from which source you want to get it from -- the CD in your CD-ROM drive or the Windows System folder. I think either would work, but I selected the CD-ROM to ensure an exact match. However, I believe the DSS Player software installs the the correct driver into your system folder at the time it's installed, WITHOUT INSTALLING THAT DRIVER FOR YOU. You have to do that using that wizard.
Finish out the wizard screen. That's it.
If you plug the recorder into another USB port another time, you'll have to go through the wizard again. It's just a guess, but if you don't have your CD-ROM handy, it's likely the driver in the Windows/System folder is the correct one and can be used.
7 Great little digital recorder.
I bought the DS330 to record interviews and meeting with clients and prospective clients. It works just fine, and provides over 2 1/2 hours of high quality recording - more than enough for 95% of all meetings. I especially like the feature that allows users to download recorded sound files directly to their PCs. That's a big timesaver and excellent organizational feature. Setup was fast and easy. And the software works as advertised. It allows you to convert DSS files to Wave files which can be further converted to other sound file formats like MP3. My only criticism is that the unit is very small - which makes it slightly difficult to operate at times.
8 Works great on Mac OS X 10.3 (Panther)
The recorder and its accompanying Mac software work great. I noticed one reviewer said the included software does not work in OS 10.2, which is true: the version on the CD would not run after installation. However, after quick trip to Olympus' web site, I downloaded and installed the software.
I like how the software allows you to manage the recordings on the voice recorder, listen to them before downloading, download only what you want, and export them to AIFF files, which can be played by QuickTime.
I use the recorder with a phone recording controller (from Radio Shack) that lets me record interviews I conduct on the phone. I can save the interview file on my hard drive along with my notes.
9 Works GREAT with iMac
I don't know what the other Mac user's problem is. In fact, his advice actually made my installation more difficult. His poor review of the included software got me to go first to the software downloaded from the website, which didn't work right. Instead, when I went on and used the software that came in the box, IT WORKED GREAT. It's true that you have to be running the software before your Mac will see your DS-330 when it's in the cradle, but what I love is that you can set the software to automatically download the files from the DS-330 and delete the original files on the 330. I'm using it with a 2000 iMac and OS 10.2.8.
10 DOES NOT WORK WITH MACINTOSH! (and poor audio quality)
BEWARE! This product does not work with Mac OS X 10.2 or later. The software included with the product will launch okay, but it will NOT recognize any Olympus Digital Voice Recorder that you plug into your Macintosh. Even if you get the updated software off of Olympus' website, it STILL does not work. [...] Basically, if you want to get your digital voice files onto your Mac, you're out of luck with this product. Shame on Olympus for not fully supporting the Mac community. (Plus, the audio quality on this device isn't that stellar either -- I got better quality out of a 10-year old cassette tape recorder.)
11 driver hard to load
This is a handy little tool for recording meetings, interviews etc - exact words said and commitments undertaken can be looked up easily and quoted with confidence. The actual recorder is good although I found the buttons awkwardly placed, and the software is good, too, but I've set my rating at two stars because of the huge amount of time lost in loading the driver. Both Win98SE on my desktop and XP on my laptop were problematic. Once you have run the installation CD, a gadget like this should work out of the box without requiring the help of a Windows expert. You would expect the driver to install virtually unseen, but no, coaxing it off the CD was not at all easy. And that is after you deduce that your problem lies with the driver.
The UK helpline for the DS-330 is 0080067108300. This is located somewhere in continental Europe but appears to be free. I rang it with reluctance but this is where corporate Olympus redeemed itself. I made three calls to the helpline. Each time, the phone was answered immediately and worthwhile knowledgeable help given.
12 Fantastic
I have tested several different units. For medical dictations, this is the best. Very good voice activated recording; very good rewind with ability to listen while rewinding; very easy and effective file management; great cradle to doc and download files. Really an awesome product. Blows the competition out of the water.
13 Great for lectures
I recently purchased this voice recorder because I am the note taker for one of my graduate courses and I needed something I could count on working well. This voice recorder has replaced my old tape recorder that had so much background noise it took me several hours to decipher a single lecture. With this little gem I feel like I am sitting in the lecture all over again.
I was worried about its performance because many of the questions asked are not repeated by the professors, so you have to be there to hear them. With this recorder the questions asked in the back (approx. 30 feet away) are recorded well. I might have to turn up the volume when listening to it, but that is hardly a problem. Keep in mind that I am only recording for one 2.5 hour class on SP mode, so I am getting the highest quality recording possible with the least amount of recording time.
Switching between menu items is easy to do. Plus the instruction booklet has very simple directions. I agree with the other reviews that the overall appearance is attractive, yet discrete and the buttons are solid which is nice for the many years of use it will be getting.
14 Efficient tool for medical dictation
I am a physician with a subspecialty practice in GI. In this type of practice I dictate my notes so my referring physicians get back timely, legible notes. The Olympus DS-330 has been working very well in this application. The recorder has a solid feel. The buttons are easy to push. The display is very easy to read, even with my presbyopia. The ability to enter each note as a separate file is great for patient transcriptions. There are also 5 folders built in so that you could dictate a different day of the week in a different folder. The ability to insert into the middle of a dictation is also available, something you could never do with a tape. (This is not just talk over the middle of the tape. It is just like you spliced in extra dictation in the middle without losing anything already dictated.)
At first I kept the dictations on the handheld until I was sure they were transcribed. The software has an option to delete file after upload. I have been so comfortable with the reliability of the transfers that I changed the setting to delete after upload. I sent files to three different transcriptionists and all were able to read the dss files exported by the device without problem. This is very nice because the files are quite compact. A typical 5 minute dictation yields a file size of about 500 kb. With over 2.5 hours of record time in standard quality mode you could dictate 30 patients before having to upload. Batteries seem to last about 2 weeks. There is a visual battery guide and the display says low battery once it goes low.
The DS-330 has a snap in cradle and a USB cable. You pop in the device, the display says REMOTE and it uploads as soon as the application is started. The only annoying thing about the unit is it needs to have the stop button pushed before popping it into the cradle or it won't upload, sometimes I have to pop it in and out a few times before the USB driver talks to it right. It seems if you switch it to the hold setting and put it in the cradle you confuse it. The cradle is very good. The contacts are large, gold plated and protected by recesses in the device housing. They clearly will allow thousands of insertions and removals. The DSS program needs to be started before the upload will work. Once the upload starts the files pop out very well. There is a mini-USB outlet on the device marked PCI/F if you want to plug it in with an adaptor cable (not included with the packge).
The software is very clear. You can manage settings and files from the computer. You can even push dss files out to the device. The audio on my Macintosh iMac plays the sounds very well. The control panel is ok for occasional transcription. It has a setting that allows selectable playback speed, but the software controls the pitch so that no matter how fast or slowly it plays you do not change the frequency. With a tape player you would have a Mickey mouse sound on playback. The software keeps that from happening on this device. For heavy duty dictation you need software built for that purpose with foot pedal controls.
This system has really improved turnaround for me. I dictate the patient visits with the patient in the office. The files are sent by FTP to my transcriptionist who gets it back to me the next day. What has really changed is dealing with missed words. Sometimes the transcriptionist doesn't understand a word and she puts in a blank spot. With tape I don't have the tape to listen to. With this system I have copies of the dictations. I just play back the spot and no more mystery words to worry over. I do this about twice a week. Works very well.
I use Macs at work, unusual for a medical practice. The software is very nice on the Mac. Seems like it was written for the Mac. Good interface that meets the Aqua interface guidelines. I am running OS X 10.2.6. USB driver loaded easily. CD installer worked without a glitch.
Recommended
15 Nice design but poor voice quality
I like the display of the DS330 and it's features are very nice. However, when I compared the recording quality against the Sony ICD-BP150, the difference was like day and night. If you want it just for voice recording, it might work just fine. I wanted good quality recording so that I can record my piano playing. On the DS330, the recorded piano sound hardly sounded like anything but broken music. It also has annoying background noises which becomes very obvious when the volume is turned up. The Sony BP150 also had switches on the back which allows easy control of VOR and playback speed. Whereas on the DS330, you have to go through a set of menu options to make the necessary adjustments.
16 Solid Digital Voice Recorder
I did a lot of research before finally plunking down the cash to buy this recorder, and I'm glad I did my due diligence. The Olympus DS-330 is a very solid digital voice recorder, packing a lot of functionality into a small package (as an aside, Sony does make them smaller, but IMHO, too small gets to be unusable).
First the features: Files are recorded in DSS (Digital Speech Standard), but the PC/Mac software allows you to convert files into WAV format. The unit has a Conference/Dictation sensitivity setting for different recording situations. The unit is customizable, so you can change folder names and assign comments to files. You can add indexes to demark key points in files, and you can even set up an alarm to play a certain file at a certain time (which is good for reminding yourself to do something). You can even lock files one at a time to prevent deletion of important information. It has voice activated recording controlled by the volume knob. The LCD display can be scrolled among how long the file is, the full date the file was created, the time the file was created, and an assigned comment. If worse comes to worse, you can format the recorder and start from scratch via the PC/Mac software. It comes with an external microphone jack and external earphone jack. The unit can also be connected to a PC via the cradle or a PC I/F connector on the bottom of the unit. Comes with a leatherette case.
Second, the good things about this recorder: Batteries are included. The buttons are large enough for those with big fingers, and are easily accessible for one-handed recording. The erase button is also easily accessible, even though it is less prominent to avoid accidental deletion (it confirms that you want to delete something as well). The unit is light (the batteries supply most of the weight). Sound quality is fairly good through the small speaker, and sound quality of the digital files is best in SP mode. Conference/Dictation sensitivity settings were good enough for my tastes. When the unit is in Hold mode, pressing any key will momentarily display the battery condition, date, and time (so it's useful as a a clock when turned off). The mic jack and earphone jack are spread apart so as to not interfere with each other. I had no problems installing and using the USB cradle and software under Windows ME (when the recorder is placed in the cradle, the software comes up automatically). I can manipulate files very easily using the supplied software.
Finally, the bad things about this recorder: There's an AC adapter port, but no included AC adapter (it's sold separately). LP mode is decipherable, but if you don't have the time to decipher your files, recording in LP mode may not be worth your time (so you can't take advantage of the unit's potential 5 hour record time). I believe the Play and Stop buttons should have been on the side of the recorder (like a tape-based recorder) instead of on the front of the unit, and the New and Folder/Menu buttons should have been on the front. The "Power On/Off" button is actually the Hold button, and was not intuitive. The volume knob is really small, and even though I have small finger, I had a little trouble at first handling it. The volume knob also is counter-intuitive: moving the knob downward increases the sound level through the speaker (you may think moving it down should decrease the volume).
This recorder is ideal for lecture recordings and personal notes. I'm using it for documentation of meetings and for idea recording. I believe it's good points make up for it's bad points, and would recommend it to most people (i.e. those not requiring outstanding sound quality -- for that, you might go for a higher-end Olympus).
17 Very Good Voice Recorder
This is an example of Olympus cutting edge technology and exceptional quality I have seen in their products. The software to connect was both windoze and Mac OS X compliant and worked simply and usefully in both operating systems.
The quality of sound in conference mode in a outdoor setting was exceptional when compared with analog tape. This was the second Olympus DVR I have purchased. A W-10 recorder was tried and returned to purchase this one. The W-10 was as if from a completely different manufacturer, totally unusable.
18 Im Very Happy With My Voice Recorder
I got this recorder becuase it can download on my Mac and I am very happy with it's preformace. I use it to record my lectures at school. I have some all day lectures and it records the whole time. The play back is good but not the best I have heard. For my life the DS33O Recorder fits perfectly.
19 Does not handle multiple hand-helds with 1 cradle
Olympus told me that the DS330 software could handle multiple hand-helds using 1 cradle. In fact, the DS330 software cannot handle multiple users. When hand-helds are docked nothing happens. The only solution is to reboot the computer with the hand held in the cradle. I have tested this with 6 hand-helds and their cradles, and 3 different computers. I have just spent 2 weeks on the phone with the Olympus help desk and they could not fix the problem. We finally called in a computer consultant who believes that the limitation is in the USB connection.
20 One small glitch, but otherwise great
I am a newspaper reporter for a living and I have been looking for a good/great digital voice recorder. This is the best I've found so far.
Like other reviewers, I found that my Dell with Windows XP also had trouble installing the driver. (However, once I figured out what was wrong, the situation was easily corrected by directing the driver search function directly to the software CD that came with the recorder).
That said, this recorder and the PC software with this recorder is otherwise FANTASTIC. The sound quality is good. The indexing functions are awesome because you can actually visualize the indexes on sound files on your PC with little red marks. For me, this means I can find the quotable sections of interviews very quickly. A quick read of the directions also helped me find invaluable features, such as noise control.
I figure it will be another six months before Olympus comes out with really strong voice recognition software to transcribe all my notes for me. That will be invaluable, and for that, they could charge me a lot more than ... this sweet little recorder cost. I'm already planning to buy another one of these as a backup ...
21 Works fine with Win98SE
I just got the DS-330 today. In response to Dale's previous post, I had no problem installing the software and driver on a Dell workstation running Win98SE. The OS found the right driver to install, though I can't be sure it used the one on the CD. Made a test recording, transferred the *.dss file from recorder to computer, converted to a *wav file, no problem at all. Haven't tested anything else yet, but it seems seems to work fine. Dale, I can email you with more details but your address is not visible.
22 Owners of Win98SE OS beware
I purchased this unit because my computer was chopping off words during recording narrations using the Winnov Videum system to record audio (an excellent system, by the way). The fault is somewhere with my computer not the Winnov card or software. The DS-330 gave me nothing but headaches and hours on the telephone with Olympus, Dell, and Microsoft support techs trying to resolve the "no driver found for this device" problem. I won't go into the details here (it would take too long); suffice it to say that each support team stated the problem was with the other's software or OS. For the privilege of having Microsoft's Win98SE support team tell me there was nothing they could do. So, in short, I cannot use the device to download files from the recorder (as WAV files, which I then convert wo .swa files) to my home PC. The device was successfully installed on my office computer (Win2000Pro OS) but on Win98SE, forget it. Although Olympus told me that the drivers were on the disc (indeed they are), my OS does not recognize them. If anyone out there has successfully gotten their Win98SE OS to recognize the device and install the drivers, I would GREATLY appreciate an email telling me if you experienced the same problems and what you had to do, if anything, to get around them. I give two stars solely due to the inability to install it and use the download feature on Win98SE. I will upgrade my computer next year to Win2000--perhaps then it will work at home.
23 Neat gadget, loads of features
I just bought this so take my review with some salt, but still this seems like a pretty cool toy.
It's very small, very lightweight, and has a lot of features.
Voice activation, 2.5 hours at good quality, usb interface with your computer.
The voice activation feature works quite well (just turn your recorder on and leave it in a room to find out what happens when you're gone: very James Bond).
I'm particularly impressed with how well it interfaces with my computer (a Macintosh). The files pop up on my screen and are easy to transfer over (and translate to MP3s, if you have the software).
The downsides are the price and the sound quality. The sound is reasonable but not fantastic. There is a SP (standard) setting but no HQ (high quality) setting. The SP records at 12khz, unlike some higher quality recorders which do 22khz. Still, for most voice purposes 12khz is fine.
