Olympus DM-1 Voice and MP3 Recorder with WOW! Technology Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)As a voice recorder:
The DM-1 and the Olympus software provide very basic functions.Get a more serious dictation machine if you need a lot of functionality.You can add index marks while recording or playing back, which is pretty handy for longer recordings.The voice activation mode with variable sensitivity works very well.You can set one alarm to play back a recording, but you can only set a time, not a date (like an alarm clock).The DM-1 would be a lot more useful to me if I could set multiple alarms and set both a time and a date.That way it could replace my Palm for creating reminders (the DM-1 is a lot easier to carry around).In high sensitivity mode, the mic picks up distant voices very well and playback quality is good with headphones.The sound quality is very acceptable, but I recently tried out a $100 Sony ICD-B10 recorder and the Sony had signficantly better recorded playback; very smooth sound without the slight roughness of the DM-1.The Sony also had (and the DM-1 lacks) a timer so you can set a date and time to start recording.When I plugged stereo headphones into the Sony I only heard sound out of one speaker.I find it easier to listen when I can hear the playback in both ears, so I like the DM-1 better in that respect.
As an MP3 player:
The included ear buds had mediocre sound (weak bass) so I got some lightweight $5 Maxell headphones and now the sound is excellent.The WOW system gives you wider stereo separation.Just choose the low 3D setting, the higher settings sound too shrill.There is also a variable bass boost setting.The Rock equalizer preset works fine for me, the user preset is difficult to set because you can't adjust it during playback.The USB connection is slow.I got a 128 MB Smartmedia card ($40) so I can load more music.With 128 MB I can load 2 hours of music and still have 1.5 hours of voice recording space left.
Other:
There are four tiny switches that may be hard to use if you have large fingers, and they seem fragile.The volume wheel is tiny but works OK for me.There is a plastic cover for the USB port but it is too easy to lose.A sliding door or attached cover would have worked better. If you listen to MP3 music a lot, you need rechargeable batteries.The two-tone blue case with orange backlight is very cool.

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Product Description:
Designed with the business user in mind, the Olympus DM-1 is a digital voice recorder with great features for your work and an MP3 player with great features for your leisure! Easy to use and even easier to carry, the DM-1 lets you download or listen to over one hour of MP3 or WMA (Windows Media Audio) music files. When business calls, you can record up to 22 hours of dictation using the memory card and quickly download your speech files to a PC using a USB cable. During recording, you have the option to record either in SP mode for text-to-speech applications or LP mode for when you require longer amounts of time, and a convenient LCD display keeps you informed of important information such as recording time remaining, the date and time, and the battery status.

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