| | |  | Digital Voice Recorders | Home » » » » » Olympus DS-2400 Dictation recorder (142015) | | | | | | | Description: | | Physicians, students and the like can enjoy the ultra-efficient features of the compact DS-2400. The supplied 1GB SD Card provides abundant memory and the durability and reliability you need in a removable media card, while superb sound, a large backlit LCD, file management options and other features supply the professional performance you seek in an easy to use, sleek and stylish package. | | | Features: | |
• Push button control with new central navigation pod
• New DSS QP recording mode for higher quality audio
• Expandable SD/SDHC removable media card slot
• The DS-2400 features the Digital Speech Standard Pro
• USB 2.0 High-Speed
| | | Product Details: | | | Product Length:
| 4.47 inches | | Product Width:
| 1.97 inches | | Product Height:
| 0.67 inches | | Product Weight:
| 1.11 pounds | | Package Length:
| 6.6 inches | | Package Width:
| 6.3 inches | | Package Height:
| 2.8 inches | | Package Weight:
| 1.15 pounds | | Average Customer Rating:
|  based on 24 reviews |
| | | | Customer Reviews: | |
Average Customer Review:
 ( 24 customer reviews )
Write an online review and share your thoughts with other customers.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
75 of 81 found the following review helpful:
 Easy to use yet powerful pocket-sized voice recorderDec 27, 2008
By J. Sperrazza
"eBusiness Evangelist"
Summary:
The DS-2400 is one of Olympus' newest voice recorders optimized for dictation. It provides the ability to record conversations under a variety of conditions with excellent quality. Its intuitive controls make operation so simple that the 8 (2"x4") page Quick Start Guide is all you'll need to start recording and playing back conversations of all kinds. The included DSS Player software supports both Windows (2000, XP, and Vista - including Vista Ultimate 64-bit) and Macintosh (OS X 10.39 - 10.5.6).
Details:
I have owned a voice recorder once before, but it finally got lost, so it was time to do the research to find a replacement. A number of things impressed me, on paper, about the DS-2400
- Brand new model from Olympus (so a long life of support is expected)
- Compact model with all the features I wanted (built-in mono microphone and speaker; 3.5 mm min-jacks for connecting external mono or stereo mics and speakers) clear, easy to ready display and controls; save recordings as new files or append or insert recordings into existing files, multiple folders for storing files; long battery life [24 hours in QP mode, 30 hours in SP mode, 13 hours in playback mode]; settable recording quality; Voice activation; and dictation vs. conference modes)
- Uses removable storage (SD or SDHC cards, from 512 MB to 16 GB), and supports 77 hours of "Quality" (QP) recording in the included 1 GB card, or a whopping 157 hours 50 minutes of "Standard" (SP) recording
- Included DSS Player software supports the latest PCs and Macs
After purchase (and swift delivery from Amazon), I decided to give the DS-2400 a full test:
- Initial setup and use of the recorder was so easy I really didn't need to read the 8-page Quick Start Guide. The 62 page Instructions manual (with sections in English, French and Spanish) is really only needed as a reference.
- Voice quality is excellent. I am not using dictation transcribing software like Dragon NaturallySpeaking 10 Preferred or MacSpeech Dictate, but do understand that both of these products (which use the same "Dragon" engine) can be used to transcribe these files.
- The software installed and operated flawlessly on my two toughest test machines: a laptop running Windows Vista Ultimate 64-bit with Service Pack 2 (Public Preview v. 113), and a Mac Pro running Mac OS X Server v. 10.5.6 (developer beta release). The software is visually and functionally equivalent on both platforms, with differences reflective of the underlying system. For example:
+ a reboot is required when installing on the PC, but not the Mac,
+ the Mac version can convert recordings only to AIFF files (but there are lots of free utilities available to convert from this to other formats), while the PC version can convert to WAV and WMA formats (with a variety of bits per second and Hz supported in each format)
- The DS2 format files used natively by the DS-2400 provide an amazing amount of compression without noticeable loss of quality. Here are some comparisons of file sizes for a 25 minute 35 second-long real-world speakerphone conversation I recorded in QP mode using a stereo microphone (Olympus ME51S):
+ DS2 (DSD Pro native) format @ 28 kbps, 16 khz, mono: 5,311 KB or 5.19 MB
+ WAV (PCM format @ 22.05 kHz, 16 bit, mono: 66,112 KB or 64.56 MB
+ WMA format @ 22.05 kHz, 16 kbps, mono: 3,136 KB or 3.06 MB (compared to DS2, there is a theoretical loss of quality in this format, but I couldn't hear it - I'll be storing my files in this format, to save space)
+ AIFF format (no options provided): 47,972 KB or 48.84 MB
The recorder can be used without a PC. Stand-alone, you can:
- Choose the language of the displays on the recorder (English, French, Spanish, German, Italian or Russian)
- Set date, time, and date & time format (used to date/time stamp recording files)
- Change the various modes of the recorder (LED display & contrast, backlighting, conference or dictation mode, Voice activation on or off, etc.)
- Create new recording files
- Record over, insert recordings, or append recordings to these files
- File recordings in one of 5 (A through E) default folders
- Rewind or fast-forward through files
- Play files back at normal or increased speed
You'll need your PC for some more refined actions:
- Change the name of the default folders to something meaningful to you (e.g., Personal, Work, Vendors, ...)
- Change the name of the "recorder" (added to the files along with the date/time stamp to something other than "DS-2400" (e.g., JOESPERRAZZA)
- Convert files from DS2 format to another, for input into a speech to text conversion program or for sharing with others
Caveats:
- Don't buy this if you're expecting to play MP3s - it is not designed for that
- Don't expect to record music - the recorder itself and the DS2 format are optimized to record and playback human speech:
+ QP mode: 16 kHz sampling frequency, 200 - 7,000 Hz frequency response
+ SP mode: 12 kHz sampling frequency, 200 - 5,000 Hz frequency response
(I'll be recording everything in QP mode, due to the incredible amount of information you can store on just 1 GB SD chip)
- The pictures are correct, and the title of this product is incorrect - it is SILVER, not BLACK
Accessories:
- Olympus ME-51S Stereo Microphone - I use it to put in the middle of a conference table - having two active recording heads, perpendicular to the plane of the recorder, it records both sides of the table quite well. You can plug it directly into the top of the recorder, or connect it via an extension cable. It also includes a removable clip, but it is not "noise canceling", so don't plan to wear this on your lapel while recording. It works best if the recorder is in Conference mode when you use this mic.
- Olympus ME-52 Noise Cancellation Microphone - noise canceling, directional microphone. Includes removable clip, and designed for giving dictation while clipped to your lapel or collar while the recorder is in Dictation mode.
- Olympus TP-7 Telephone Recording Device telephone pickup - a very clever device that pugs into the recorder, then is inserted in your ear. The microphone is on the outside of the ear (but there's air spaces to allow the sound from the receiver to reach your ear). It works to record both sides of a conversation from either regular or mobile (cell) phones because both your voice and that of those on the other end of the conversation are transmitted through the earpiece of the phone as the standard way such phones work. If you can have all your phone conversations you want to record via speakerphone, you don't need this accessory. But if you want to record non-speakerphone telephone conversations without a specialized device or a degree in Electrical Engineering, then this accessory is for you.
61 of 67 found the following review helpful:
 silly change in formatFeb 02, 2009
By James Winkler
"matrixinc"
I have used Olympus recorders for many years overall they are good machines. But, Olympus often decides to change file formats without consideration of the end user. This is the case with the DS-2400. This new handheld recorder from Olympus uses a new voice file format called DS2. This file format is playable only with the new Olympus software that comes with the Ds-2400. Olympus will not share this software. You must buy a machine to get a player. This is a serious deficiency for users that may want to send their voice files to transcriptionists or to other people that do not have an Olympus player.
33 of 35 found the following review helpful:
Transcription does not have support for the files this creates!!!!!Mar 05, 2009
By Benny
I was just going to post this, and you beat me to the punch...I bought one of these at the urging of the transcription company, which handles 1000 clients, when my DS-2300 died. There is absolutely no support for DS2 files and you have to convert them every time. Transcription IT spent a week working with Olympus and couldn't get it right. I finally returned this device and got a Philips 9370 which makes only DSS files. Dont get this handheld unless every single person you dictate to knows what to do with DS2 files.
Poor job on this one Olympus, you just cost yourself about 150 handheld dictation devices from our corporation.
10 of 10 found the following review helpful:
Great features, but unusable for me, because included software is buggyJan 27, 2010
By Nathan Rein
"American"
I'm a long-time user of Olympus voice recorders and the features this one offers are truly impressive. See Sperazza's review for a detailed breakdown. Everything about the hardware seems great. However, in order to play the .DS2 files you create on this device, you need Olympus's proprietary software, which you can ONLY get on the CD that comes with the device (you can't download it from their website -- the website won't even tell you the most current version number). I installed the software on my office machine, which is a pretty standard Windows XP setup, and I could not use it to play DS2 files. I'd try to open a file, and nothing would happen. The program could handle other file formats (WMA and MP3) but not DS2. No error message -- just no response. After a couple of attempts to manipulate a DS2 file it would finally tell me that the file didn't exist or couldn't be found, even though I could easily find it in my directory.
I phoned Olympus customer support, where a nice gentleman helpfully informed me that there's a bug in the software that makes it unreliable when used with a networked machine. My office computer is networked, and that's where I want to use it. And, of course, without functioning software, the device is useless, since as far as I can tell pretty much no non-Olympus software can handle DS2 files yet, and that's the only kind of file the DS-2400 can create. So despite its great feature set, I will be returning this to Amazon.
I advise you to try to do whatever research you can before you buy this to determine whether the software will run on your machine. If you are planning on using this at your home, or in a non-networked environment, you probably won't have any trouble.
One other thing -- if you are familiar with Olympus's other digital voice recorders, you may be surprised by the large size and relative heaviness of this one. It's about twice as big as, say, the WS-310. It's about the size of a medium-sized mobile phone. Still very portable, though.
12 of 13 found the following review helpful:
Case for DS-2400 recorderJan 16, 2009
By Bruce Mackay
When I purchased the DS-2400 digital recorder, I also ordered the CS-111 leather case. Turns out the case doesn't fit the recorder, while a leather case that does fit is included in the package. On brief acquaintance, I'm very pleased with the recorder. It works flawlessly with the AS-2400 transcription kit on my MacBook.
See all 24 customer reviews on Amazon.com
| | |
|
