Olympus WS-802 Voice Recorder

I highly recommend the Olympus WS-801 Voice Recorder because : (1)Very simple, easy to use compared to Sony etc. Press button labeled "REC" to record, button labeled "ERASE" to erase file, button labeled "STOP" to stop recording or playing. No "accidental" erasure. Red light is lit up and is solid when recording. (2) Good sound quality when recording cell or land line phone using the Olympus TP-8 Telephone Pick-up Microphone for $14 on Amazon. Background noise is minimal. Olympus microphones for other special applications, all sold on Amazon, include : ......$16 ME-52W Noise Canceling Microphone with 3.3 feet cord ......$48 ME-51S Stereo Microphone ......$14 ME-12 Noise Canceling Microphone, good for transcription etc Search by the model number, like ME-52W. (3) Comparable products like Sony ICDPX312 ($59.99) etc cost more. (4) Price charged by seller Amazon is lower than 6 sellers I have checked. (5)Record on the internal built-in 2 GB card. Or record on a microSD card (up to 32 GB, not supplied) inserted into the port of the recorder. (6) 3 ways to connect to computer : ...(a)insert slide-out USB connector into USB port of a computer ...(b)insert micro SD card into reader port of a computer. ...(c)insert micro SD card into a card reader which is then inserted into USB port of computer. (7)An user's manual in a pdf format, provides much more details than the printed booklet, is on the CD under directory PDF. (8)Screen has a 3-bar battery charge indicator. Press + or - to increase or decrease sound volume in increment as shown by bar graph on screen. (9)Very durable. I have dropped it about 4 feet high at least 30 times with no noticeable damages to outside or sound quality. (10)Small and light weight. Both WS-801 and TP-8 microphone easily fit inside shirt pocket horizontally or vertically. Notes : ------- Uses one removable AAA battery. One alkaline AAA gives 20 to 27 hours recording depending on sound quality, or 19 to 24 hours playback. Time for Ni-MH AAA is about 4 hours less. A 2 GB card gives 508 hours in 8 kbps WMA format, or 32.5 hours of recording in 128 kbps WMA format, or 16.5 hours in 256 kbps MP3 mode, or 500 songs of 4 minutes each at 128 kbps A 32 GB card has 16 times the capacity of a 2 GB card. 4 GB card has 2 times. It takes time to research all these information. Please click "Yes" if this review was helpful to you.

I wanted this primarily to record audio tracks separate from the accompanying video. This is a common practice. The microphones on video recording devices are, of course, fixed in the sense that they are a part of their host device: i.e., DSLR, smartphone, video camcorder, etc.Move away from the video recording device and the sound gets weaker; noise may be picked up from the zoom lens or other internal parts and so on. So, many videographers use a separate audio recorder, very often a Zoom or Tascam. i wanted something simpler, less bulky and less expensive, but still capable of producing good audio. The WS-802 and WS-803 do the job. Both units are very small, very light, relatively inexpensive and very easy to use - and both are capable of providing excellent recordings of the human voice. The units have far more features than I will need or use. The key things for me are ease of use and audio quality. A plus is the built in memory (more than ample for my needs), long battery life and the built-in USB connector. I can plug in a lavaliere microphone, run the cable under my shirt, press a button to start recording, clap my hands or use a dog training clicker to create synchronization markers and know that I will have good audio regardless of how far I am from the camera, how strong the wind and so on. Much higher quality and far more affordable than low- and mid-range wireless mics. Jerry

The product is great and does everything (but charge the battery) that it says it will. Can record a conversation or meeting across a room (12x12). The customer service from the company that has this is the Pits.... The instructions that come with it are horrible. Not enough information on all the different things it does. and how to operate them. Print so small you will need a magnifying glass. Never could get the usb thingy to charge the battery through the CPU... so have not used when battery went. Reported this to Amazon and since there is only 1 battery you can not put it in a wall charger (they take 2 to activate charging) they have rectified this by sending me a second battery so I can charge the one that came with it. Because of the Customer Service from the company that sells it (not Amazon) I would not recomend getting this. But it is a good recorder. Just buy a wall charger and second battery. I have to commend Amazon on their superb customer service and representatives. When ever I have had a problem with a product they have stood behind the product and rectified any problems. Really takes the crap shoot our of buying on line. And the people at the Amazon Store Card have been just a great. Have tried to buy in quantity so as to get free shipping and the delayed interest. So far I have not had to pay interest on any but a few items. And would not have had to if I had been smarter and made my buying list or wish list and then sat down and ordered. If you shop and buy smart, online shopping at Amazon, can be a good and money saving experance.

I love this recorder. I have never had one before so I can not compare to any other models but I did find it very useful on a recent trip I took. I am a casual user and I originally bought it to take on "ghost adventures" but ended up using it more as a personal journal. I recently went on a cruise and my mom urged me to keep a journal but I found myself too busy to take he time to write anything. Instead I just hit 'record' and we recounted the highlights of each night before bed, and even did some recordings while doing activities so there were sounds that would recall memories from the trip later on. It was really fun and it will be cool to listen to later on. The recorder works well and it is easy to quickly find and listen to recordings based on date (there is no way to make a personalized title that I've found.) I think the sound quality is great, the device is easy to maneuver and it holds a generous amount of data. I like that is has a built in usb so I don't have to use a separate cord. The small size makes it easy to throw in a purse or pocket for quick recording and listening sessions but not small enough that you will lose it easily. Overall I am very pleased with this purchase.

First, I tried a Tascam recorder (DR-07MKII). It was very disappointing. I think it's geared toward recording very loud music performances. I wanted a versatile recorder mostly for recording voice. My next try was the WS-802. So far, I'm impressed. It has a nice set of features and the recordings are very good. It requires very little effort to record crystal clear conversations with little or no discernible background noise. It works very well for interviews, dictation, or even meetings. The sensitivity can be adjusted to accommodate any of these. You can manually adjust the gain, low cut pass, etc or just choose a recording profile custom tailored for each situation (meeting, lecture, etc). I was use to my dad's old mini cassette recorder that always had a hiss and I feared this would be the same. This is not my dad's recorder. It provides broadcast quality recordings. I've been very pleased and would recommend this to anyone needing to record voice for almost any purpose. I've not tried it with music.

Olympus WS-801 Digital Voice Recorder I couldn't decide on whether I wanted the WS-802 or WS-803 in lieu of the WS-801. After research, I found that I didn't need or want the FM Radio on the WS-803, and although nice the PCM recording option with a 21 kHz high frequency response wasn't necessary for my intended application so the WS-802 wasn't needed. I wasn't going to work on musical instruments, but I did want to record engine and exhaust sounds for my GoPro videos. Since people usually play these videos on YouTube which further compresses videos, I felt the 192 kbps MP3 format with a 40 Hz-19kHz frequency response on the WS-801 was adequate. The WS-801 interface is fairly straight forward. I loved the menu system. The backlight is definitely useful when recording in low-light or night conditions, while the amber LED is a great indicator that it is functioning. I had to refer to the instruction sheet a few times for explanations on certain features, but I was able to figure it out within a few minutes. The built-in 2GB of memory is more than adequate for most recording duties. The direct USB plug is rather neat but I am unsure of its long-term durability. Speaking of durability, I have a Sony ICD-PX720 that I used maybe 12 times in 2009. It no longer works properly and locks up frequently. The Sony menu system was rubbish because it used shortened phrases that made no sense. It kept saying my NiMH batteries were almost depleted. The direct USB port makes it difficult to connect the WS-801 when you have limited space, such as a laptop or USB hub. You will want to consider a short USB extension cable. The Olympus is more graphical and more intuitive. It also provides a lot more information on-screen, such as audio levels for EACH microphone! I was pleasantly surprised to see a pair of microphones on the WS-801 which worked splendidly although I did find myself reducing the recording level due to the sensitivity of the mics. The WS-801 is compatible with NiMH rechargeable batteries by setting it appropriately when first powered on. It takes a single AAA cell, which makes the WS-801 unit very lightweight. I really appreciate the direct USB interface without having to use proprietary software to access the sound files. The recordings are stored as MP3 or WMA files which can be directly copied and moved for further post-production editing as needed. Overall: 5/5 stars, intuitive menu, NiMH compatible, backlit LCD, great quality, lightweight, stereo microphones, outstanding audio frequency response

I have gone back and forth between Sony and Olympus recorders over the years. My next to last Olympus was the WS-110. It was a very nice, compact mono recorder. The only problem with it was that it had a removable battery compartment ( the battery compartment is removed to expose the USB connector ) with the battery door at the lower left corner. Every time it was dropped, it would fall right on that corner and damage the battery compartment door. It happened enough that I bought five battery compartments and replaced them whenever one broke. I sold it when I was down to the last new battery compartment and they were no longer available from Olympus. Enter the WS-801. The WS-801 is two steps forward but one back. First the battery compartment is no longer separate and the battery door is much better designed so that dropping it will not damage it. Second the LCD has a back light which makes it much easier to read. The step back which I never encountered with the WS-110 ( or any other recorder ) is that the WS-801 will occasionally freeze or lockup so bad that the only way to recover it is to take the battery out momentarily and then replace it. This seems to happen more often if it is in my jeans vs. being in a jacket pocket which is roomier. My suspicion is that it is more susceptible to static electricity than the WS-110. I also have a Sony ICD-UX533F ( the F is the FM radio version ) which is like the WS-801 discontinued. The UX533 is similar in size, also uses a single AAA battery, also has a push out USB port, has a backlit LCD display like the WS-801 but it never locks up or freezes. One physical difference is that the USB port of the UX533 has a flip up door which closes behind it when he USB port is retracted. Seems like a nice touch to keep dirt out. The Sony has bigger buttons because the speaker is on the back side. The downside to that is I sometimes flip it around to hear better.

I combined this product with an "VEC TRX-20 3.5MM Direct Connect Telephone Record Device" and the combination makes for a very easy to use system to record conversations on my phone. I leave the parts continuously connected to my phone. When I need to remove the recorder for playback (for example in the car), I just remove the Olympus, and leave the coupler connected to the phone. Great system, easy to use. When I make a call, I have lots of time to turn on the Olympus, and then start recording just before I place the call. When I receive a call, it takes me about 3 seconds to reach for the Olympus, turn the Olympus on, and start recording, and then I pick up the phone, as to capture the entire conversation. So this device is pretty quick in terms of starting a recording from the off state. The voice quality of the setup is pretty good, it captures only the left ear channel from the phone. I'm guessing this is because of the phone, since normally, the handset is place only on one ear so there's no need to carry two signals (left and right). The Olympus has both L and R recording channel. I haven't really used any of the features on this device. There is a feature to take a recording and it cuts out the silent parts of the conversation. It works, but anyway I prefer to keep those silent parts of the conversation in the recording. The quality of the recording is good, I can hear everthing, even hard-to-hear voices if I play it over and over. There is some white noise during the silent portions of the recordings although I'm not sure if this is the result of the coupler or the recorder or both. Anyway I'm happy with the product.

Très efficace, simple de fonctionnement! La prise USB intégrée (que l'on a seulement à glisser pour la faire sortir) est très très pratique! Je me suis fait voler mon 1er et j'ai racheté le même!

Bought it for meetings and it does a great job. Looks and feel's cheap but the audio quality is terrific.

It's really functional ....Registration time is ok for me I uses it for 1 or 2 hours/session, clear sound, easy files transfers and conversions, very handy ...I love it.......it satisfy my needs.

I like it. It is very good for regestering I wish it be able to copy from voice to text with my pc. It is a good machine I can recommend it to friends.

Item arrived as described. Thanks.