 Olympus DM420 |
| Review Date: March 9, 2010 |
| Reviewer: Ken, MO USA |
The Olympus DM420 is an excellent recorder. The control buttons and menus are very easy to use. Even the battery compartment very well designed and much easier to use than anything else I've seen. The display shows the battery level and plenty of information about the settings in use during recording and playback, as well as the timestamp. It is an excellent recorder for both voice and line input. Although not advertised or specified as having a line input, it is sensitive enough to accept a tape out signal using the microphone input, so that there is no need to worry about setting the volume level of the earphone output of the radio being recorded. The pdf instruction manual is stored in the memory and can be copied to your computer for learning all the options not obvious on the screen menu. I had to read the manual to understand the settings related to using the USB connection for file transfer versus external power for recording or playback. Another useful feature not indicated in the published specifications and reviews I had seen, is the ability to program the recorder to record at three separate times with various settings for program length and quality. The feature of this recorder most important for my choosing it over others is the ample playback speaker which produces enough volume, with 320 mW power output, for listening without earphones, and still, the replaceable, rechargeable batteries last many days between charges.
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Works fine
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| Review Date: February 16, 2010 |
| Reviewer: Katie, SC, USA |
| The directions are a bit confusing but once they are worked out...tech support was a great help it works find. Have used it with external mike to record meetings, in my pocket to record small groups, in all situations it picks up fine and data is easily transfered to my computer. The small size is a bonus. Careful about ambient noise...it will hide speech but if you keep it motionless it works fine. I recommend it. |
Excellent product with primary mistake
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| Review Date: July 23, 2010 |
| Reviewer: J.C.L., Sao Paulo, SP Brazil |
For professional reasons, I need sometimes to record interviews and lectures.
I had already an Olympus DM-520 (an outstanding product) and decided to buy this DM-420, which is essentially the same, but with half the recording capacity. If you have to record important interviews, lectures and so on, you should better use 2 recorders at once, to guarantee a backup, just in case: the double recording is far cheaper than the possible loss of data.
The reason for the choice of a DM-420 instead of another DM-520 was the color: the DM-520 is black and the DM-420 is silver, so it is quite easy to identify the recorders. And, as a matter of fact, I think that, for most users, 500 hours or 1000 hours will mean the same. Just remembering: 500 hours mean some 21 continuous days of recording time and the batteries will not last for 1 day.
As told before, the DM-420 and the DM-520 are very similar. They use the same technology, the same microphone (wich is the most critical component of a digital recorder) and the same software. They are, by far, the best portable non-professional digital recorders I've ever seen, for several reasons:
1. The microphone is very, very accurate. Other cheaper recorders (including other Olympus models) distort the sound and, in some cases, it is not easy to listen and undestand what was recorded;
2. The rechargeable batteries last for a long time (I'd say some 20 hours of continuous recording);
3. The software is nice. For sure, it could be better, but it is at least ok and represent a huge improvement compared to previous Olympus software releases;
4. They are so light and small, and come with a stylish protective case;
5. The operation is very easy and quite intuitive. The manual is reasonable;
6. The voice activation feature (i.e., the recording is automatically suspended when the speach ceases) is very useful, both for saving record time and for making easy the further transcription of the recorded content;
7. The earphones have superb quality, comparable to those from iPod and similar.
But Olympus made a primary mistake: when I first tried this DM-420, I thought it was deffective. As a matter of fact, it was not, but it came with completely dead batteries. They had no manufacturing problems: they were just discharged, so I had to charge them before the use. When I bought the DM-520 a few months ago, I received it with the batteries fully charged, and I think this is the right way. I think this mistake is not enough to prevent a five stars evaluation, since the product itself is very worthwhile. But Olympus could be a bit more careful about such details.
I do recommend this product, for its excellent performance and very fair price compared to its outstanding quality. |
A good buy
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| Review Date: August 8, 2010 |
| Reviewer: Rudi Hempe, Narragansett, RI |
| I bought this recorder to conduct interviews for articles I write. Works very well. Good sound quality although it does pick up background noise. Recently bought the optional background noise reducing microphone. Have not tried it yet. Tremendous unit with a giant capacity and a good price. Suggest using NI-MH rechargible AAA batteries. |
20 Pros and 4 unimportant cons- This unit rocks
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| Review Date: August 24, 2010 |
| Reviewer: T. Winn, CA, USA |
This unit will do anything you want it to do. The Long lasting USB Rechargeable Battery and the ability to add Micro sd card were the clincher. I simply didn't want to always be worrying about batteries.
Pros
1. Ability to adjust for any type of Recording situation. I mean ANY.
Specifically two different types of noise filters. Ability to set up as Zoom directional or broad.
2. Charges with a standard Mini-USB cable.
3. Re-Chargeable Long lasting batteries
4. Option to install regular 3A batteries in Emergency
5. Takes a Micro SD card for extra storage
6. Folder system to separate your different types of recordings
7. Ability to set up programmed Scenes for different types of recording situations
8. Stereo with ability to set up for Mono type Recording
9. When you connect with USB cable in order to charge you need to push the stop button. This is a bonus
because you don't have to go through online menus to change modes. Just push Stop button and plug into computer and it starts to charge.
10. Great button layout. I really like the navigation wheel.
11. Neat case that allows recording functions to be available just by flipping open the front with the back attached. This has got to be the greatest leather case I've seen.
12. Great online documentation with a FAQ that covers almost everything
13. Choice of both MP3 and WMA with quality settings that go beyond the level of auditory recognition.
14. Drag and Drop files directly to PC in Windows explorer (Recognized as a Hard Drive)
15. Although not listed on the box or specification it does have Voice Activated Recording.(Starts recording when there is sound, stops when there is no sound)
16. Saves in formats that are recognized by Dragon Naturally Speaking Preferred. (will update review once I try it)
17. Software to edit WMA files and import files.
18. Powered Microphone Jack
19. Supports Audible
20 Supports Podcasts
Cons.
1. Bulkier than some
2. So many settings and features that it can become overwhelming
3 Careful the USB Cable it comes with is proprietary so it won't do data transfer with other cables also it may not charge properly with other cables. When I used a normal cable it never showed as charged.
4. It has the Voice activated feature. But it seemed like there was too much of a delay. (I'll play with this feature later. Sony may have a superior mechanism where they use a buffer with less cutoff. I won't take off a star because this feature is not important to me.
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