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

by Olympus

Product Details

Product Manual [988kb PDF]

• Item Weight: 2.1 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B00005M00O
• Item model number: dm-1
• Batteries: 2 AAA batteries required.
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (33 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #114,668 in Electronics (See Top 100 in Electronics)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes
• Date first available at Amazon.com: July 3, 2001

Product Description

Amazon.com Review

The Olympus DM-1's dual-purpose design--as a digital voice recorder for work and a digital audio player for leisure--offers valuable versatility for a world demanding ever more efficiency. This doubly cool device stores and organizes hours of voice-quality digital audio files while standing ready to crank up MP3 and WMA (Windows Media Audio) music files.

Fittingly, the DM-1's metallic blue body cuts a sleek shape suited to both business and recreational environs. The unit is easily gripped in hand, and its silver-styled buttons and textured switches feel sturdy, if not downright elegant. It comes with a nifty fitted case with Velcro straps.

As a voice recorder, this unit is brimming with deluxe features. An included USB cable speeds through downloads from your DM-1 to your PC in minutes. And since digital voice files, being extremely compressed, require little memory, you can store a virtually unlimited number on your computer. The files save in the Digital Speech Standard (DSS) format and the play, organize, and interface through your PC via included DSS software on CD-ROM.

We were pleased to discover, however, that one can do a lot of organizing right on the player. The DM-1 lets you delete files or whole folders right there on its backlit LCD so you store only what you want. The LCD displays recording length, time, and date.

The included 64 MB SmartMedia card is removable so you can expand your available memory (up to 128 MB, depending on the card), but it's also large enough to hold over 10 hours of voice recordings in SP (Standard Playback) mode. In SP, the audio quality is clear and reasonably free of artifacts. Under LP (Long Playback) mode, the memory card holds a lengthy 22 hours, making this recorder especially useful for extended use and travel. The quality difference between SP and LP modes is slight enough that the 22-hour setting is probably your best choice.

But the thing that makes the DM-1 so much more fun than an average voice recorder is the fact that it doubles as a terrific digital audio player. You can store and play about one hour of CD-quality audio on the included memory. The player boasts WOW! technology to enhance the sound, but sonic purists (or those with great headphones) will just hear an earful of distortion more than anything else, though the reverberation effects are pleasing with some music. The preset EQ settings provide distinctive, easy listening no matter what your music preference with rock, pop, and jazz.

Though comfortable, the supplied headphones sound inadequate even with the compensation of the EQ and WOW! effects. If you prefer to tailor the sound, you can also customize an EQ setting through the recorder's menu button.

For public listening, the integrated speaker plays either voice or music when no headphones are connected. The small but highly listenable speaker is another example of how this diminutive device impresses with big sound and cool features.

To conserve battery space, the Variable Control Voice Actuator (VCVA) automatically starts and stops recording when sound rises above or falls below at a given preset volume, or threshold. Other battery-saving features are hold, which keeps the device from accidentally recording the silence inside your pocket or suitcase, and an option that disables the orange backlight.

The palm-sized DM-1 offers intuitive button placement; fingers fall on the important buttons without obstructing the microphone, speaker, or display. And, your hand will have the control system memorized in minutes. Two exceptions keep the button layout from perfection: the volume control and the power switch. The power button hides on the back of the unit (probably to keep you from inadvertently turning it on or off) and the volume control sits atop the unit, a tiny dial with even tinier numbers. In our opinion, a front- or side-mounted button that displays the volume level digitally would have been ideal.

The unit derives approximately 8 hours of playback or 11 hours of recording from two AAA batteries (included); an AC adapter for continuous play must be purchased separately.

Apart from these minor quibbles, however, the DM-1 is a stand-out product--a versatile and exciting tool and toy. --Husseni Yali Rasiwala

Pros:

• Decent, comfy headphones
• Helpful step-by-step instruction booklet
• Ample 64 MB memory card included
• Onboard speaker
• USB cable included
• VCVA and hold feature saves precious batter life
• Backlit display easy to read in dark settings
• Accurate voice recording

Cons:

• No audio during forward or reverse scan in music mode
• AC adapter not included
• Awkward power button placement
• Tiny volume dial

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

41 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great product with a few weaknesses, February 26, 2002

By 

tacksharp (Cupertino, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Olympus DM-1 Voice and MP3 Recorder with WOW! Technology (Office Product)

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.

34 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Close, but short of the mark., October 5, 2002

By A Customer

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Olympus DM-1 Voice and MP3 Recorder with WOW! Technology (Office Product)

I bought this recorder for use in professional dictation and found it wanting. Sound quality and storage capacity were fine. The files were set up to record a sequence of sounds one at a time (sound bites) but without being able to edit them once made. There was no way to listen to the recording during "rewind" to select a place to insert more words and in fact no way to append onto or change a filed recording once ended. "Fast forward" jumps to the next file. "Rewind" jumps to the previous file. The designers of the DM-1 did not have dictation primarily in mind for this product. I use the word 'rewind' in fond remembrance of tape recorders; some allowed you to hear a weak version of what you recorded during variable speed fast forward and rewind, allowing accurate and rapid finding of the spot you wanted to record over. Digital recorders potentially add the feature of being to "paste" new dictation in between existing words (impossible on tape w/o splicing). I'll keep watching for the digital voice recorder that keeps the best functions of analog tape recorders and adds the new functions unique to digital. Dr. E %^)

54 of 57 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Sometimes the whole is NOT greater than its parts., May 15, 2003

By 

Marc Ruby™ "The Noh Hare™" (Warren, MI USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Olympus DM-1 Voice and MP3 Recorder with WOW! Technology (Office Product)

Based on the marketing, the Olympus DM-1 Digital voice recorder should be a nearly perfect tool. Combining as much as 44 hours of recording capacity (if you expand the memory to 128M) with quality MP3 playback is an attractive combination. Especially for someone like me who has a borderline need for a DVR, but who is attracted by having music playback capability. The price is high, but I thought there was every reason to expect the synthesis of two quality machines would be worth the cost.

Alas, this was not to be. On the good side, the voice recorder is simple to use with easy to deal with buttons and functions. MP3 playback is good as well. The display on the machine is legible and quite straightforward. And the DVR software, 'DSS Player', installs easily and works with no problems. Unfortunately, from this point on, the news is bad.

For an expensive digital recorder, is surprising that it only provides for three folders with 200 untitled recordings in each. It is also surprising that there are no features for inserting and appending to a recording. This makes the DM-1 a useful only for unsophisticated recording. Sound quality, never great in DVR's has a lot of noise, even in standard recording mode.

For music, the supplied earphones are unacceptable. They are extremely position dependent, and refused to stay in my ears if I moved my head at all. But the real issue on the MP3 side is the supplied software - 'MusicMatch Jukebox,' not the player itself. I have a perfectly ordinary Win98SE machine. The software installed easily enough, and it created some MP3 files from a CD, but could not see the DM-1's disk space. I tried this with SmartMedia cards from several different suppliers, and they all failed. However, I could move the files to the cards directly, as they appear as a disk drive to the system so I could have managed. Playback, by the way is quite acceptable.

What cinched my full negative was, 'MusicMatch,' in the end. This destabilized the USB lines, resulting in repeated system hangs, and finally compromised the registry. When I checked their e-mail site, I found that I would have to but the 'real' version of the software if I were to get any help. When I did e-mail them anyway, I got a very unhelpful response, and then nothing. You may draw your own conclusions, but I think Olympus should really look elsewhere for a provider.

As I see it, I paid a premium price for technology available for a fourth the cost. Buying two decent machines and gluing them together would have been more satisfactory. I am not prone to giving poor ratings, but I feel I have no choice. People who really need this functionality should look elsewhere.