OM SYSTEM WS-883 Digital Voice Recorder 8GB Memory, Stereo Microphones, Direct USB, Intelligent Auto Mode, Noise Cancelling, Simple Mode, Low-Cut Filter, Expandable Storage

Olympus have been one of the main brands in this market for over 30 years, though in those days they used tapes, and they are still one of, if not, 'the' best. I've had 5 of this model over the last 4 years. No they don't break but I had reasons to use them heavily, more than the average peson would need to. They are solidly built and easy to use with excellent results. To use it's much like the old days & tape recorders. The 2 main buttons are are the top ones and the largest. Stop & Rec. And it's that easy....you press Rec to record & Stop to end it. If you press record whilst its recording it will pause until you start it recording by pressing the Rec button again. Under those is a 4 way button which also has the play button in the middle of it. It's left & right for fast forward or rewind of a recording, and left & right in the menus. Top & bottom are + and - volume when listening or up & down in the menus. Play being in the middles as I said and you can alter the playback speed with it too. Under that it's the menu button to the left & the folder/index button to the right. They take 2 AAA batteries. You can use either Ni-Cad or Alkaline. The screen will list both types when you insert the batteries & you just select the type you've installed. You can then go into the menus to set the time & date, the file menus, rec modes, low cut filters, voice activated recording, noise canceller, screen contrast, language etc etc. Or...you can just hit record & you're off. On the back, half way up there is a flick out bit of plastic that acts as a stand if you want to put it on a desk or tabls to record. Above that is a plastic button that, when you push it in slightly and slide it upwards to the top makes the usb jack pop out from behind it's flap in the top of the recorder. Very neat. Theres 8gb of memory which equates to 132 hours, 35mins & 31seconds of available recording space in the 5 folders...A thru' E. It will automatically put the recordings into the next folder when you reach the 99 recordings limit for each folder. Using Ni-Cad batteries these will run for about 36 hours before going flat. Recording quality is fine & in Stereo. Obviously, they are not meant to record live gigs, I tried lol but they distort a bit above a certain level, but they'll be fine if its not turned up to 11 and besides I have studio quality recorders for recording live gigs. Ideal for meetings and also phone calls if needed, just hold it against the phone & they easily pick up both ends of the call. Great recorders.

Recording choir practise, works well.

Great small Dictaphone if slightly complicated be warned not to change the language on it as you may struggle to get the device back to English apart from that so far it’s brilliant well worth the money if your looking for great quality dictaphone with loads of features for not too much money then this one is totally worth it

Great product

Worth zero stars. The screen is so poor, I found it really hard to see, made worse with no backlight. The system is really slow too. I returned it immediately.

OM System formerly known as Olympus have been making such devices for years. Their products in this field are excellent and this is no exception. First off this comes with rechargeable batteries includes and pop them in - to recharge just use the pop out USB to plug into a computer or charger. It has a mIcro SD card socket (no card included) but has 8GB of internal memory Just pop in the batteries turn it on - set time and date and you’re good to go. Basic menu gives you option of recording music, voice or a podcast. Plug in earphones into the hack and you can monitor your recording as your recording. Has a mic socket too. Menu is easy to navigate and select sound options file options etc - all self explanatory and all easy to adjust for stereo mono etc. To record you press record - stop for stop and then erase gives you option of erasing files you select Overall easy intuitive menu and options Sound quality is crystal clear and excellent with good range throughout Recording music gives you very good levels and bass. Recording voice and podcasts is crystal clear The body is plastic and it’s very light But electronics are excellent Overall a 5/5 excellent recorder which is worth the money. Pay more for higher end recorders if you need the extra features and quality but for most purposes this is ideal.

Whilst this is a very outdated device , a phone app will be much faster have more options , possibly a better mic (although you could use an external dynamic mic) and obviously an app is way cheaper , a device like this may still be useful to some. Firstly the manual misses out complete functions , such as podcast , nothing about this option or ‘shadowing’ and some other function are left completely unexplained. The screen isn’t back lit and will be next to useless outside and is not great indoors to start with , even in the larger font simple mode’ The mic is stereo and is decent , but the highest quality you can record is 128kps mp3 ? Fine for dictation but anything else , field recording etc , this is 2023. The processor is slow at normalising audio , yet can handle pitch and time functions (increasing speed of playback without changing pitch of voice) the optimisation is all over the place. I could go on , the price for instance is unrealistic for this 2000s type device… All in all it begs the question why on Earth would anybody buy such an antiquated device ? Well, it does have some saving graces over a phone and an app. I will list them as I think it is important to note that minority will find a use for this recorder. Firstly apps can vary in quality and can be discontinued at a moments notice. The recorder has excellent limiting , preventing distortion, and compression mode equaling the level of several voices so everybody is heard. If you are a group of people sharing it on a budget , if it goes missing or gets damaged , it will be cheaper to replace. It is a dedicated device that is instant to use , just hit record you are going, not to be underestimated in a busy environment. But honestly at the end of the day , and especially with the terrible screen , for many it will feel like using a mechanical typewriter when there are computers available. I just can’t recommend the experience and paying £70 for seriously outdated technology seems silly. I myself wanted to use it with an external mic as a field recorder , but why is the max recording quality only 128kps , memory is cheap and there are mono options to lower file size. Where this device does well is the actual recording process itself , it is one button and has ‘scenes’ which are basically just macro settings to optimise your recording. So the learning curve isn’t steep. There are other things like playing mp3s , again most people stream audio these days although this can at least play back .wav audio. The headphone jack is able to drive high impedance headphones, nice. File transfer to my iPad was a breeze and fast via the usb A slide out plug, wouldn’t want that sticking from one of my computers native ports however, in case it snapped one. But ultimately it’s all like painting through a letterbox. The GUI belongs in the last century really , things have progressed.

This is a very compact digital voice recorder from one of the leaders in dictation systems, OM System, which is part of Olympus. Whilst this is a digital voice recorder, this particular mode is not designed for dictation as it does not feature a combination record start/stop slide switch, which is found on others models such as the DS-2600 or DS-9000. Instead, this is described as a digital recorder, which is designed to capture audio in full stereo, accurately and efficiently so that this can be replayed when working as a student, journalist or a business professional. It features two microphones, a monochrome LED display and physical Record and stop buttons. It is powered by two rechargeable AAA NiMH batteries that are supplied in the box. These can be charged in the device by plugging it into a standard USB-A socket, using a plug that slides out from the top of the recorder. Whilst this arrangement is neat, I am disappointed that it did not have a USB-C plug instead as this is the modern standard and would allow it to connect directly into my MacBook Pro. Instead, I had to plug it into a USB-C hub, as shown in the picture, before it could be connected to the MacBook. I tried using it for some voice recordings in my study and compared it with the voice memo function on my iPhone 14 Pro. It was very easy to play back the recordings as the OM W-883 appears as a USB drive on my MacBook Pro and I could just click on the recordings in the Recorder Folder. It has customisable functions which include the ability to optimise recording for different environments such as dictation, conferences, meetings or even telephone. It has 8 GB of built in memory, which is easily expandable using the micro-SD slot, something that is not possible on an iPhone 14 Pro! I was a little disappointed that it doesn’t come in a protective pouch as I can see this getting easily scratched. It does come with a 150 page manual which describes its use in 23 languages. It doesn’t say how long it takes to recharge the battery or how many hours it can be used for but the display is clear and gives information about battery charge status and memory information. One advantage in using this voice recorder is that it is a dedicated device that is so much smaller than a phone. It is ideal for situations where you want to avoid distractions from your phone such as recording audio notes whilst out hiking or in a business environment.