birding-aus

RFI: Comparison of Olympus digital recorders

To: "'Peter Shute'" <>, "'Ian May'" <>, <>
Subject: RFI: Comparison of Olympus digital recorders
From: "Stephen Ambrose" <>
Date: Wed, 24 Oct 2012 13:01:24 +1100
I recently purchased (about one month ago) an Olympus LS-20M digital audio
and video recorder and I'm pretty happy with it.  I tried to purchase the
Olympus LS-11 and LS-10 audio recorders, based on the advice that people
provided on Birding-aus, but discovered that these models are now hard to
obtain because they are no longer in production.  So I went to a local
audio-visual supplies shop, spoke at length to a very helpful shop
assistant, and came away convinced that the Olympus L-20M would suit my
needs for wildlife recording. I'm using the LS-20M primarily to record the
presence of audible species and for identification purposes, rather than for
analysis of call structures, and seems to work well in those roles.

After a bit of searching, I managed to purchase my Olympus LS 20M on eBay
for about $300. I haven't used the video component yet, so can't comment on
video quality, but I've used the audio components to record frog, insect and
bird calls, and I'm very impressed with the sound quality.  But what also
impresses me is it easy to use, the digital menus on the screen are easy to
read, there are only a few operating buttons which are relatively large and
well-spaced, and it is small enough to fit in a leather wallet on the
trouser belt.  It is a little bit bulkier than the LS-11 and LS-10, but
still small and lightweight enough to be carried comfortably in the hand.

A recent review of this product can be found at:
http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/nov11/articles/olympus-ls20.htm

Stephen Ambrose
Ryde NSW


-----Original Message-----
From: 
 On Behalf Of Peter Shute
Sent: Wednesday, 24 October 2012 11:14 AM
To: 'Ian May'; 
Subject: RFI: Comparison of Olympus digital recorders

I'd give the DM-550 a try before looking at other models. It might be ok,
depending on what quality you want, but I see that it has voice activation
and noise cancelling. These are desirable features for dictation, but unless
they can be turned off I think they'll mess up your recordings.

Bird calls might not be loud enough to trigger the voice activation, and the
noise cancellation might consider them to be background noise that it should
filter out.

Peter Shute

> -----Original Message-----
> From:  
>  On Behalf Of Ian May
> Sent: Wednesday, 24 October 2012 10:30 AM
> To: 
> Subject: [Birding-Aus] RFI: Comparison of Olympus digital recorders
> 
> Hello all
> 
> <>
> Last week I decided to buy a hearing aid and immediately 
> found the difference for discerning bird calls remarkable. At 
> the local supermarket on Saturday morning I was hearing a 
> Little Wattlebird and a Greenfinch calling simultaneously and 
> the sound was so loud and clear compared to anything heard 
> for decades, it has encouraged a new found interest in sound.
> 
> Having already in my possession an Olympus DM-550 digital 
> sound recorder and now, with all this new found enthusiasm, I 
> am hoping that someone with knowledge could give me an 
> indication about the usefulness of my existing unit as I have 
> no knowledge or experience to compare its suitability for 
> recording bird song.
> 
> Included is a comparison link to other recommended Olympus 
> birdsong recorders but I don't know what features are relevant,
> 
> http://www.olympus.co.uk/audio/2590_Compare_Voice_Recorders.as
> px?mode=result&pId1=N2286521&pId2=N2283521&pId3=N2283421
> 
> 
> Regards
> 
> 
> Ian May
> St Helens, Tasmania
> 
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