Closing Music:Noizmakerz-Shut Up And Drive
Abstract: This is a script for a podcast. In this podcast the Olympus WS-500 Digital Voice Recorder is reviewed.
For quite some time now, I have been recording my podcasts on portable devices. While recording by means of plugging a mike or a handset into the back of a computer was done in the past, there is the prime matter of electrical noise. The recording process could always be influenced by the interference created by the several components inside the computer’s case operating. I remember once doing a backup while recording a podcast, and I could hear, while editing the audio, some sound interference whose rhythm sounded like the rhythm of a disk drive arm.
A second factor is the promise of portability. While I have not yet recorded away from my main computer, I do want the possibility to exist.
I was doing this on my Cowon F2 Digital Music player, but I stumbled across the existence of Digital Voice Recorders and reasoned that a device built for the express purpose of recording the voice must be better at recording the voice than a device built for something else, that basically could also record voice as an add-on feature.
Normally my attitude toward product review for “Talk Geek To Me” is to normally only do favorable reviews unless there is a pressing reason to do a negative review. I generally try not to pooh-pooh something because when I do I am afraid I will insult the judgment of somebody who feels quite satisfied with whatever it is I might blast. However, the Olympus WS-500 has a fault, so I feel I should just get it out of the way before I explain the things that are truly good about this product.
Digital Voice Recorders, in general with the whole Olympus line included, hate freedom and record in Microsoft’s WMA format.
Yuch, I know! I actually originally tried a Sony, because it recorded in the MP3 format. I figured between the two patent-encumbered formats at least the MP3 format would have it’s patents expiring sooner. But then I found out that all the Sony voice recorders needed a special Windows-only driver to transfer files to a computer over. That was a deal killer for me, a die hard Linux user.
So I make this discovery about the driver at home with the Sony, and I do some Googling before going for the return. I find out that Olympus has a line of cheaper voice recorders called the the VN series that suffer from the same fault. So, Linux folks, don’t buy these units in their Sony or Olympus VN-Series incarnations.
So, Like my Cowon F2, my recordings come out as a dot-WMA file. Dot-WMA’s are a no-no to Audacity, but here is how you make a dot-WMA into a dot-WAV. First, get the non-free codecs, which are available on-line. Debian’s multimedia repository (an unofficial project) calls these w32codecs and w64codecs, depending on whether or not you use your computer as a 32 or 64 bit computer. While your installing, also install the media player “mplayer,” which will be our tool for the conversion. I would also recommend installing “libdvdcss2,” which will give mplayer the ability to play many more commercial DVDs than it otherwise would.
The command for converting then becomes:
There is an older option that uses a parameter called “audiodump.” They both work. This command is of course in my show notes, and doing a Google search for “wav wma convert mplayer” will reveal a bunch of variations, included automated bash scripts that can do whole directories. Then, the resulting wav file can be used for Audacity.
OK, let’s have some fun and talk about the all the good points of the Olympus WS-500 Digital Voice Recorder.
First and foremost, when you connect it to your computer it appears to be a regular 2GB USB thumb drive which means it is Linux compatible!
The second is the connection itself. Instead of having a small jack that is covered by some flimsy piece of plastic and coming with a USB to small jack converter cable, it has a better arrangement. There is a slide on the side, and when you slide it, out comes the male end of a USB drive. If your using a laptop or your computer has a nice flat area around the USB jack, you can plug it right into the jack. A cable is provided, a standard USB extension cable.
My third favorite feature is the battery. It using a standard AAA rechargeable battery. So, if you are a big enough geek like me to actually own a battery charging box, you don’t have to do recharge by USB unless you want to. Also, you wont have to worry about tossing the device because some funky internal battery went south. That, to me, is a very big deal!
Another feature is this minuscule lousy sounding dime sized speaker, but if you don’t have your headphones you can still figure out if you got the recording with it. It also has a built in stereo microphone, that works in either a distance or in your face dictation mode.
Also included is an mp3 player. It pumps some pretty nice sound out the headphones. No OGG/Vorbis playback though, but OK, my car’s CD player does mp3 but not mp2 or ogg. So, I guess if you have only mp3 you won’t miss anything, and it could be a backup if your like me and you have a digital music player.
Lastly, it is small and light. It’s like the size of two small match boxes put together, and is long rectangular and thin, small enough to conceal in a men’s shirt breast pocket. It is a real featherweight also, so I guess it can double as a bugging device of some sort if you want.
So if you want something that can record voice, this may be up your alley, give it a shot!