Topic: Olympus DS-51/-61/-71: first sighting (16/44 PCM low-end gear)

[sunjan]

Just launched in the US, I don't think anyone posted the news here yet:
http://www.akihabaranews.com/en/news-16693-Olympus+Introduces+New+Voice-Trek+Digital+Voice+Recorders.html

It's actually not much to get excited about. This is Olympus answer to the Sanyo/Yamaha Pocketrak series, and likewise it's way overpriced. Which means its limited feature set can't compete with taper gear like R-09HR or even LS-10.

Major issues:
Built-in flash memory only (4GB)
50-20,000Hz, even with external mic
Max file size 3h20m (unknown seamless split capacity)
16 bit only

Here are the specs:
http://www.olympusamerica.com/cpg_section/product.asp?product=1399
http://www.olympusamerica.com/cpg_section/cpg_support_faqs.asp?id=1399

Retailing in US for $344, in Japan for the equiv. of $290:
http://www.taaffephoto.com/item_detail.php?item_id=118627
http://66.102.9.104/translate_c?hl=en&sl=ja&u=http://kakaku.com/item/20773010234/&usg=ALkJrhiTb07oKt5XPzTqZpxbayPPa7TUrg

[flintstone]

Thanks for the links.  The clue to the intended market for this recorder
are the words "Voice Trek" on the front of the recorder.    That's pretty
much what I concluded when I looked at the older DS-30/40/50 series
last Summer:  Good for MP3 or WMA playback, but pretty poor for
recording music or ambience.

While I agree that the Yamaha Pocketrak 2G is miserable for music
recording, I'm reserving judgement on the new Pocketrak CX.  It's a
different design.  Street price of the CX is being tightly controlled at
$400, which is ridiculous.  But in time the price will loosen up.

Flintstone

[sunjan]

Just for the record, I noticed that Olympus renamed the model numbers for the European market:
DS-55, DS-65 and DS-75, all recording in PCM 16/44.1.

Surprisingly, the US version of DS-61 records in WMA only. Crippleware?
http://www.olympusamerica.com/cpg_section/product.asp?product=1398&fl=4
I get the impression this can be unlocked to PCM with updated Japanese drivers:
http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=ja&u=http://olympus-imaging.jp/product/audio/ds61/index.html