Olympus voice-activated DS-50 records days of audio
By Darren Murph 
posted Feb 13th 2007 6:04PM
posted Feb 13th 2007 6:04PM
Olympus might have halted production of its DAPs, but it's still taking time out from busting out wicked zoom cameras to dabble in the portable audio realm. The DS-50 is a handheld audio recorder / audiobook player hybrid, and aside from its ability to hold between 17 hours (STXQ stereo mode) and 275 hours (paltry LP mode) on the built-in 1GB of storage, it also touts voice-activated record / playback controls, a backlit LCD screen, MP3 / WMA support, and the obligatory integrated microphone. You'll get around 26 to 31 hours of battery life on a pair of AAA cells, USB connectivity, and Audible support as well. So if you're looking to capture days and days of audio, and want to break up the podcasting sessions with a few books / tunes along the way, the DS-50 can be snapped up now for a stiff £249 ($487).[Via ShinyShiny]
Nice, although I would have preferred to see a removable memory option. This has a built in stereo microphone that is removable so you can plug in your own mic. I have a DS-2 with stereo recording and the audio quality is amazing. I expect the same from the DS-50.
We can buy this, or we can all go out and buy the Sandisk Sansa Express for $60 USD when it comes out in April that has 1GB built-in, and a microSD slot that will support the new microSDHC cards (4GB anyone?) for further memory expansion, and will include a four-line OLED display, an FM tuner (with FM recording), support of MP3 (and WMA, WMA+, WAV, and Audible) files, a mic for voice recording, a built in USB 2.0 jack (like a thumbdrive), and up to fifteen hour battery life. I was told that it will also store data files, not just audio.
Hmmm... $60 (and a bit more if you want to expand it's memory with a microSD card) for all that? Or almost $500 for the Olympus (that has less to offer)? Seems like a no-brainer to me (unless you REALLY need voice activated recording and stereo mics at a super-premium price).
So half the battery life, an unknown Hz quality on the presumably monaural microphone - sounds to me like you're comparing a digital voice recorder to an MP3 player with an FM tuner that happens to include a crappy microphone. This is a little like saying someone in the market for a Kasumi chef's knife should check out a Victorinox instead.
For anyone in the market targeted by the DS-50, the Sansa Express not only isn't going to cut it, it doesn't even have the elementary entry requirements: Stereo recording capability, detachable microphone (allowing for attachment of hi-fi equipment), VAR (yeah, it's needed for some people), and critically, DSS audio standard when it comes to recording, allowing for infinite possibilities when it comes to sound editing. If you don't know about DSS, I'd suggest researching it before touting the Sansa Express over anything is Olympus' DSS line. FYI, if you want expansion capability from Olympus, check out their LS-10, a brand new Linear PCM (WAV) recorder that bests even this DS-50. 2GB internal NAND flash and the ability to record up to 15 hours of uncompressed audio if you add the optional EIGHT GB SDHC card. It also sports MP3 and WMA recording capabilities for additional capacities, all the way up to 358 hours. Oh, that's in Stereo, by the way. Yours for $400 MSRP. These things aren't cheap, but then, neither are the internals. FYI, the DS-50's MSRP was only ever $250, not "almost $500", and can now be found for less than that.
Bottom line: You're comparing a portable, high-end piece audiophile voice recording equipment to a budget MP3 player that "has a mic for voice recording". Granted, both have their faults and their benefits, and please understand that I'm not knocking the Sansa in any way, but the main problem I see here is that you went to the grocery store, came back with an apple and an orange, and found a few absurdly outside-the-market reasons (FM tuner, MP3 playback, OLED display, etc.) to say that the apple is better.
...or we can buy a Sony Hi-MD unit doing a lot more than the Olympus, albeit at a size disadvantage.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MiniDisc#Hi-MD