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Summary: The Olympus DS-330 is a sleek digital voice recorder with five and a half hours worth of storage packed into a case only 4.25 x 1.6 x 0.8 inches in size. I found this to be a great gadget for taking conference notes and recording picture information when on a photo-shoot, and apart from the size, my favorite part is how easily the USB connection allows you to move the DSS audio files onto my computer. Playback though the DSS player provided worked well too, allowing faster or slower speeds with pitch adjustment and conversion to .wav for use in other programs. Audio quality is definitely aimed at voice, where it does well, but it's not nearly good enough for music. I'd like to see the two AAA batteries changed to a rechargeable that uses the USB base, but aside from that and the limitations of its audio quality, it's a great tool for your kit.

Select Specs: (from product website)

• Recording Format Digital recording in accordance with IVA Digital Speech Standard (DSS).
• Recording Media 16 MB integrated flash memory.
• Recording Time SP mode: approx. 155 min. (continuous recording).
• LP mode: approx. 330 min. (continuous)
• Card Format N/A
• Input Level -70 dB.
• PC Interface USB
• LCD Large backlit full-dot display
• LED
• Folders Messages 5 Folders
• Sampling Frequency Standard mode (SP): 12 kHz.
• Long Play mode (LP): 8 kHz.
• Overall Frequency Response SP mode: 300 to 5,000 Hz.
• LP mode: 300 to 3,000 Hz.
• LP Mode
• Voice Activation Variable Control Voice Activation (VCVA)
• Demographic Data Input N/A
• Practical Maximum Output 180 mW or more (8 W speaker).
• Write Protection Files can be individually locked.
• Speaker Built-in 28 mm round dynamic speaker.
• Microphone Jack 3.5 mm mini-jack, impedance 2 k W.
• Earphone Jack 3.5 mm mini-jack, impedance 8 W.
• Power Supply Rated voltage: 3 V DC.
• Batteries Two AAA-size batteries (LR03 or R03).
• External Power Supply AC adapter.
• Battery Life Approx. 11 hours (according to Olympus tests using alkaline batteries).
• Size 4.25 x 1.6 x 0.8 inches (without protrusions).
• Weight 2.6 ounces (including batteries).
• OS Supported Windows:
• PC: IBM PC/AT compatible PC
• Operating System: Microsoft Windows 98/ 98SE/ Me /2000 Professional/ NT Workstation 4.0 with Service Pack 4 (SP4)/ XP Professional / Home Edition
• Recommended: Hard drive space: 70 MB or more
• CD-ROM drive: 12x
• Sound card: Creative Labs Sound Blaster 16 or 100% compatible sound card
• Web browser (Microsoft Internet Explorere 5.o or later) Macintosh:
• PC: iMac, iBook, Power Mac G3/G4, PowerBook G3
• Note: The computer must support a standard USB port.
• Operating system: Mac OS 8.6/9.0/9.1/10.1
• Recommended: Hard drive space: 5 MB or more
• Display: 800x600 pixels or more, 256 colors or more
• CD-ROM drive: 2X or faster
• CPU CPU: Intel Pentium II class 300MHz MMX or better (recommended)
• RAM Windows: RAM: 64 MB or more (recommended)
• Macintosh: RAM: 16MB or more (recommended)
• Sound Board Sound card: Creative Labs Sound Blaster 16 or 100% compatible sound card
• Video Card and Display
• Removable Drive
• USB Port Windows: USB port: One free port
• Macintosh: USB port: One or more free USB ports
• Audio Output Windows: Audio I/O jacks: Earphone output or speakers
• Macintosh: Audio I/O jacks: Microphone input and earphone (or speaker) output.