Olympus ME-51S Stereo Microphone

This Olympus ME-51S Stereo Microphone was purchased for use with an Olympus DS-30 Digital Voice Recorder to record my college lectures to be offered on my Website and via podcasting services, including Apple iTunes, Yahoo! and PodBlaster. I wanted high quality audio recording equipment to give a professional sound to my presentations, and the DS-30 had already been doing well with its own, built-in stereo mic. Unfortunately, some of the rooms in which I lecture have the acoustical qualities of a haunted house, complete with unfortunately troubled, noisy souls dedicated to howling incessantly.

Hence, I bought the microphone to clip onto my tie so I could attach the recorder to my belt with a belt-clip case available from Olympus. The DS-30 has three recording modes: "lecture hall," "conference," and "dictation." (The DS-30 also has four recording quality levels, including "XQ" stereo, which I always use.) With the microphone, I was able to take the gain down from "lecture hall" to "conference," which cut the ambient noise level considerably. I was somewhat worried that the microphone being so close to my tie would cause occasional rubbing sounds as the mic hit the fabric, but in more than 50 hours of recording so far with the mic I have noticed that only twice while preparing the lectures for broadcast.

The microphone comes with three feet of lead wire, so there is plenty of cord to loosely wrap the wire to the back of a tie, drop it down a shirt, and then bring it back out at the bottom to take over to where the recorder is attached to the belt (if you want to do it by such a complicated method to avoid having wire flapping about).

I was also concerned that the microphone would not have the same audio quality as the built-in mic, but that has not been the case: the quality of sound being recorded with the ME-515 is exactly the same as that from the original, built-in mic, which detaches with a simple pull, allowing the jack from the ME-515 to be inserted with ease. I should caution that, even though the jack goes in easily, make sure it has gone in all the way. Once, I apparently didn't push hard enough, and the jack went in only partially, so I ended up with a really weird audio recording that ran mono instead of stereo, with the mono switching randomly from left to right.

In summary, the Olympus ME-515 is a wonderful complement to any of the better Olympus stereo digital audio recorders with which it is compatible, including the WM and DS series. The microphone is unobtrusively small, lightweight, smoothly attractive in shape, durable, and ready for use right out of the package. I have used it now in well over 50 hours of recording, and I carry it in a simple little pouch alongside my Olympus DS-30. If you want a stereo microphone for your better Olympus recorder, this is the one. You will not be disappointed with the audio quality you get from it.

I have an Olympus WS-300 which I liked for recording classes in grad school it picked up just about everything. The addition of this microphone make the unit into a really amazing piece of equipment. This mic has a significantly higher output than the built-in mics and better frequency respsonse and overall balance.

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We bought this to use with our WS-300M to record a class. We thought the stereo would result in a better quality recording. In the end, we set the recorder to MONO (HQ) because the speaker moves his head and the sound travels from one channel to the other! Good quality but distracting. Save your money and buy the mono mic. The quality is excellent in either setting.

Buy the way, in case you miss it, this mic does come with a cable to connect it to the recorder.

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I bought this to use with a GoPro Hero2. I also tested it against a Sony ECM-DS70P. The Olympus was more sensitive and picked up speech and ambient sounds more effectively than the Sony. The Sony is a decent product, but the Olympus is a better performer. I don't think you can find a better performing non-powered Mic.

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This is an exceptionally high-quality stereo microphone.

I use this microphone with my Olympus DM-10 digital voice recorder.

I get exceptionally high quality stereo recordings using it.

I don't have to have this to record through my recorder of course, but the difference between using it and not is dramatically obvious!

I wouldn't be able to get along without it!

I seriously recommend this mic for use with the DM-10, DM-20 and any other Olympus recording device that it is compatible with.

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