Olympus Linear Recorder (LS-11)

Of all the currently available pocket-size portable voice recorders, the LS-11 is one of the most expensive and one of the best. I have used this device to record some professional interviews and the sound quality is generally excellent even with the intrusion of occasional background noise.

Plus points:

1. Its construction oozes quality with a tough lightweight metal casing

2. Chunky, high-quality and easy-to-use controls

3. Easily mastered, intuitively designed navigation menus

4. Choice of recording formats: the default PCM which is fine for everyday use, also Wave, WMA, MP3 Record and Playback

5. Excellent built-in directional/omnidirectional mikes (choice of settings); you can control the record level manually or set it to "auto" and the LS-11 assesses the sound level itself and adjusts accordingly this good for environments where the sound level changes constantly; you can also plug in any external mike

6. Good handy pocket-size and weight

7. Long battery life

8. Tripod screw-mount

9. Small remote-control unit included so you can set it in position and start/stop it remotely without having to touch it

10. Directly compatible with PC & Mac and very easy to download, copy and edit files in any format

11. Absolutely first-class playback quality

Minus points: few but you should consider these prior to purchasing decision:

1. Screen font size is small and menus can be difficult to read unless you have excellent eyesight

2. Playback through the unit is not very loud and you may need to actually place the speakers next to your ear like a phone in order to hear everything, even with the volume turned up to max though playback through a PC is excellent

3. It's expensive relative to the competition, which is plentiful at the cheap end but not at this level of quality

Overall: as a pocket-size recorder, near excellent. You get what you pay for. I can't comment on Olympus's after-sales service, as I have had no cause to use it because the unit has worked perfectly from day one.

I'm a journalist who has to cover conferences as well as one to one interviews. So far the Olympus LS-11 handheld digital recorder has performed brilliantly in the month that I've used it. It is especially good at up close and personal interviews, even with lots of background noise, as you can hear in this interview with Internet founder Vint

I'm still experimenting with different settings, but the factory settings work pretty well. I haven't tried the software that came with the unit as I am familiar with the free Audacity editing package. But Audacity has its limitations, so I will give the other a try.

I really like the uncompressed PLM recording, so much so that I've not used the MP3 facility. But as I ran out of memory (despite having 8Gb on board) in the middle of an interview, I'm going to expriment with high bit rate MP3.

I bought the companion device that lets yoiui record phone calls. I've only used it once, and found it easy to set up but fiddly to use, and the sound quality was uneven.

On the downside, I found the AA batteries that came with the unit ran out surprisingly quickly. But that is a minor issue. More problematic for me (I've had a double cataract operation) is the screen quality. The characters are small and hard for me to read. This top end device could use a high quality, high contrast screen. Perhaps Olympus could talk to Research in Motion to see who supplies the screens for their BlackBerries. That really would make the LS-11 a complete package for me.

Buy Olympus Linear Recorder (LS-11) Now

Olympus has a great start with the LS-11. The recorder has great sound quality for its price range, a very sturdy build, and a fairly straightforward user interface. Our primary reason for purchasing this unit was to replace our aging fleet of Sony Hi-MD recorders, which are showing the signs of heavy student use/abuse. The metal case has a heavy duty feel to ittime will tell how much better it will stand up to student use. The sound quality is comparable to the Sony MZ-RH1, which is outstanding for a consumer recorder with mini-plug inputs. With decent mics, you have a small, bullet-proof recorder with a lot of pro features. AND it will hold sync for 30 minutes with a video camera.

After putting the LS-11 through a few shakedown sessions in the field, we came up with a wish list of issues we hope Olympus will resolve with the next firmware updates:

1. Ability to 'cascade' recording from internal memory to the SD card (or vice versa). I know 8 gigs is a lot, but heythe batteries last for 23 hours, and 8 gigs comes up just short of 13 hours at 44/16. Some of us like to go for long durations.

2. Better implementation of the V-sync feature. V-sync enables the recorder to wait in PAUSE mode until the ambient sound level reaches a pre-set threshold level, then it starts recording until the the ambient sound falls below the threshold level. As it is now, it's pretty much worthless. If it isn't re-activated within 10 seconds, it puts the unit in STOP mode, and won't re-trigger again when the sound gets loud enough. Every other recorder with a similar feature will continue start recording when the sound reaches the trigger level until the operator pushes the stop button.

3. Allow for FLAC codec recording/playback. FLAC is much cleaner than MP3.

4. Random play mode for the Music folder. (and only the Music folder) Because some folks don't want to tote around the LS-11 AND an iPod.

5. Lastly, but certainly not least: publish a list of approved SDHC media! Many hours of recording time have been wasted with some cards corrupting audio files when they fill up.

The fact that this unit has been on the market for over a year with no firmware updates doesn't bode well. It looks like Olympus may rather develop new models that have minor differences as opposed to refining a great product already on the market.

Read Best Reviews of Olympus Linear Recorder (LS-11) Here

Looks like I am going to have to send this back for evaluation by the manufacturer. I bought this recorder to try my hand at recording nature soundsrain, thunderstorms, riverside sounds, birdsthat type of thing. I am a complete amateur, so take that in consideration with this review. I have been using this recorder for over two months now. I usually record at least an hour at a time and often several hours, mostly at very high bit-rates. I have babied this unit and take great care to protect it. The biggest problem I have with it is that it introduces electronic "clicks" into the recording. It is getting worse latelyabout 1 every minute in today's recording. These appear as very large spikes in the waveform (Sony Soundforge audio editor). It is now such a problem that I can't use the recorder. I first noticed these spikes after a few weeks of use and they weren't as frequent or pronounced as they are now.

What do I like about it? I love the form-factor and layout of the controls. The menus are very well thought out and very intuitive. The use of a memory card is a very nice feature. It gets great battery life and is a pleasure to operate. The microphones are sensitive but there is a significant amount of 'noise-floor' to me. The 'hiss' during low-noise/quiet recording is too loud and is another reason I find myself less and less wanting to use this recorder. I have used an external mic only a few times, but that seemed to help some.

'Motor-boating' or putt-putt: I sometimes record in an area that is adjacent to a small airport and whenever a propeller-plane gets too close the recorder can't handle the sound. The recording becomes stuttered and starts to putt-putt-putt. I tried recording with the limiter on/off/automatic. No matter which setting I tried, it couldn't handle the airplanes (which were a little loud, but not so very close).

Be aware that the V-Sync recording feature, which starts the recorder whenever it detects a preset sound level, will only work one time (it will restart only if it re-detects a sound within 10 seconds). This feature is different than other Olympus models which offer VCVA (Variable Control Voice Activation).

Would I buy it again knowing what I now know? No.

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I'm really happy with my Olympus LS-11; it suites my purpose perfectly i.e. recording small and large vocal groups, band-rehearsals and acoustic guitars. In my view the strength of the LS-11 is:

Excellent mics

Excellent battery life

Handy types of files (MP3 and WAV)

Very informative display

Size and shape (fits pockets and hands well)

Mic screens in the box

On the weakness side:

"enter" button needs a careful push (or you end up with an up/down selection)

Display information is sometimes hard to read due to small letters

I also bought the silicon protective holster and the remote control...both are a must-have in my view.