I've had an Olympus Pearlcorder S713 for several years now. It has many features hard to find on new recorders. It has red LED to signal recording, a 3-digit tape counter, jacks for external headphone and microphone, auto stops at end of tape. Also has dual recording speeds and voice activated recording. I don't notice any tape noise while using internal microphone. The only caveat is that it's a microcassette. But still, the sound quality is even good for recording a little singing (in my opinion).
Playback quality is excellent (for voice recording). Very clear. No noticeable tape hiss from the electronic components (which is a real problem with tape recorders in general). The recorder has a big speaker with plenty of volume. In fact, it's so loud that I usually keep it turned down most of the way. This makes the S713 great for playing back memos and the like in noisy environments.
Microphone sensitivity is limited, but not too bad. I haven't tried it in conference settings and I wouldn't depend on the recorder for interviews without some kind of external mike. As for recording music or lectures in big halls, forget about it. The built-in microphone works fine for voice dictation, however--either holding the recorder up to your mouth or using an external headset mike. Note: you will have to use an adaptor to plug a standard microphone into the recorder jack, but these can be picked up at Radio Shack for four or five dollars.
Battery life is excellent with Energizer Ultimate Lithium batteries. I use my S713 every day, sometimes for fairly long dictation sessions, and usually don't have to replace the batteries for several weeks.
The recorder is plastic, but fairly rugged and seems to be well-made in general. I've been using mine for over a year now on an almost daily basis and haven't had any problems at all.
VCVA works about as well as voice-activation ever works with microcassette recorders. The S713 wakes up promptly, more or less, but can take a few seconds to go into hibernation again. Some clipping occurs, but it isn't too bad. I might be wrong about this, but I don't think the VCVA sensitivity can be adjusted, so background noises will occasionally cause the recorder to wake up. If you want to use VCVA, you'll get better results with a noise-canceling headset mike (ideal for dictation while driving).
The recorder is pretty easy to use with one hand. It has a pause lever that was a little clumsy to use at first, but once I got used to it, I started using it all the time.
There is one minor design issue. Fast Play and VCVA are both enabled with one switch and which one takes effect depends on whether you're recording or playing back. If you select VCVA, for example, record something, then forget to unselect VCVA again during playback, the recorder will play your recording back at high speed. This isn't a big deal, but it can be kind of confusing until you realize you need to switch back to Normal play before playback.
The S713 would be absolutely ideal if it had an indexing feature, i.e., the ability to insert an audible beep at the end or beginning of a section of recording. Unfortunately, it doesn't, so you have to rely on the index counter, but this is pretty standard with microcassette recorders.
All in all, the S713 is an excellent recorder for this price range if you mostly just want to record your voice. It's too bad that it has apparently gone out of production.
Buy Olympus Pearlcorder S713 Microcassette Recorder Now
I am a writer and I decided to get a new micro recorder for work. I prefer tapes to digital so I went with the Olympus pearlcorder. I used the product, everything recorded fine and clear. However, my headphones don't fit in the headphone jack! I've tried four sets to include my Ipod headphones and nothing fits! I'm not sure what, if any, size headphones would fit, but I am EXTREMELY disappointed in this product.Read Best Reviews of Olympus Pearlcorder S713 Microcassette Recorder Here
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