OM SYSTEM Olympus VN-541PC Digital Voice Recorder

Easy to use. Compact. I use it for EVP ghost communication. I'm sure it will be just what you need for whatever you need.

This is excellent, it ticks all my boxes - except. for. I would trade battery life for a back-lit display. But, it's easy enough to use that _while you're recoding_ you don't have to see the display at all. Hit the *ONE CLICK RECORD* button and you're rollin'. (BEST feature in the unit) Recording quality is fine for me but I dinged it a star because I know it won't be good for everyone. The unit wants to be both near field and event wide, those require two totally different approaches to capturing sound. The unit does fine but your bootlegs may not be as good as the Grateful Dead shows you got in the 70s. Bottom line: Yeup!

when I searched reviews and questions for mac or apple, I saw some people saying, yes it's compatible! and others giving one star reviews saying it's not compatible. well i JUST opened this, did a quick test recording and then hooked it up to my macbook air. The icon for this recorder showed on my desktop, I found and opened the file, and it's in m4a, which isn't compatible with apple's quicktime. But you can then easily google "convert m4a to mp3" or whatever format you want if you dont want mp3 and youll see plenty of free websites that convert the file easily and freely (but i dont know what the data conversion limit is - like would it convert a half hour conversation for free?). you just drag over the m4a file into the website that does free conversions, choose what file type you want to convert it to, and then click download. for me, converting to mp3 made the file open in music (formerly called itunes), and if i converted to (i think) aac it opened in the books app. might depend on your computer etc. the sound i thought was crappy until i googled how to raise the volume. the sound quality of just my voice was pretty good when i opened it in apple music! i haven't tested it talking with someone else. i love that you can just quickly toggle the recording button and it starts recording, no fumbling or waiting. it did automticaly prompt me to set date and time which i did easily, but i see when i oened the m4a file on my computer, it showed like a 2016 date or something, not july 9 2021 as i had put. So.......this might be good if i want to snippet something down, as a backup to my iphone voice memos app. BUt...i'm leery of always having to convert m4a to another file type, just not knowing how heavy the files will be and if converting the files will always be free. so if i had to record an important half hour conversation, i dont know if this would work. i guess i'll just have to test it. i LOVE the simplicity of it though. in the voice memos app on my iphone, if i record something in voice memo i could just email the recording to myself, i dont have to hook anything up - this machine doesnt have that. but i was planning to use this to record phone calls, which i cant do with voice memos while im on a call. i know my review isn't complete bc i havent fully tested it yet but just wanted to get this out there for macbook people. im inclined to search for something like this machine - simple - that outputs file types that are apple compatible just for ease of use. but it's lightweight and seems like battery is long lasting and easy to use (besides having to do the file conversion which is annoying) so if i cant find anything better i'll keep it.

The Olympus VN-541PC is small and lightweight & does exactly what I need it to do. It records my voice for note taking with out distracting me from driving. I can reach for it easily, find it, find the REC button and slide it into ON position and within about 1.5 seconds the things is recording. It notifies of this with a tiny beep. I do not need to look away from the road for even a moment. It is also easy to operate in total darkness such as when I wake up in the middle of the night and need to record a thought or a dream. I have 2 of these, one for the house and one for the car. Mine record in WMA format. I wanted the companion model that records MP3 but no one had it in stock when I was shopping. The difference is negligible as both formats are common and easily heard on the computer. The WMA unit has 4 record settings, for extremely long events in VERY compressed and ugly sound; memo for notes to myself when the mic can be held close to my mouth; talk, for recording an interview for example, and the highest setting does a descent job at only 20 kbps IIRC. I would use this for grabbing a lecture. I don't think I would use this device for seriously recording music, but that was not my intention, nor was it designed for this. I have better machines for that purpose. I have not run down a battery yet, but the specs lead me to believe it is excellent. I expect that the MP3 model would perform similarly. My only reservation with Olympus audio recorders in the past is that they may not last, as was the case with my (forget the model) which was a much more expensive machine and I did use that one for recording music. It developed an issue with the SD card reader. I sent it in for service under the warranty and had it back shortly, but the same issue redeveloped after the warranty had expired. So I used it as a player only until it failed completely. These newer machines do not have a card, they have internal memory only. I hope they will not develop a similar problem, but at only $40 it is not such a catastrophe if they fail. Files can be dumped into the computer using a basic USC cord.

product arrived as advertised. pkging is boldly designed. product includes: recorder, com. chord, instructions and batteries (2 AAA). this unit is handsomely designed, very light weight and fits ones hand comfortably. all push button controls are clearly marked, snappy sounding, positive feeling and ALL on the face, none on the sides. however, only the com. chord connects to this unit on the side. (look 4 it). instructions are easy to comprehend and implement. (be gentile). I thoroughly enjoy 'ease of 'one touch recording' and the flexible selection of recording scenarios. I tested two (2) of four (4) choices on board. (memo & conversation); both test recordings proved outstanding clarity and sensitivity. (refrain from fondling this unit while recording; less noise). finally, this display is easy on the eyes with clear and descriptive characters. (no back light). bruce from dover,de.

Good sound, easy to use, BUT huge design flaw (for me, anyway) in that the RECORD button just slides up and down with no way to secure it. Since I carry this with me everywhere, it's really annoying to pull it out of my pants pocket to make a note to myself, only to find out that it's been recording for 20 minutes in my pocket. Easy to delete the file, but still annoying and it depletes the battery. Recorder is pretty small and fits well in my hand so that's a plus. If it had a way to lock the RECORD button I would've given this 5 stars overall, but, alas. That said, if you carry it in a breast pocket or jacket pocket (though probably not a purse as I'd think you'd run the same risk of accidental activation), you'll probably not have any issues with errant recordings. Another plus of the Olympus compared to some other recorders I've tried, is that there is very little lag from when you activate recording until it's ready to actually start the recording process. Some others that I've tried literally take 5-7 seconds FOR EACH STEP before they start recording whereas this one is almost instantaneous. Was quite annoying with my previous recorders to have to count to 5 after turning it on and then count to 7 before I could start my note. Huge plus for the Olympus on that feature.

I've been using voice recorders from way back in the cassette days. Then micro-cassette, then digital. I've had 8 or 10 digital recorders. I use them so much, they just wear out! And I've always purchased Olympus. Yes, I tried a Panasonic and also a Sony, they just didn't do what I wanted. After reading the description of this particular recorder, I thought that it was not "beefy" enough in terms of features. But then I thought about how I actually use it and came to the conclusion that I'd try it. Well, let me tell you THIS IS THE BEST RECORDER I'VE EVER USED!!! It does EXACTLY what I need: just take down short memos, record longer notes in appointments with doctors, and capture important information. (When someone is giving me their phone number and/or email address, I just put the device on "record" and let them dictate into it. I will mention one downside that certainly does not reduce its star-score: the mic is so accurate and sensitive, that I have to retrain myself so that I'm not overmodulating; a skill that I learned with inferior recorders!

Perfect size but I find it difficult to use. Poor choice for me. I usually do well with figuring things out, even with the manual I'm still confused. Should have returned it because it's just setting in a drawer.