Olympus LS-10 Linear PCM Recorder

[Steve S]

I'm interested in getting one of these. The ad in Bass Player says that it can make excellent recordings. I'm looking for something easy to use to record our practices and gigs that can reproduce good sound.

Has anyone used one of these?

[1kinal]

I personnally went with the Zoom H2 and couldn't be happier.

Here's a site with soundclips of many digital recorders:

http://www.wingfieldaudio.com/portab...d-samples.html

[Joe Nerve]

Plugging in. I want to know more also.

[Ben Clarke]

I've been keeping an eye on this category for a while now, I just picked up a Korg MR1. There's a $200 rebate on it right now and I got a good deal at Musiciansbuy.com.

It's got a 20GB hard drive, balanced mic/line inputs (1/8" TRS so you need adaptor cables, but XLR would require a larger case than this little thing), really intuitive interface, and will record in 1 bit 2.8Mhz full-on hi res beauty. There's really no convenient full-res playback option unless you want to put about $5K into SACD authoring. The idea for now is to archive in full-res and burn whatever resolution suits you. It will store about 6 hours at full resolution or 30 hours CD quality. It will also record 192 mp3 files to save room. It also come with a fairly simple program to down-convert the 1 bit files to various lower digital file formats and do simple editing.

No built in mics like most have, but I see that as a good thing. The built in pres actually sound pretty good and it uses good converters. Recordings at 16/44.1 sound better than similar recordings made with my Akai DPS16. It even plays well with my Apex ribbons mics.

Right now I'm in planning stages of a hi-res album project of an old-timey acoustic band using mainly live recordings from the MR1 as the core content.

If you want pure convenience, one of the many units out there with built-in mics might be a better choice, but a pair of good mics and the MR1 will outshine any of those little built in electrets. Not dealing with memory cards and easy USB 2.0 transfer to your computer is nice, too.

[Mcrelly]

I've been using an olympus Ls10 for about 3 years now. before that I've been eagerly anticipating the evolution of portable recording tech.

I use my LS-10 for recording band rehearsal and sometimes performances. I also like recording nature sounds, music dvd ripping, social event recordings, even threw some music files on the machine for when I need music on the go. (mp3 player capabilities are limited because of limited play modes, eq modes and sorting of songs you're trying to find) basically a file folder system. no random play across all folder. looking...actually there is NO random play at all. I don't even think I can resort song order in a folder. BUT I DIDN'T BUY IT TO USE AS MP3 PLAYER.

speaking of playback better compared to voice-only recorders, but in louder situations like band, noisy bar or environment you'll havve to hold it to your ear or used earphones. I like my sony mdr-7506 headphones and the LS10 does not have enough juice to get them very loud, but it sound much better than the internals.

In general I like the LS10 very much. not all the features and modes give me great results. If I'm gonna edit recordings alot, like practices or preformances I will record in 44/16 wave. for casual or long recording I usually do mp3.

I don't usually set the recorder higher than 44/16 because it uses slightly more battery and not sure if I can really hear increased quality. (maybe LS-11 is better at that)

I bought a 16GB memory card which allows me to be less stingy with my record quality settings ( I usually leave the machine in wav 44/16)

there are some features I'm looking forward to on the LS-11 (which I will probably get or a later model). file-split, indexing, sound threshold activated recording and shutdown.

send in your questions!

[T-MOST]

I have it. It records great! Clean, dynamic and easy to use. I highly recomend it.