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We're pretty happy with this recorder and player. It seems to pick-up pretty well but the quality of the speakers are not too great for play-back. You really need to hook it up to a computer and have you music play through the computer speakers to get good sound. But luckily you can do that and even download it to a CD if you want.
It is cool how the USB plug is hidden by the battery case. We are very happy with this digital voice recorder. The case snaps off and you plug it into your PC/MAC. It is small and works easily. It is nice how it has the USB plug built in. Works with our MACs. Only thing I am trying to figure out is how to get the audio recordings on out iPods.
This recorder is perfect for journalists and researchers who do interviews. A handy feature is that one can easily download recorded files onto your computer by plugging the recorder directly into a USB port. I just "field tested" this recorder in Italy, where I did 20 interviews and was highly pleased. The machine is unobtrusive, easy to use, and gives excellent stereo sound quality. It goes long on just one AAA battery and can hold more than 100 hours of recorded sound. This is the field recording device I've been waiting for.
I actually bought this for my daughter, who is a detective. She loved it. Received an excellent product at a good price, combined with great service. Very pleased.
The internal speaker on the WS-311M should not be used as a gauge of the sound quality. I wanted to see what it would kind of audio it would capture. I haven't looked at the manual yet. The recording turned out great for where it was.
I have an EAW wedge on my left with a lot of my vocals and some drums and piano coming thru for reference. I like the imaging with the stereo mic. The WS-311M picked up a good amount of electric guitar, both mine and the other guitar player. My amp is mic'd and does not face out toward the audience. I put the WS-311M on top of the head of my amp, pointed it back toward myself and pushed record. I would be curious to know how much different/better the DS-40 would be for $35 more.
It's very intuitive. I just got it yesterday so I'm only writing after my initial experience with it but so far, so good. Not a lot of bass came through. It was largely due to the reviews that I read that I went with the WS-311M when I found it on clearance at Best Buy for $61.99. It is in front of me, right about where wedge monitor would be.
The files effortlessly downloaded to my Mac desktop and sound fine for what they are - I don't think I would have had the same luck with the Sony ICD-* models under $100.My main reason for purchase is to record song ideas as they come but since I just got it and was feeling a like a kid at Christmas, I thought I would bring it and play with it a little during a church service that I was at today. The Westone's sounded a lot better but both systems demonstrated that the WS-311M did an adequate job of capturing the ambient sounds of a band stage. I pushed the record button again and the WS-311M continued to record in the same file as opposed to creating a new one. My thanks to amazon.com and all who posted about this product. It captured a lot of ambiance, but in a good way. It sounded pretty cool. Between the sound echoing from the Front Of House P.A.
(the speakers that the audience hears) and the mix in my own wedge, I could hear a good mix of vocals, drums, piano, percussion and guitars. The recording level was just at the default setting of the 2nd highest quality format called ST-HQ.I think the WS-311M will be a good investment and would recommend it. I've made 2 recordings with it. My only complaint is the.wma format. I paused it at one point where there was some talking by pressing the record button a second time. I was standing at the front of a stage but with my guitar amp turned around and facing the back of the stage, toward the B3/keyboards and percussion player. I listened back to the first set of songs on a pair Westone ES-3 IEM's (ear phones) and the second set of songs out of a low end desktop stereo system that had a sub.
It should be a more universal format like mp3.
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