OM Digital Solutions Digital Voice Recorder (VN 6200PC)

As a cultural anthropologist and a freelance journalist, I have gone through my share of voice recorders in the past and have been disappointed by a great many. This model is by far the best I've used!Familiarizing yourself with the unit is simple and takes all of 10 minutes. Yes, the USB cord is a bit short but that shouldn't be much of a concern and certainly isn't worth detracting from the overall rating of the unit. The model does feel a bit flimsy, but I've carried it around in my pants pocket with and without the included skin for days in the city and haven't noticed a scratch, crack or ding yet.The recording quality of this unit is simply exceptional. During an interview with a famous composer in Brooklyn last month, I was kicking myself for not bringing an external mic when I was told I would be interviewing him in the hotel lounge common room. The lounge was huge (about 150' x 300') and filled with noisy groups of people, and the interviewee's translator was incredibly softspoken. I was dreading listening to the audio of the interview, certain it would be worthless, but was extremely pleased to hear both the interviewee and the translator's voice come in perfectly clear without any of the background noise, chatter, or annoyingly loud cell phone conversations that were taking place 10' away from us.I have also used this unit to record telephone interviews by placing one earbud from my headset against the speaker, and in all cases the audio has been perfectly clear. I am really quite impressed by the performance, battery life, and fidelity of this unit. If you are looking for a simple to use DVR that can deliver exceptional quality in challenging circumstances, you would do well to purchase this unit.

This can't amount to the other reviews.I have taken this everywhere with me to record snippets of my life and lectures in class.The first time I heard the sound quality, I was blown away. It was devastatingly clear! I understand that I'll get more storage space if I switch to low quality. But believe me, after you hear high quality, you'll won't ever want to switch. The speakers are great! Increasing the volume might decrease sound quality. It can get surprisingly loud.The manual was easy to read. It came with 4 other manuals in different languages. I only read the first 3 folds, and that was all I needed to read. There is other features to it, but once I set the time, and learned that this button was record, the other was stop, then I was good.It's real easy to learn the features. It doesn't have an off button, instead a hold switch. So when you're listening to a file, and switch it to hold, the file will continue to play. Only when you press the stop button and switch, then it turns off. You can always check the time when it's on hold, just press any button.Transferring files was simply, just drag and drop. It plays on basic Window Media.It has mic and headphone jack. But the it can only play in one earphone.It looks pretty ugly, but I learned to love this compact recorder that I don't care. Take a picture with me and my digital recorder, and I'll frame it with a wet lipstick kiss.It comes with AAA batteries, the tiny ones and a cover.In a quiet room, from far distance, you can pick up decent sound. You won't be able to hear it well on the speakers, so just increase the sound on the computer after you transfer it, that's my only solution, I'm dealing with that issue. But hey what do you expect?

I originally purchased the VN-6200PC because I have trouble sleeping, and I read that "recording" your dreams might help understand the reason. I was never able to write down my dreams after waking, so I thought maybe a voice recorder would be better. It has worked well for me so far, and I am impressed by the sound quality (in the HQ setting) of the VN-6200PC. I don't need more than the 71 hours you get in HQ mode, so I really don't see a need for the lower quality settings, but after experimentation, I found that the SP setting will give you a very good sound quality as well, and provides a longer record time. The LP setting is useless to me. The quality is too low to understand a whisper, or any voice at a distance. I think the only reason the LP setting is included is so that it can be advertised with a longer recording time.I have not yet tried the VN-6200PC with an external microphone, but I have a pair of high quality ones that may work (or may need an outboard amplifier). But I really don't have any requirement for an external mic right now. It would be only to satisfy my curiosity to try one.I have used the USB interface, and found no problem that the file format is WMA. I just import to iTunes, and it automatically converts to MP3. Sound quality in iTunes is the same as it is listening to the headphones. Also, when listening to a file in iTunes, you get both ears (binaural, but not stereo, since there is only one mic) whereas from the recorder you get only the left.On that subject, I do agree with other reviews in that Olympus should have used a stereo jack wired for binaural instead of the mono jack that only produces sound in one ear.As for the USB cable: Other reviews suggested that the 6 inch cable was too short. Yes; I found that to be the case, but since my Nikon D200 camera uses the same type cable, I just plug the VN-6200PC into that cable to transfer files. It works fine.I like the way the VN-6200PC feels in my hand, and the buttons have a good positive feel to them. The audio feedback for each button press is good; giving you a different beep when you reach the end of a file, or the last/first file in a folder. The record LED is useful to make sure you are (or are not) recording at a glance.There was at least one negative comment about the Hold switch, saying that it is mis-labeled. In reality, it is not. The VN-6200PC will shut itself off automatically if it is not being used for a couple of minutes. The HOLD switch will lock the buttons, so that the current function cannot be changed accidentally. It is not necessary to use the hold switch to shut the unit off, and I would recommend against it being used that way.Note that if the unit has shut off (gone to sleep), you must press a button to wake it up again, so if you want to record after it has been off, you need to press a button, wait a second for the screen to come up, then press the record button. It's simple enough. I just press the record button, wait a second, then press record again. The beep will confirm that you have started recording.On the down side: Well, if there are any cons, it would be that there is no LCD backlight. If you need to use the device in the dark, you'd better get used to the feel and position of the buttons. This is very easy to do, with the universal icons for the functions being embossed or engraved into the buttons. I think even a blind person could use this recorder without any trouble.As for the file format being WMA, I don't care. Converting it is automatic when I import to iTunes, and I believe WMA is a smaller file size than MP3.Someone said that the unit is not Mac friendly. But wouldn't iTunes work the same way on the Mac as it does on the PC, converting the WMA to MP3 or whatever file format you have chosen for default in iTunes. And who doesn't have iTunes installed on their Mac?While the VN-6200PC may not be built as strongly as a good cell phone, I think it could withstand a few drops from a few feet (like from your hand while you're walking with it). It really depends on the surface it falls to, the angle it hits at, and the height from which it falls * In other words, the Laws of Physics!I would treat this device with care, just as you would your iPod or iPhone. If you treat it with respect, I think the VN-6200PC will last you for a long time. Probably past the time when you will want another recorder anyway.To sum it all up, the VN-6200PC is a great voice recorder at a good price. I would definitely recommend it to anyone who needs a voice recorder but does not need to record music.