£300 For a new dictaphone

[mechanic]

I have a budget of 300pound to spend on a new digital recorder.

What make and model would you recommend? I'm after a very sensitive microphone so that even low breath sounds can be heard.

[Audio]

I can recommend one of the Olympus Recorders, they are high Quality and a couple of members of this board use them, including me.
I have the Olymus LS3 which costs EUR 169,- but with 300 pund you could buy the top model Olymous LS 100. I dunno if it will be so much better than my model, the LS100 is bigger and heavier than the LS3. Buy the LS100, you cannot go wrong with that one.

[mechanic]

Silly question this might be but does the LS3 have a warning tone that beeps when the battery is low.

I know someone who has a dictaphone that does that. I'd hate it to be found that way haha!

[Audio]

good question, that was the first thing I did when I received my Olympus Recorder. I went to Settings and turned all warning sounds off. And it worked. There was no sound when the battery went low and finally out.

[sc0tt-uk]

Hang on though, the main advantages and consequently extra price of the LS100 are better external preamps and the ability to multitrack. Doesn't sound like you're actually gonna use either of those, so it'd just be a load of extra size/cost for no advantage.

What recorder do you currently use?

[Audio]

mechanic

I forgot to ask fow which recordings do you want to use it: Motel, Home, Flat, outdoor, etc.
for example for Motel recordings I would use tiny usb Recorder in case they are discovered and lost...and not a 300 Pound Recorder. If you use it mainly at home or for neighbour recordings I would buy the Maximum best.

[mechanic]

Sc0tt - I currently use a Phillips LFH model dictaphone, it does the job but for low level noises it doesn't do that well at all. You recommending the Olympus LS3 then?

Audio - this particular recording will be mainly home use so I'm looking at a top notch one.

[mechanic]

My friend owns a sound shop in town, I've been offered an Olympus LS14....any thoughts on this one? reading into it, there seems to be a lot of different settings that needs setting with this one before actually leaving it in situ.

I have no clue on the settings to use should I decide to buy it.

[Audio]

If you use it mainly at home, i would buy the top model LS100 but the Ls14 is of course also a decent choice.

[mechanic]

It is either the LS3 or LS14, I think the LS14 has slightly better microphones doesn't it?

[Audio]

if it is either the LS3 or LS14, you should buy the better one: LS14

[mechanic]

That is what I was thinking. I really appreciate all you're advice here.

Thanks a lot!

[Audio]

Now you owe us some hot recordings

[sc0tt-uk]

I hate to seem argumentative, but what's better about the LS-14? It's got a few extra features (tuner, metronome, a couple of extra recording modes that wouldn't apply to anything outside of music). Is there anything that actually makes it a better recorder for Mechanics purposes? Looking at a few reviews with sample recordings, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be able to tell them apart in a blind test, so what am I missing?

[Audio]

Mechanic

did you buy a new Olympus dictaphone? which one you chose in th end, have you got any results (recordings) so far with it?