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What's in the Box
Olympus LS-100 Multi-Track PCM Recorder
- Lithium-Ion Rechargeable Battery
- AC Adapter (A514)
- USB Cable
- Carrying Case
- Olympus Software CD
- 1-Year Limited Warranty
Products Mentioned
Hands-On with the Olympus LS-100 Portable Recorder
Olympus knows a thing or two about making portable recorders, and its new LS-100 has the distinction of being the highest-quality model the company has ever produced. It features an excellent-sounding pair of built-in stereo condenser microphones, as well as a pair of XLR combo inputs that are capable of providing microphones with 48V of phantom power. There are 4GB of internal memory, and the recorder has an SDXC card slot that can handle cards of up to 64GB. An included rechargeable Lithium-ion battery provides the LS-100 with more than 12 hours of use on a single charge. Musicians will appreciate its 8-track overdubbing multi-track mode, as well as its instrument tuner and metronome. Its interface is very user friendly, and even features a talking menu system to help you navigate the device. It has an interesting Lissajous Function, which helps you avoid phase issues when positioning microphones. To get a better idea of how the Lissajous Function works (and our overall impression of the recorder), please watch our Olympus LS-100 hands-on review video, below:
| Recording Format | Linear PCM (WAV) / MP3 |
| Internal Memory | 4GB |
| External Memory | SD Card slot (64GB max) (SD, SDHC, SDXC) |
| Frequency Response (integral mics) | 20 Hz to 20 kHz |
| Connectors | 2 x XLR combo, 1 x 3.5mm (mic and line), 1 x 3.5mm headphone |
| Phantom Power | 48V/24V |
| Max. Headphone Output | 10mW + 10W (at load of 16 Ohms) |
| Built-In Speaker | Yes, 23mm dynamic |
| Max. Speaker Output | 480mW (speaker 8 Ohms) |
| File Edit Function | Yes (PCM / MP3) |
| Wireless Remote Control | Yes, optional (RS30W) |
| Voice-Activated Recording | Yes, Voice Sync |
| Play Sync Recording | Yes |
| Pre-Recording Function | Yes |
| Multi-Track Function | Yes |
| Overdubbing Function | Yes |
| Metronome Function | Yes |
| Instrument Tuner | Yes |
| Lissajous Function | Yes |
| MP3 Convert Function | Yes |
| CD Write Function | Yes |
| Low Cut Filter | Yes (100 Hz/300 Hz) |
| Battery | Lithium-ion rechargeable |
| Battery Life | Approximately 12.5 hours |
| External Power Supply | AC Adpater A514 (Included) |
| Compatibility | Mac OS X 10.4.11 - 10.7, Windows XP/Vista/7 |
| Dimensions (WxHxD) | 2.76 x 6.25 x 1.32" (7 x 15.9 x 3.35cm) |
| Weight | 9.88 oz (280 g) |
Comments
Hi,
Could you please tell me whether it is possible to transfer a pre recorded music file to this device to then be able to narrate over the top of it?
Many thanks
Hello -
Yes - no problem at all. You can easily transfer your content via SD card or the line input jack. Then, you can take advantage of the 8-track overdubbing multi-track mode that will allow you to add a narration track to the pre-recorded track. Overdubbing lets you make a recording and then go back later to add additional parts over the original recordings. It can be used by musicians to add a supplementary recorded sound to a previously recorded performance or by vocalists to sing harmonies with themselves.
With the LS-100 can you carry extra charged batteries for rapid field replacement when the charge runs out, or is the rechargeable battery built-in and you have to recharge the whole unit before continuing to use it?
Hello -
The LS100 employs a user removeabe/replaceable LI-50B Lithium-Ion Battery (3.7V, 925mAh)
Because of this battery's excellent power retention properties - you may carry several with you for quick and reliable field replacement.
Does this mean that eight (8) mono tracks can be recorded at once? eg, from the pair of xlrs, another two from the built-ins, another two from the stereo line-in (and how the other two would get in I can't exactly see) ?? Or is it a garden-variety stereo recorder?
Hello -
8 tracks cannot be recorded simultaneously. The LS-100 features two channel recording with eight channel playback. Run both left and right inputs into one track for deep, rich sound. Once tracks are recorded; up to 8 tracks can be edited simultaneously, mix-down onboard (overdub), and even burn directly to a CD without a PC connection.
From the Olympus webiste:
Features two channel recording with eight channel playback. Run both left and right inputs into one track for deep, rich sound. Once tracks are recorded; edit, mix-down onboard, and even burn directly to a CD without a PC connection.
Really quite helpful. Great presentation of this product.
This unit looks great! I guess I won't have to lug a massive audio recording device anymore.
Is this actually an 8-track recorder (as billed off site) or merely another stereo recorder? If the former I can only count six (mono) tracks in...
Anybody know the answer?
Hello -
The LS-100 is a 2 channel recorder with multitrack overdubbing capabilities via its MTR feature. The multitrack recording mode allows you to create a file overlaying instruments and voice. Up to 8 tracks can be recorded, played and edited . Additionally up to 999 tracks can be recorded in the fixed 44.1 kHz/16 bit format for CD writing.
I've loved you guys for awhile, but I believe your review of this particular device is very faulty.
I received my Olympus LS-100 today and it has 2 very critical problems that make it unusable in a real production environment:
1) It does not monitor sound (via the headphones) in real-time. There is a .2 second delay, which is not only distracting, but confusing. Why does my 2 year old Tascam DR-100 have real time monitoring and this new device not? Not acceptable in a $400 device.
2) When connecting a single external device (ex. a single external shotgun mic via XLR), the monitoring will only occur in one channel. There is no option to have the monitoring go to both channels.
Our use of the Olympus LS-100 is for external audio capture when paired with RED camera's or DSLR.
I'm surpised you guys didn't test the monitoring or mention it in the review. This monitoring problem makes actually using the device to record an 8-track impossible, as you cannot monitor yourself in real-time. No musician could stand a .2 second delay. How could you possibly follow with your previously recorded track? Any track?
Very disappointed in the review and in the device. I will be returning the device unless I hear word back from Olympus that a future firmware update will fix these issues.
Hi Van,
I'm sorry you're having a frustrating experience with your LS-100. It's true, Rob's review video doesn't mention the .2 monitoring delay, but he does mention an aspect of the gain knobs that he wasn't crazy about. In his tests, it's likely that Rob never experienced this delay issue. It's very time consuming to cover all of the features of a piece of equipment, and we have a very limited amount of time to conduct these reviews. Also, it's not common to be able to switch a recorder's headphone output to only monitor a single input in dual mono. Off the top of my head, I can't think of any recorders that can do that.
Anyhow, I hope the next recorder you get serves your needs better.
Thanks for sharing your experience,
Sam Mallery
Your response to this criticism is not sufficient to give anyone confidence that future BH reviews will be better. You defend your integrity by pointing yout you did bad rap one feature, but the issue is competancey, not integrity. The person points out that the very essence of this recorder is flawed and the multitrack recording is rendered useless—this is the main reason to purchase this expensive device. The fact that the reviewer missed testing this feature speaks poorly of your editorial process. You do not even GET that. You, the EDITOR of these reviews should take steps to see that your reviews are more thorough and relevant. After reading the review, I was going to ask whether the overdub worked properly (industry standard functionality) but figured IT HAD TO or you would have mentioned it as its a KEY feature. So although you are my store of choice to buy things in, and you have a great return policty, who wants to waste the time? Take steps to upgrade the level of your reviews and when someone points out a serious flaw, deal with preventing another one the next time.
This recorder has some good features however I agree that the .2 sec delay makes multi track feature useless. This recorder was supposedly designed with musicians in mind. How come no mention of this in the review? I have tried to contact OLYMPUS about this issue but I got no response. B&H what's up with this?
Hi Nsurround,
Our review gives a broad overview of all of the features found on the LS-100, which isn't easy to do in a such a short video. In the review, Rob did experience something he didn't like about the gain knobs, and he talks about it. However, it appears that he didn't experience the .2 second delay.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts,
Sam Mallery
This is unbelivable. I was positive the "delay" was user error- surely no company would release a product that was essentially useles regarding it's primary attraction. The multitrack recording would be the first thing I'd check when doing a review- if you don't have the time to check something out, don't review it! And I wouldn't wait for any "firmware update" from Olympus- this product shouldn't have been released as is, and I will never buy a product from them.
This is a crippled, flawed device- how is this acceptable to those who like some of the features that do happen to work?....