The latest professional digital dictaphone from Olympus the DS-9500 is sold as a Dictation Kit, so what exactly do you get in your kit? Image of the box and its contents from our sister site in Australia.
Digital Dictaphone. Obviously, the actual Olympus DS-9500 handheld digital dictaphone is the key component. With its large 2.4 inch TFT colour LCD display, smooth and precise slide switch for intuitive record, play, stop and rewind audio control. Weighing in at a little over 116 grams with the battery inserted it is both light and durable. The device comes with 2Gb of built-in memory which can be expanded if necessary with a microSD card. With the built-in 2Gb of memory the device can hold 163 hours of .ds2 (DSS Pro) audio recordings.
Docking Station (Olympus part number CR-21). The docking station is primarily where you DS-9500 spends most of it’s time, quietly recharging its rechargeable battery so you never have to worry about battery life while recording and also providing a seamless USB connection to your computer.
Power Supply (Olympus part number A517). The power supply connects directly to the back of the docking station providing the power needed to keep the battery charged. The recorder can also be charged via USB via a connection in the bottom of the recorder itself.
USB Cable (Olympus part KP-30). This is just a standard USB cable and like the power supply connects into the back of the dock and also into your computer. The USB cable can also be plugged directly into the bottom of the recorder to either charge or collect audio.
Rechargeable Battery (Olympus part Li-92b). The rechargeable battery is a flat style rechargeable battery that fits snugly into the DS-9500 battery compartment. Those of you familiar with the excellent range of Olympus cameras may recognise the battery as Olympus audio has borrowed from Olympus visual. The battery fully charges in 2 hours in the dock or 4 hours via a USB connection.
Carry Case (Olympus part CS-151). A faux leather carry case to protect your DS-9500, not sure how often this is used in practice as with the case on the recorder cannot be docked.
Software Licence Card (Olympus part AS-9001). This very important green card holds your own unique software licence keys for the Olympus Windows and macOS software that you can use with the Olympus DS-9500. On the card are two keys, one for a Windows installation of ODMS Release 7 Dictation Module and one for DSS Player Plus v7 for macOS. Please note that each install of the Olympus software requires a unique licence key, i.e. you can’t re-use your licence key for multiple installations.
