The Olympus Digital Conference Kit would benefit anyone who needs to record, transcribe and archive meetings and conferences. However, its usability and functionality could be improved Housed in foam cut-outs inside a smart aluminium flight case, the Digital Conference Kit contains a pair of AKG external microphones, a tie-clip microphone/remote control, two tabletop tripods, headphones, AC power supply, USB docking station and software. If you're more concerned about portability than protection, you could probably transport everything you need in the pockets of your briefcase, although the flight case does mean that bits and pieces are less likely to go missing if the kit is a shared company resource. As the name suggests, the product's primary role is recording conferences or meetings for later transcription or archiving: the omni-directional tabletop microphones ensures you don't miss anything important, while five metres of cabling should cover all but the most imposing of boardroom tables.

If you were expecting advanced transcription or voice recognition tools to accompany the Digital Conference Kit, you may be a little disappointed, as Olympus has only bundled Windows Media Player 9, Acrobat Reader 5 and the main utility, the DSS Player 2002. That said, DSS Player 2002 does provide a range of useful functions such as speed adjustment (without making your chairman sound like Minnie Mouse) and a surprisingly effective background noise reduction filter, along with the more conventional array of file management features. It also lets you upload WMA- and MP3-based files to the DM-20's music folder, allowing the recorder to be used like any other digital audio player when it's not performing its primary function.

When you compare recordings made with digital dictation devices on its own, the advantage of the AKG C98 microphones becomes immediately apparent, as the clarity that these split stereo pickups offer is impressive. However, as they're recording to either the Left or Right stereo channel, it would be useful to see some kind of identification on the microphones themselves, and we'd also prefer to see separate sockets for headphones and microphones so you can monitor recordings as their made. We were also surprised to find that the kit only comes with a pair of standard alkaline batteries, rather than a rechargeable option -- something we'd prefer to see in the space that's currently occupied by a small carrying case for the DM-20.

Pros

Complete audio recording outfit

Flight case

High-quality external microphones with tripods

Doubles as an MP3/WMA player

USB docking cradle

Cons

Microphone channels not marked

Combined microphone/headphone jack

Esoteric operation

Limited to 16 index points for a single recording

Battery charger not included

Unintuitive off switch