MusicRadar Verdict
Another simply excellent recorder from Olympus.
Pros
- +
Well laid out; legible display; 4GB capacity.
Cons
- -
Not much.
MusicRadar's got your back Our team of expert musicians and producers spends hours testing products to help you choose the best music-making gear for you. Find out more about how we test.
We've long been fans of Olympus's superb LS-5 recorder - it's a stalwart of studio session and artist interview alike here at FM. The LS-3 offers perfect evidence as to what a further couple of years of refinement can do.
We've always loved the LS's pro-aimed 'proper hardware button for everything' policy. While the LS-3 is much smaller, it's still covered with buttons - and a big screen keeps you up to speed with easy to understand displays of vital info.
There's an incredible 4GB of storage on board, an SD card slot for more and the same full 24-bit recording as its bigger brother. Compromises come in the size of the mic capsules, but the difference in sound is negligible.
“I played in 29 punk rock bands, but I loved Prince. 1999 became the soundtrack to my life”: How the Purple One’s classic album was life-changing for a Guns N’ Roses star
“Imagine not knowing Eric Johnson, Vai and Satriani and seeing this for the first time? It literally blows your mind”: Matteo Mancuso – 10 albums that changed my life
Play like Jimmy Page! Exclusive video lesson
