Topic: Sony's new $600 recorder PCM-D50

[BlackCrowe]

Well...when it comes down to earphones I still haven`t found any better (and better looking) than the Bang and Olufsen A8...


http://www.amazon.com/Bang-Olufsen-Earphones/dp/B000QW70AK/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1197533690&sr=8-3

Not exactly cheap but I`m still to find a better piece...

[Outrageous]

Here's a pic of the low angle....

Dixter, despite my simulations with paper folding, I hadn't thought of that configuration, which seems so obvious after seeing your photo.   I think if Sony made this case available in the US they'd sell a lot.  You took some great product shots by the way.  Thanks...

[H₂O]

I wonder if the D50 can see the 20 bit signal from any of these:

SBM-1
Denecke AD20
GP DMIC 20

Now that would be cool if it did.  Real cool. 

What about the AD1000? 

[Dixter]

Outrageous,    Thanks for the comp.....   normally I dont' purchase items from overseas but I'm starting to see
a pattern of items being offered in Japan and never offered here in the states.....  so I went ahead and went
with Ebay and the seller...  there's only two on there....

I had to use the same method when I purchased the Canon G9 camera... for some reason Canon will not release
the Camera case here in the States...

maybe its a import thing with leather products??? 

[Outrageous]

... for some reason Canon will not release
the Camera case here in the States...

maybe its a import thing with leather products??? 

That's an interesting theory.  I have the G7 and I hadn't seen any cases for it in the US either.

[SClassical]

Back to the topic of D50

Anyone here got the remote for this recorder or it is all preorder? I saw some in ebay all from sellers in Japan.

Another thing...anyone ordered their D50 from sonicsense? I'm still waiting for mine from them  everyone seem to have received their D50 except me. 

[Jamos]

I wonder if the D50 can see the 20 bit signal from any of these:

SBM-1
Denecke AD20
GP DMIC 20

Now that would be cool if it did.  Real cool. 

What about the AD1000? 

This is from the D50 manual on page 28 referring to digital recording:

"When the sampling quantifying bit number is 16 bits or less, or unstable, it is recorded at the 16 bit rate.  Otherwise, it is recorded at 24 bits." 

So I guess it would depend on if the 20 bit signal is considered "unstable" or not, by the recorder.

[Dixter]

OK,  back on topic....     

Is there anything possible that could be inside the XLR-1 package that would even suggest
the price of around $500 is worth that price tag??

Just whats in the box???    I'd love to get one but the price is killing me...
I know you can get them a little cheaper but not by much...

[Jppiano]

So I had a chat with Sony and also ordered a 2nd unit, which is behaving the same as the 1st one with my optical feeds (ie. wont take 96/24 from all my high end gear). So I finally talked to my tech, who seemed to think that the optical wavelength may be incompatible. However, checking the specs for the D50 confirm that it adheres to the standard (660 nw +/- 30) and an input sensitivity of -27 dbm. We are totally puzzled by this, and also by the fact that the unit did a 48K recording when I fed it a 96K signal that sounds fine! Can the guy who was successfully able to feed 96/24 into the D50 please tell me what unit was used? Thanks!

Another thing: some testing that we did the other day with the Sound Devices 744T has confirmed what I had suspected for quite a while - the 2 stereo outputs are 90 degrees out of phase when playing back from the machine, but not when monitoring thru the unit (either 2 or 4 channels). Although I realize that most people just drag the files to a workstation, this is a serious problem for those of us who want to mix 4 channels externally, and something that SD ought to fix.......

Joe P.

[rowjimmy]

If I may, what "High End Gear" are you using?

[SClassical]

Joe, Have you ever tried feeding your D50 with a 24/96 signal from a low end gear like a DVD player or your computer? Some of the tapers here tested it using DVD players or using computers with optical out.

Another thing, maybe it's due to batches? I know all food or sensitive products have batch number with cat#....Maybe your 2nd D50 was from the same batch (likely since it is from the same vendor). Maybe it's just a bad batch, which needs a recall.

Good luck!

I should be getting mine from sonic sense soon, I hope 

[Jppiano]

OK, so this is what I have tried:

WEISS ADC1-MK2
PRISM AD2
DCS 904
DCS 972

All very high end gear....

Joe P.

[Outrageous]

Is there anything possible that could be inside the XLR-1 package that would even suggest
the price of around $500 is worth that price tag??

Just whats in the box??? 

There was some discussion of this topic further back, especially starting around post #118 ( http://taperssection.com/index.php/topic,92069.105.html ).  I can't say I exactly followed the technicalities except that apparently not all converter/phantom power boxes for XLR to stereo mini-plug are going to work with every mike.  Presumably the XLR-1 is high quality and it also mates with the D50.  But personally I'd think about getting the Fostex FR2-LE for not much more money.

[Jamos]

Is there anything possible that could be inside the XLR-1 package that would even suggest
the price of around $500 is worth that price tag??

Just whats in the box???

There was some discussion of this topic further back, especially starting around post #118 ( http://taperssection.com/index.php/topic,92069.105.html ).  I can't say I exactly followed the technicalities except that apparently not all converter/phantom power boxes for XLR to stereo mini-plug are going to work with every mike.  Presumably the XLR-1 is high quality and it also mates with the D50.  But personally I'd think about getting the Fostex FR2-LE for not much more money.

I would suggest looking for a Denecke PS-2 dual phantom power supply.  You can get a 3.5mm jack put on the output of the PS-2 that will allow you to easily mate with the D50.  I think they are $150 new, and can often be found used for less.

[Nick's Picks]

as discussed before, the "unbalancing" of the signal, apparently done w/a lot of electronics in there is what makes it so $$.

a PS2, Hosa, Rolls..etc, they all have balanced output, which the sony can't take.  You can "unbalance" it by a not-so sophisticated method of building a cable that grounds out the - signal.  but that's not the best way to do it and some microphones might not work w/this method.

I'm just regurgitating what iv'e read elsewhere in this thread.