Become a Site Supporter and Never see Ads again!

Author Topic: Sony PCM-D100 Part2  (Read 114919 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline audBall

  • Trade Count: (37)
  • Needs to get out more...
  • Posts: 6463
  • Gender: Male
  • Feel brand new about it
Re: Sony PCM-D100 Part2
« Reply #225 on: March 02, 2019, 03:03:14 PM »
The manual mentions handling noise and I've seen posts discussing the issue. 

This only applies when using the internal microphones, not line-in, correct?
mg m20.21.23 ■ akg ck61.62.63 »  nbob■naiant »  aercomp2 ■ v2-3 ■ sx-m2d2
dpa 4061 » mma-a.6000
d100 ■ r44ocm ■ f3

Offline dogmusic

  • Trade Count: (0)
  • Taperssection Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 850
Re: Sony PCM-D100 Part2
« Reply #226 on: March 03, 2019, 07:43:26 AM »
The manual mentions handling noise and I've seen posts discussing the issue. 

This only applies when using the internal microphones, not line-in, correct?

Correct.
"The ear is much more than a mere appendage on the side of the head." - Catherine Parker Anthony, Structure and Function of the Human Body (1972)

"That's metaphysically absurd, man! How can I know what you hear?" - Firesign Theatre

Offline JDW

  • Trade Count: (0)
  • Taperssection Newbie
  • *
  • Posts: 32
  • Gender: Male
Re: Sony PCM-D100 Part2
« Reply #227 on: March 03, 2019, 07:20:26 PM »
I've not checked the manual in ages, but in my experience with my D100, when I set it to 100dB S/N, it seems to record cleaner audio via Line In than with that 100dB S/N setting OFF.  So that particular setting would appear to work on Line In, unless my mind and ears are playing tricks on me.

Offline mnm207

  • Trade Count: (8)
  • Taperssection Regular
  • **
  • Posts: 113
    • website
Re: Sony PCM-D100 Part2
« Reply #228 on: April 05, 2021, 07:39:51 PM »
It appears that the D100 has been discontinued. B&H lists it as such, though it still appears on the Sony website (at least the US version of its site).
// Sony ECM-MS5 | Naiant XX | LOM Usi & mikroUsi | Ambient ATM216 // Shure FP24 // Sound Devices Mixpre-3 | Sony PCM-D100 | Sony PCM-M10

Offline JDW

  • Trade Count: (0)
  • Taperssection Newbie
  • *
  • Posts: 32
  • Gender: Male
Re: Sony PCM-D100 Part2
« Reply #229 on: April 05, 2021, 08:18:27 PM »
It appears that the D100 has been discontinued.
Glad I bought mine when I did. I use it daily. Beats the Zoom recorders in terms of sheer quality, hands down.

Offline pohaku

  • Site Supporter
  • Trade Count: (35)
  • Taperssection All-Star
  • *
  • Posts: 1090
  • Gender: Male
Re: Sony PCM-D100 Part2
« Reply #230 on: April 07, 2021, 12:47:30 AM »
Amazon, Sweetwater and Full Compass all currently appear to have them in stock.  Doesn’t mean that it hasn’t been discontinued, but there apparently is still inventory.

If it is d/c’d, the Centrance Mixerface with the add-on mics might be a reasonable high quality substitute if you only need analog inputs. Cheaper too.

https://centrance.com/recording-compare/

« Last Edit: April 07, 2021, 12:55:53 AM by pohaku »
Mics: akg c460 (ck61, ck63), c414buls, c568eb; at4049a, 4051a, 4053a, at853; josephson c42; neumann U87, km84i; beyer m130, m160, m500; aea r84; gefell m71, mt711s, m200, m201, um70S; sony c38; schoeps cmc6, CMBI (mk4, mk21, mk41, mk4v); sennheiser mkh30, mkh40, md421, md431, md541; audix m1290
Pres: API, a-designs, pendulum, purple, millennia TD-1 and HV-32P, gt, littlebox, tinybox, usbpre2, CA 9200, pipsqueak, grace V2, DAV BG1
Cables: KCY, CMR, Naiant AKG actives, PFAs, asst.  GAKables and Darktrain
Recorders/converters/monitors: dr680, m10, dr-2d, d50, zoom f8 & F8n pro, 788T SSD CL-8, lynx aurora 8, Neumann KH20


Yeah, I'm an attorney, but everyone needs a day job

Offline JDW

  • Trade Count: (0)
  • Taperssection Newbie
  • *
  • Posts: 32
  • Gender: Male
Re: Sony PCM-D100 Part2
« Reply #231 on: April 07, 2021, 12:52:37 AM »
Amazon, Sweetwater and Full Compass all currently appear to have them in stock.  Doesn’t mean that it hasn’t been discontinued, but there apparently is still inventory.

Careful about buying "refurbished" units from Amazon.  I tried that once, asking many, MANY questions before buying, but they still ended up selling me a defective unit.  It was almost perfect in operation except the headphone jack was dead.  It really pissed me off because I had to use a freight forwarder at the time to get Amazon US to ship it to me in Japan.  I had to pay the return shipping of course.

And that's another point.  It's TOO EASY to accidentally plug your Line In into the Headphone jack, which no doubt killed the jack on that one unit, and is obviously why the previous owner shipped it back to Amazon (killing the thing by accident and then shipping it back claiming the thing didn't work right).

Offline mnm207

  • Trade Count: (8)
  • Taperssection Regular
  • **
  • Posts: 113
    • website
Re: Sony PCM-D100 Part2
« Reply #232 on: April 07, 2021, 09:58:30 AM »
One caveat to the Centrance Mixerface (and the Portcaster) is that it records at only 24/48 internally. Higher sample rates are only via the USB when it is functioning as an interface.
// Sony ECM-MS5 | Naiant XX | LOM Usi & mikroUsi | Ambient ATM216 // Shure FP24 // Sound Devices Mixpre-3 | Sony PCM-D100 | Sony PCM-M10

Offline adrianb

  • Trade Count: (1)
  • Taperssection Regular
  • **
  • Posts: 182
Re: Sony PCM-D100 Part2
« Reply #233 on: May 26, 2021, 11:25:07 AM »
I own, or have owned, every single Sony portable recorder since the D1, plus a number by other manufacturers, and in my opinion the D100 is the best portable recorder ever made. If/when it’s discontinued I hope they replace it with something just as good, but the D10 was a big disappointment.
Mics: Sennheiser MKH 8040, Sennheiser MKH 8020, AT BP4025, AT 853 cards, CA CAFS, CA 14 Omnis, CA 11 (Cards + Omnis), Soundman OKM II Classic
Battery Boxes: Sony XLR-1, CA 9200 Preamp, CA Ugly 2 Preamp, CA Ugly BB, Shure FP24
Recorders: Sound Devices MP3, Sony PCM-D100, Sony PCM-D50, Sony PCM-M10, Sony PCM-D10, Roland R-07, Tascam iXJ2

Offline audBall

  • Trade Count: (37)
  • Needs to get out more...
  • Posts: 6463
  • Gender: Male
  • Feel brand new about it
Re: Sony PCM-D100 Part2
« Reply #234 on: May 26, 2021, 11:52:09 AM »
I absolutely love my D100 - made one of my best sounding recordings recently with it on the back end of the chain - and still have my trusty old M10 that was purchased ~10 years ago. My only concern with the D100 is the longevity/durability of the battery tray. I could always switch to external power if necessary, but I always feel I need to handle the battery tray with kid gloves. Has anyone ever found a replacement?
mg m20.21.23 ■ akg ck61.62.63 »  nbob■naiant »  aercomp2 ■ v2-3 ■ sx-m2d2
dpa 4061 » mma-a.6000
d100 ■ r44ocm ■ f3

Offline audBall

  • Trade Count: (37)
  • Needs to get out more...
  • Posts: 6463
  • Gender: Male
  • Feel brand new about it
Re: Sony PCM-D100 Part2
« Reply #235 on: May 26, 2021, 11:58:50 AM »
I've not checked the manual in ages, but in my experience with my D100, when I set it to 100dB S/N, it seems to record cleaner audio via Line In than with that 100dB S/N setting OFF.  So that particular setting would appear to work on Line In, unless my mind and ears are playing tricks on me.

I have been recording with this setting OFF to date. Is there a general consensus to have this turned ON - similar to maintaining "unity" gain on the M10, if possible? Have there been any further testing anyone is aware of?

edit - Here's what the manual (pages 35 and 72) says about it:

S/N 100dB - With two A/D converters for one channel, the linear PCM recorder always reserves audio signals that are 12 dB lower than audio processed in the normal circuit in addition to the normal audio signals. If an over-input occurs, recorded data from the point at which the over-input starts is replaced and compensated. Replacement is executed while maintaining the linearity of two A/D converters of different levels, realizing a high S/N ratio. Noise can be suppressed even with a low recording level.
ON: S/N 100dB function is enabled.
OFF (default): S/N 100dB function is disabled.
Note: If the S/N 100dB function is enabled, the LIMITER function is automatically disabled.
...
When recording a DSD file, LIMITER and S/N 100dB settings become disabled.
« Last Edit: May 27, 2021, 12:26:16 AM by audBall »
mg m20.21.23 ■ akg ck61.62.63 »  nbob■naiant »  aercomp2 ■ v2-3 ■ sx-m2d2
dpa 4061 » mma-a.6000
d100 ■ r44ocm ■ f3

Offline AB52

  • Trade Count: (0)
  • Taperssection Regular
  • **
  • Posts: 156
Re: Sony PCM-D100 Part2
« Reply #236 on: May 31, 2021, 10:40:38 PM »
Agreed!

It appears that the D100 has been discontinued. B&H lists it as such, though it still appears on the Sony website (at least the US version of its site).

Offline spyder9

  • Trade Count: (82)
  • Needs to get out more...
  • *****
  • Posts: 13192
  • Gender: Male
  • "Are you Zman?"
    • My Archived shows
Re: Sony PCM-D100 Part2
« Reply #237 on: June 01, 2021, 02:22:12 PM »
I own, or have owned, every single Sony portable recorder since the D1, plus a number by other manufacturers, and in my opinion the D100 is the best portable recorder ever made. If/when it’s discontinued I hope they replace it with something just as good, but the D10 was a big disappointment.

Can you expand on that thought?  I've always been interested in the D10.  I listened to a sound demos on YouTube, in which it was compared to a D100.  D10 sound more laid back when compared to the D100.

Offline adrianb

  • Trade Count: (1)
  • Taperssection Regular
  • **
  • Posts: 182
Re: Sony PCM-D100 Part2
« Reply #238 on: June 20, 2021, 11:45:53 AM »
Can you expand on that thought?  I've always been interested in the D10.  I listened to a sound demos on YouTube, in which it was compared to a D100.  D10 sound more laid back when compared to the D100.

I just found the D10 much noisier than I expected.

I basically agree with George Vlad's comments here.

https://mindful-audio.com/blog/handheld-recorder-review
Mics: Sennheiser MKH 8040, Sennheiser MKH 8020, AT BP4025, AT 853 cards, CA CAFS, CA 14 Omnis, CA 11 (Cards + Omnis), Soundman OKM II Classic
Battery Boxes: Sony XLR-1, CA 9200 Preamp, CA Ugly 2 Preamp, CA Ugly BB, Shure FP24
Recorders: Sound Devices MP3, Sony PCM-D100, Sony PCM-D50, Sony PCM-M10, Sony PCM-D10, Roland R-07, Tascam iXJ2

Offline Emilio

  • Trade Count: (0)
  • Taperssection Newbie
  • *
  • Posts: 6
Re: Sony PCM-D100 Part2
« Reply #239 on: January 30, 2022, 04:55:55 PM »
Greetings, this is my first post on this forum.

I've been composing music for the past +20 years, mostly atmospheric electronic music and experimental. I've had this Zoom H4n for many years and most of the recordings I made with it were unusable. I was looking something much better to capture urban/nature/found sounds and also instruments (vibraphone, upright piano, flutes, etc.); something light, silent and easy-to-operate.

Since most of the quality hand-held recorders have been discontinued over the past few months, I considered the Roland R-07. Then I found it was still possible to buy some SONY PCM-D100 at a decent price on Ali Express (used but very clean, around 580 USD). I ordered one unit and I received it last week.

At first, I thought my SONY PCM D100 was noisier than it should. I tested it indoor with the input level going from 5 to 7 and those recordings were not-so-good. I know the D100 can give an insane amount of gain that will also amplify some unwanted noises around, but I felt there was something wrong. My outdoor recordings however were nicer, but it was hard to draw a clear conclusion about the signal-to-noise ratio of my D100. Since I was not able to test the D100 in the near-silent wilderness nor to compare it to another D100, I was worried that my unit could be faulty, damaged or modified with lower quality components.

So I got in touch with the seller and he told me that the input knob is related to distance (!!). Then I made some indoor recordings with lower levels (around 3.9, no bass-cut) and it seemed to work better; obviously, these recordings were cleaner than the previous ones. I also made a side-to-side comparaison with my old H4n and found the D100 to be WAY better in any aspect.

Now I'm wondering whether if an input level around 4 could be the sweet spot for the size of my room OR for a Sony PCM D100 in most situations :

- Are distance and air pressure (indoor vs outdoor) major factors to consider (as much as loudness) when adjusting the input level on an recorder like the D100?

- Should we consider the input knob as some kind of a distance-based parameter, like the focus on a camera?
(eg. with settings around 2 for close-captation, 4 for home-studio, 5 for large rooms, 6 for forest, 8 for mountains....)

- Otherwise, what are your go-to settings for indoor and outdoor recordings on the Sony PCM-D100?

Thank you very much.
« Last Edit: March 09, 2022, 05:50:36 PM by Emilio »
Field kit : Sony PCM-D100 + CLIPPY EM272 (x2)+ Sennheiser ME66/K6 + JRF contact mic + Manfrotto PIXI mini tripod

 

RSS | Mobile
Page created in 0.109 seconds with 40 queries.
© 2002-2024 Taperssection.com
Powered by SMF