Topic: Sony PCM-M10 (Part 3)

[ironbut]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secure_Digital#Speeds

thanks,.. exactly what I was looking for!

[rastasean]

it was the battery, would u reccomend  mic senitivity to be high orlow for rock shows and dpc speed control should be off or on. thanks ras

haha, I forgot to suggest that.

the dpc speed control only affects the playback so don't worry about that for recording.
I believe the mic sensitivity only works when you are using the mic in and the internal mics but what you need to adjust is the gain knob on the side. I've read that unity is 4-6.

record in 24 bit and you'll want the meters to be between -12 and -6.

[beatkilla]

Anyone used the sandisk micro sd cards that are class 2 ?are these fast enough for audio at 24-96?

[listener2]

Hi, I just happen to buy one of these after seeing it posted on these forums.  I bought it through Amazon.com from a 3rd party seller.  I have been using it to just make miscellaneous test recordings around home at 96khz/24 bit and it was working fine it seemed.  But just last night I switched over to 48khz/24bit and went out to make a test recording outside the house.  When I came back inside I turned on the hi-fi stereo to record some demo music and when I pulled the Sony M10 out of my pocket, it had stopped recording and said failed recording or bad drive or something.  The M10 at this point would not respond to any key presses so I had to power off and power back on.  When I did that, I immediately checked the recording file I just made and it was there but it ended abruptly at the point obviously where this Sandisk 16GB microSD Class 2 card glitched and failed.  I was disappointed to see that this card was now not to be relied on for recording anything you might treasure.  I am going to try to reformat the card and hope that it never happens again.  I am recording on it after the single failure error occurred and so far it has not happened again... yet.  But I don't trust it now.  I want to now spend more money on a more reliable microSD card.

[Cheesecadet]

I use and 8gb SDHC card by A-DATA Class 6 and have no issues.

I have been told that class only refers to video and picture speed...not recording audio.  I still opted to get a class 6 card though.  It was dirt cheap a couple months ago at Frys and I couldn't pass it up.

[aaronji]

The Memory Stick Micro has a write speed of 3 MB/s, which would make it equivalent to a class 3...Assuming Sony has any semblance of a clue, that would suggest that class 4 is more than sufficient for the M10.  Really, though, class 2 should be good.  Even at 24/96, you're only writing at about 0.55 MB/s...

[beatkilla]

Thanks for that input on class 2 finally.

[fmaderjr]

I use and 8gb SDHC card by A-DATA Class 6 and have no issues.

I have been told that class only refers to video and picture speed...not recording audio. 

Yes, for recording audio at 24/96 even a Class 2 card should be way more than fast enough if the card is a good one. 24/96 translates to 4,608kbps (approximately 0.56MB/sec). Class 2 guarantees 16,384kbps (2MB/sec).

Faster cards are nice for uploading to the computer faster though. My class 2 cards take quite a while compared to uploads from my iHP-120 hard drive and in some of my recorders is seems to take a very long time to format a class 2 8 GB card in the recorder.

[spyder9]

Get a class 6 for any flash card.  You'll thank me later.   

[Johnny Thunder]

Get a class 6 for any flash card.  You'll thank me later.   

What class 6 cards are you running? Any microSD?

-JT

[Cheesecadet]

A-DATA 8gb SDHC

[spyder9]

Get a class 6 for any flash card.  You'll thank me later.   

What class 6 cards are you running? Any microSD?

-JT

Transcend 8gb and PQI 16gb  SDHC

Have at it.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&DEPA=0&Order=BESTMATCH&Description=microsd+class+6&x=0&y=0

[guysonic]

Get a class 6 for any flash card.  You'll thank me later.   

If microSDHC cards were commonly useful for HD video cameras, then getting the far more costly Class 6 rated cards is good advice for having a second application for these.  However, very few HD cameras are yet to appear using this smallist of SD card, so not yet a good investment if just needed for audio recording where a good brand Class 2 is plenty for any audio app.    If you do have a HD video capable camera using standard SDHC cards, some of the micro cards come with standard card adapter, so same costly Class 6 card  might also be used in both the M10 and adapted for your HD camera.

My personal choice is to choose Sandisk that, even in Class 2, seems the most reliable for sustained high rate audio recording apps.   Maybe getting faster rated cards made by others is a good hedge against these not having the sustained write performance of the Sandisk brand.  Also, beware if knockoffs as I've seen Sandisk 'marked' 16 gig Class 6 cards selling for $20 on Amazon, but normal cost is ~$70 for these anywhere else. so doubt these to be really Sandisk made.

[spyder9]

Guy,

Microsd cards are not costly.  An 8GB Class 6 microsd card goes for $20.00 at newegg.  Click on my link above. Class 6 is king when it comes to transferring HUGE 24/96 files and are very stable.  I've been using Class 6 flash for 4 years now and never had a problem.  I did have an issue using a Class 2 card, which happened to be a Sandisk.   Ditto, caution on buying a Sandisk card, since they are the most commonly faked on the secondary markets.  Buy one direct from an authorized dealer.      

[Johnny Thunder]

Actualy, I think spyder9 offers some pretty sound advice here, at least for me. It seems my opportunities to offer live CD's is expanding. In some situations, I may have 5 or more recordings coming at me at once and they all need to be transfered before I do a quick post, write a cue file, and burn a master. That speed in doing the transfers would be a big help, and I'm wishing I had bought class 6 cards instead of 24 class 4's.

Additionaly, I wish I'd have been given this advice before I'd invested so heavily in full sized SD cards. Obsolescence is often part of the price we pay, but good choices can help limit those losses. Not when I start adding more decks to my line-up, I'll most likely be adding m10's. {sigh} And purchasing more SD cards because I have no microSD's.

-JT