Topic: Comps of Sony PCM-D100 vs. PCM-M10

[aaronji]

Thanks for posting this interesting comp, tonedeaf.  I found it very informative.  I listened using the ABX Comparator tool for foobar2000, which is always kind of enlightening in and of itself...

If you ever have the time (and inclination!), I would love to hear an identical comp from a quieter setting.

[stevetoney]

If you ever have the time (and inclination!), I would love to hear an identical comp from a quieter setting.

No problem.  Since I have both an M10 and D100, I can do anything whatever you'd like.  What did you have in mind?  And for quieter settings, I could also comp the internal mics. 

Unfortunately, the heart of winter has struck Pittsburgh, so the only bird sounds I can get are the sound of the extension of my middle finger in traffic.   

EDIT:  Perhaps if you'd like, I can walk around the house and record some common house sounds...water running from the faucet, clock ticking, TV, furnace fan, etc.

[F.O.Bean]

Finally, I thought it would be interesting to hear what the D100s internal preamps sound like compared to my external pre.  This isn't really a very good comp, since the bands are different, but it's the same night and same location.  The only different in setup is the first file is mics straight into the D100 and the second file is with the AETA PSP3 inserted into the chain.

.....and how in the hell do you continuously find new/old preamps to play with??..  i find that the most interesting of all!      nicely done!!

Guy, I've known Tonedeaf personally for over 8 years now, and I STILL wonder how he does it I talk to him one day, and then a few days later, BAM, he has a new VMS or some other rare preamp in his collection. The man is good, that's for sure

And Tonedeaf, are you saying that the headphone out on the D100 is even better than the 7xx series headphone out? Because when I owned my old 722, I thought that it had amazing headphone amps. It had the best HP out of any gear that I've ever owned, but that was also 9 years ago And if this is true about the D100, then I am really pumped, because that's saying a lot, since youve owned just about every deck out there We all know the m10s HP out is about worthless lol

[stevetoney]

And Tonedeaf, are you saying that the headphone out on the D100 is even better than the 7xx series headphone out? Because when I owned my old 722, I thought that it had amazing headphone amps.

Confirmed.  When the D100 is playing back a DSD file, the playback out of the headphone jack is better sounding than the 7xx headphone amp.  I'm not sure what percentage of this is attributed to the DSD format and what percentage is attributed to the D100 headphone amp.  The D100 doesn't have all of the routing/monitoring options that the 722 has, but for pure sound quality definitely.

This is also why I've gone from not giving much thought to getting a Fiio x3/x5 or Ibasso d50/d90 to basically knowing that I'll have one before the month ends.
 

[carlbeck]

Check out the Nano-iDSD by IFi audio, I love mine. It plays every format, it's not a built in player with a hard drive but it's reasonably priced & easy to build a portable headphone set up around.


http://ifi-audio.com

[stevetoney]

Check out the Nano-iDSD by IFi audio, I love mine. It plays every format, it's not a built in player with a hard drive but it's reasonably priced & easy to build a portable headphone set up around.


http://ifi-audio.com

I already have my portable rig complete with small battery powered headphone amp and Sennheiser IE80s.  That's why I want the portable DSD player to carry along.  I suppose I could just put my DSD files onto SD cards and carry my d100 along, but the d100 is kinda bulky for that and I'd just prefer to keep it in the best condition possible and not use is as a player.

[carlbeck]

You can also dump files on your phone & use the Nano like I do without having to carry a player,one less device to charge.

[F.O.Bean]

And Tonedeaf, are you saying that the headphone out on the D100 is even better than the 7xx series headphone out? Because when I owned my old 722, I thought that it had amazing headphone amps.

Confirmed.  When the D100 is playing back a DSD file, the playback out of the headphone jack is better sounding than the 7xx headphone amp.  I'm not sure what percentage of this is attributed to the DSD format and what percentage is attributed to the D100 headphone amp.  The D100 doesn't have all of the routing/monitoring options that the 722 has, but for pure sound quality definitely.

This is also why I've gone from not giving much thought to getting a Fiio x3/x5 or Ibasso d50/d90 to basically knowing that I'll have one before the month ends.
 

That's truly GREAT news buddy Is it only that good listening to DSD? Or is it that good with 24bit too? Not like I can afford one right now anyway, but that's a great feature IMO, and would definitely put me over the fence on getting one And I still owe you an iPod Classic too brosef lol

I have been without a portable music player for a few months now, and have just been using my Droid Ultra to stream music from my Google Play account when I'm in the car and on the go, and I can honestly say, I don't miss my iPod nearly as much as I thought that I would But I'm still definitely getting a FiiO in the future

[F.O.Bean]

Check out the Nano-iDSD by IFi audio, I love mine. It plays every format, it's not a built in player with a hard drive but it's reasonably priced & easy to build a portable headphone set up around.


http://ifi-audio.com

That's a pretty slick unit right there Carl. I really dig it!

[stevetoney]

Is it only that good listening to DSD? Or is it that good with 24bit too?

I'm not sure.  I've only been recording in DSD except for the one or two times, so can't really say.

I have been without a portable music player for a few months now, and have just been using my Droid Ultra to stream music from my Google Play account when I'm in the car and on the go, and I can honestly say, I don't miss my iPod nearly as much as I thought that I would But I'm still definitely getting a FiiO in the future

The ipod classic is for quantity.  I can't live without having my music collection readily available...just can't do it.

Fiio is for quality.  If you're like me, which I know you are, your best show and the one you usually like to listen to the most is your last one.  If not your last one, then something within the month or two.  A Fiio x3 has as much as 128gb.  According to what I posted earlier in this thread, that's 49 hours of music in DSD...or roughly 20 shows give or take. 

Since I can only carry 20 shows in DSD I have no intention of giving up my ipod classic, which has 15 or 20k songs worth of my music collection.  I'll listen to recent shows in the highest quality DSD mode and listen to collection from my ipod classic. 

[F.O.Bean]

Is it only that good listening to DSD? Or is it that good with 24bit too?

I'm not sure.  I've only been recording in DSD except for the one or two times, so can't really say.

I have been without a portable music player for a few months now, and have just been using my Droid Ultra to stream music from my Google Play account when I'm in the car and on the go, and I can honestly say, I don't miss my iPod nearly as much as I thought that I would But I'm still definitely getting a FiiO in the future

The ipod classic is for quantity.  I can't live without having my music collection readily available...just can't do it.

Fiio is for quality.  If you're like me, which I know you are, your best show and the one you usually like to listen to the most is your last one.  If not your last one, then something within the month or two.  A Fiio x3 has as much as 128gb.  According to what I posted earlier in this thread, that's 49 hours of music in DSD...or roughly 20 shows give or take. 

Since I can only carry 20 shows in DSD I have no intention of giving up my ipod classic, which has 15 or 20k songs worth of my music collection.  I'll listen to recent shows in the highest quality DSD mode and listen to collection from my ipod classic. 

That's EXACTLY like I am and what I do How'd you guess that and know me so well?!?! Oh wait, its because we talk daily lol The FiiO will be nice, because I can listen to mp3s AND DSD/24bit. That's just unbeatable IMO

[aaronji]

If you ever have the time (and inclination!), I would love to hear an identical comp from a quieter setting.

No problem.  Since I have both an M10 and D100, I can do anything whatever you'd like.  What did you have in mind?  And for quieter settings, I could also comp the internal mics. 

Unfortunately, the heart of winter has struck Pittsburgh, so the only bird sounds I can get are the sound of the extension of my middle finger in traffic.   

EDIT:  Perhaps if you'd like, I can walk around the house and record some common house sounds...water running from the faucet, clock ticking, TV, furnace fan, etc.

Sorry it took me so long to respond. The geniuses at my cable company were "upgrading" in my neighborhood. No cable/phone/internet for nearly four days...Sigh...

Anyway, I am not looking for anything too complicated. Maybe four or five seconds of ambient noise in a relatively quiet room followed by a reference signal (music from the stereo or noise or whatever) peaking at about the same level on both recorders (like -15 or -18 dB). I would really appreciate it if you have the time!

[adrianb]

Thanks for posting this interesting comp, tonedeaf.  I found it very informative.  I listened using the ABX Comparator tool for foobar2000, which is always kind of enlightening in and of itself...

If you ever have the time (and inclination!), I would love to hear an identical comp from a quieter setting.

Happy owner of both the PCM-M10 and PCM-D100 

I have a direct comparison of both these recorders in a quieter setting here:

https://soundcloud.com/quisquose/comparison-of-sony-pcm-m10-v-sony-pcm-d100-garden-birdsong

If anything it confirms how good the M10 is even with the inbuilt microphones.