Topic: Is the Sony M10 good for me and my Schoeps?

[aero]

Hello everyone,
first post here although I've been reading the forum quite a lot in the past months.
Quick intro: I write music for a living, field recording is a passion that sometimes I use as an inspirational element and source material when writing.

I have some good recording gear in my studio, which is not portable at all...
So far I have been recording in the field with dats, minidisks, modded phones, condenser and dynamic mikes...with mixed results.

Now I want to get a decent budget portable recorder and after reading here it seems to me that the Sony PCM - M10 is the best choice.

I have a couple of question that I'd like to submit to your expertise:

- How good are the in-built mikes for field recordings?

- Do you think I should instead get something like a Zoom H4n to get my Schoeps cmc 5 to work with it right out of the box?

- Or shall I just get by with Sony's internal mikes and upgrade to a portable pre when budget permits it?

many thanks for your replies 

val

[earmonger]

The internal mics of the PCM-M10 are excellent for recording conversation, ambient sounds, etc.  Very natural sounding--picked up the birdcalls during a recorded conversation outdoors. Probably not comparable to your Schoeps of course.

They Sony specs on the mics claim 20-20,000 Hz but one reviewer (scroll way down) found a roll-off under 100Hz.

http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:2jJ7iuk-gygJ:bartus.org/akustyk/PCMM10/

But if you mean field-recording music, loud bass will overload the built-in mics.

Meanwhile, I've never had a Zoom, but I know there's not a lot of love for the H4N's mic inputs--supposed to be noisy.

http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?191213-ZOOM-h4n-preamps-are-crap

Maybe someone with a Zoom can offer more advice.

[aero]

thanks for you reply earmonger

I wont be recording live music, more like ambient sounds and nature.
I was put off by the fact that is branded has a device for recording speech, but from reading here it seems to be much more than that.

I had never had a Zoom either and from what I read there's not much love for them here, I figured if its mic input is noisy it wouldn't do too much sense using a Schoeps with it.

Ps great avatar 

[noahbickart]

Many folks here run naiant preamps with an m10 as a reorder. Jon's low noise tiny box is perfect for what you are doing. You could even run a KCY cable directly into the tiny box and bypass the schoeps bodies all together.

The internal mics of the PCM-M10 are excellent for recording conversation, ambient sounds, etc.  Very natural sounding--picked up the birdcalls during a recorded conversation outdoors. Probably not comparable to your Schoeps of course.

They Sony specs on the mics claim 20-20,000 Hz but one reviewer (scroll way down) found a roll-off under 100Hz.

http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:2jJ7iuk-gygJ:bartus.org/akustyk/PCMM10/

But if you mean field-recording music, loud bass will overload the built-in mics.

Meanwhile, I've never had a Zoom, but I know there's not a lot of love for the H4N's mic inputs--supposed to be noisy.

http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?191213-ZOOM-h4n-preamps-are-crap

Maybe someone with a Zoom can offer more advice.

[page]

Many folks here run naiant preamps with an m10 as a reorder. Jon's low noise tiny box is perfect for what you are doing. You could even run a KCY cable directly into the tiny box and bypass the schoeps bodies all together.

I agree, a tinybox is probably the best cheap setup since it's probably the lowest noise of the phantom proving budget preamps. If you want to avoid the additional cost and new hardware, have it configure with P48 to work with your cmc5s. Then it's just mk caps > cmc5s > breakout cable > tinybox > 3.5mm cable > sony m10. Even with protective padding, that fits in a purse or other small carrier.

[aero]

thanks for your replies, I know...naiant would the optimum, but I haven't got the budget for it right now, considering also the tax I will have to pay on it when it comes to Europe.

It's definetely on my shopping list for the future tho'

[page]

Then I'd pick up the M10 for now, no sense in buying pieces as a stop gap if it's only going to be a few months time difference. The onboard mics should be sufficient for general note/clip making. If you think it will be longer, then it's a toss up.

[F.O.Bean]

I would recommend selling the cmc5 bodies, and going:

caps>KCY>LB/TB>M10

I LOVE my small setup. It sounds AMAZING with the Output Transformers I think its 10x better than my old LemoSax

[noahbickart]

I would recommend selling the cmc5 bodies, and going:

caps>KCY>LB/TB>M10

I LOVE my small setup. It sounds AMAZING with the Output Transformers I think its 10x better than my old LemoSax

I'm not sure why someone doing nature recordings wants to add distortion of any kind. Perhaps the transformers add something you'd want for rock music (why you wouldn't want complete control of this in post is beyond me), but for nature recordings?

[page]

I would recommend selling the cmc5 bodies, and going:

caps>KCY>LB/TB>M10

I LOVE my small setup. It sounds AMAZING with the Output Transformers I think its 10x better than my old LemoSax

I'm not sure why someone doing nature recordings wants to add distortion of any kind. Perhaps the transformers add something you'd want for rock music (why you wouldn't want complete control of this in post is beyond me), but for nature recordings?

I'm with noah, skip the transformers. They can be ok with rock PA tapes, but that doesn't necessarily translate in other settings.

I don't think there is much to gain in trying to move cmc5 bodies and buying a new kcy cable. Seems more hassle than it's worth.

[F.O.Bean]

I would recommend selling the cmc5 bodies, and going:

caps>KCY>LB/TB>M10

I LOVE my small setup. It sounds AMAZING with the Output Transformers I think its 10x better than my old LemoSax

I'm not sure why someone doing nature recordings wants to add distortion of any kind. Perhaps the transformers add something you'd want for rock music (why you wouldn't want complete control of this in post is beyond me), but for nature recordings?

Never thought of that. Good point. He could get input transformers and have a pre with killer low noise preamps. Plus it adds extra gain which hed probably need doing nature/ambient stuff!

I recommended the KCY cable because it seems that running bodies would be VERY cumbersome IMO doing nature/ambient stuff. A super small setup could be had going caps>KCY>TB>M10 Seems more manageable for nature stuff!!! Plus, if he sold the cmc5 bodies, after he bought a KCY cable, he could use that $$ towards the TinyBox and M10