Here are my preliminary findings after the first few days and the first show with the A10. I am comparing the A10 primarily to the recently released Roland R-07 and the older Sony PCM-M10 (for which the A10 might be Sony's successor). One focus point for me is the comparison of the Sony and Roland iOS apps (as I am mostly a stealth taper and these apps will be how I presume to be using my recorders most of the time).
- Build quality is on the same level as Roland R-07. Not as solid (and heavy) as the PCM-M10. It fits well into a hand.
- The A10 starts up really fast (in less than 5 seconds it's ready to record onto an SD card).
- Battery run time is exceptional. The specs list 20 hours of recording time at 24/44.1. However, I was able record from the Line-in for 23.5 straight hours on a single charge.
- A completely discharged battery takes approximately 90 minutes to charge (via the USB ports on a 2014 MacBook Pro).
- The input is switchable between Mic and Line levels via a menu. However, this menu only exists on the device and not in the iOS app.
- By default, the A10 creates WAVE files that are 4 GB big. This is valid per the WAVE file specification. However, some programs can only handle files up to 2 GB. There is no way to change this behavior on the recorder
- You need to establish the Bluetooth connection via iOS Bluetooth settings. The Roland app lets you do this from within the app. For the Sony, there is one additional app switch required.
- I like the level meters on the A10 app better than the ones on the Roland app. They have the -12dB mark in the center and this feels much more like what I'm used to. In my opinion, the Roland app wastes way too much screen space to displaying levels below -20dB (where the details don't really interest me). Also, I like the fact that it gives me a number of the current peak level value. I also really like the fact that it displays the wave form from the last 10 or so seconds. I guess this makes it possible to spot problems like brickwalling early on during recording.
- The Sony app does not have a slider for setting the recording levels like the Roland app does. Therefore, changing levels can be quite slow as you need to repeatedly press the + or - buttons
- Setting recording levels on the Sony A10 is way easier than on the Roland R-07. On the Roland, once you push either the + or - button, a big popup appears on the screen with the current level value, obstructing the view of the level meters. The Sony keeps the level meters visible while adjusting levels. However, I must say that I still prefer the old PCM-M10's level wheel. It's way easier to make big adjustments with the wheel than to use discrete steps via the +/- buttons. On the other hand, for stealth situations it's nice to be able to engage the hold feature for the levels.
- The battery status is displayed on the Sony app, although it only displays the same icon as the device (a battery with 4 segments). The Roland app displays a percentage value, which I find more useful
- For cross memory recording, the manual of the A10 states that it's possible that some audio may get lost when switching from internal memory to SD card (or vice-versa).
I just came back from the first show with the A10. Actually, I took both the A10 and the Roland R-07 with me. I used a split cable to feed the same signal to both recorders. I uploaded the same song from both recordings. Both files are unedited, besides a little level bump of 1.2 dB on the R07 source to make both recordings the same volume.
The band is called Chvrches. This is Schoeps MK41V > tinybox > Sony PCM-A10 and Roland R-07. A10 levels were set to 9 and resulted in peaks at -5.5 dB, R07 levels were set to 18 and resulted in peaks at -6.7 dB.
Here's the WeTransfer link. Should be good for a week:
https://we.tl/t-XM2Nw4YrUrI really can't hear a difference between the A10 and R-07. The frequency analysis shows a small difference around 20.5 kHz, but I guess years of loud shows left me incapable of hearing it. ;-)