Topic: What about the Olympus LS10

[bedoc]

Hi there,

a friend of mine upgraded his Edirol R-09 to an Olympus LS10
This recorder was unknown to me until this moment, I wonder if someone could tell me more about the LS10 (my friend didn't use it for the moment) about classic questions : good and bad, better than the Edirol ?

Made some search but never find test from real users (well tapers)

Thanks for your help 

[flintstone]

The majority of people who post here prefer the R-09HR.  The issues with the LS-10 include

-- bass rolloff, as if there's a built-in low cut filter.  This reduces noise when you're holding the recorder in your hand, and cuts wind noise.  But if you're recording amplified music, you probably want all the bass you can get.

-- R-09HR has a more flexible line input.  It will take a more powerful signal without overloading, and the volume control raises the level of the line input.  The LS-10 line input is more sensitive, and can overload when fed from a soundboard.

That said, I find the LS-10 works very well.  I prefer its slim shape, all metal construction, LCD that is easily legible in daylight, and extra long battery life.  I like the 90 degree angle between the built-in mics, which makes recordings seem more open than the R-09HR's mics, which point straight ahead.  The stereo speakers of the LS-10 are a little louder than
the single speaker of the R-09HR, but you should use headphones to accurately check a recording.  I also think the LS-10's ergonomics are better than the R-09HR, but both are good in this regard.

The R-09HR costs a little more, but it includes some extras, like an infrared remote control and AC power adapter, which are optional with the LS-10.

You can find a thorough report about the LS-10 here http://www.sonicstudios.com/ls10revw.htm
The LS-10's current firmware is 1.10, which does automatically close the file when the size reaches 2 GB, and then start a new file.

Flintstone

[rjp]

-- R-09HR has a more flexible line input.  It will take a more powerful signal without overloading, and the volume control raises the level of the line input.  The LS-10 line input is more sensitive, and can overload when fed from a soundboard.

Actually, the LS-10 has a rather INsensitive line input - unity gain occurs when the recording level control is set to 10, and the level control does attenuate the signal. In my experience, when I used it to transfer some music from vinyl to digital, a home stereo's tape out wasn't hot enough to overload the LS-10.

The bass roll-off can be EQed out in postproduction without ill effect. When I use bass-heavy mics like my SP-TFB-2s, the roll-off is actually a good thing.

The line-in doesn't have the roll-off.

The LCD (or circuitry behind it) can produce electrical noise that induces a hum into some external mics - I have to be careful to have the LCD pointing away from my body when I run my SP-TFB-2s, and make sure that the cord does not cross the display (or, hand-hold the LS-10 instead of putting it in a shirt pocket). If I take those precautions, I don't get the noise.

The R-09HR's mics are omnis, while the LS-10's are cardioids. While I've never used it, the LS-10 has a "zoom" feature that can change the pattern, provided you're willing to record 16-bit/44.1 kHz. Others' opinions are that the zoom is best used for speech rather than music.

A classical sample @ 24/96 that I recently recorded (internal mics + EQ):
http://www.archive.org/details/uso20090531.rjp2496.flac24

I upgraded my firmware to the latest one, and it will seamlessly auto-split when WAV files exceed 2 GB - otherwise, I would have recorded that performance at 24/48.

[bedoc]

thanks for these answers, I have    SP-CMC-4 mics and SP-SPSB-1 Battery box for my recording, so I will not use internal mics

I am a bit afraid when you say "The LCD (or circuitry behind it) can produce electrical noise that induces a hum into some external mics", because I dont keep the recorder in my hand (put it in my pocket) while recording...

I saw that LS-10's ergonomics are better than the R-09HR, but it is a bit strange to choose a recorder only for this 

[RetroDude83]

I am a bit afraid when you say "The LCD (or circuitry behind it) can produce electrical noise that induces a hum into some external mics", because I dont keep the recorder in my hand (put it in my pocket) while recording...

I use the LS-10 for a year now and never had this problem...

To be honest, I've seen other recorders and I would prefer the LS-10 anytime over any of them at the moment. it's not too expenive, its size and weight is just awesome and the LCD diplay really rocks, I can see my levels even when I'm completely drunk at a show.

as for the recordings, I cannot really tell why a recording being recorded on the ls-10 should be worse than recordings recorded on other devices. I only suggest to use a preamp when recording via line-in jack. I use a $100 mic+preamp and a $300 recorder and made some bad-ass recordings with the shit. I see no point buying any Edirols just because everyone uses them if I'm completely satified with what my stuff can do...

[bedoc]

I don't use preamp with my mics, only a battery box, so I don't want at the moment buy a preamp (I know it can be stupid but I am happy with what I have... and I have seen that LS10 needs a preamp to work at his best, it is why I'm more interested in the Edirol than the LS10

I'm sure that the results can be equal to the R09HR ou any other Marantz or Sony gear.

[RetroDude83]

I have used CSC's with a battery box with the LS-10 as well, and it worked out fine as well. just check some samples at my tape site here, everything taped in 2008 is without any preamp but with the battery box.

[dallman]

I have never experienced any hum with external mics.

Also I really like the fact I can get a great recording just going to mic in with no battery box or pre amp. I did not expect that to be the case, but I find that does a great job. It is hard to get more stealthy than mic > LS-10.

[Petrus]

About the 24/96 thing: I tested LS10 line in with SD302 mixer and the S/N ratio seems to be about 90 dB, no more. 16 and 24 gave the same result (sd302 is not the limiting factor, S/N there is over 110 dB). That means there is no point in using 24 bit sample depth, 16 bit sampling captures all there is to capture. This is more or less the same with all cheap recorders. The sad truth is that even the very best field recorders give only about 19-20 bit resolution. 24 bit thing is only a marketing gimmic with these small machines.

That said, LS10 is a great little gadget, I am happy to have one (in addition of SD722, my main machine). I would not really hesitate to use LS10 as a backup recorder even for serous live recodings with a decent micpre/mixer. The sound quality is better than anything that was available foe any amount of money some 20 years ago, and in a neat, easy to use form. A bonus: looooong recoding times with lithium batteries.

[rjp]

I have never experienced any hum with external mics.

It's possible that I got a defective unit - but I'm not keen on sending it in, because if I'm careful with the mic-in, the hum doesn't happen - and it has made sweet recordings whether I've used the internal mics, the SP binaurals, or my AKG 170 -> E-MU 0404 -> line-in setup.

[John Willett]

I have been using the LS-10 for about a year now and find it excellent.

It's the size, handling, build quality and pocketability that won me over.

Having said that, though, the R-09HR was the next on my short-list along with the Sony PCM-D50.