this recorder is the baby brother to the beloved A-10. has a similar interface
this is designed for voice dictation and can record 16/44.1 .wav
MSRP $80, found mine for $50 NIB/NOS on ebay
key differences from A-10:
-about half the size and weight
-built in mics but they are much smaller and not adjustable in direction (who really uses these anyway? ...did not test)
-no bluetooth/remote app
-4GB internal memory, takes a microSD card (32GB sdhc tested, claims sdxc support, untested)
-plays mp3s and 16/44.1 wavs. cannot play FLAC, 48K, or 24-bit wavs
does not have level control on line-in! needs level adjusted by whatever is feeding it. Its line-in input sensitivity is approximately equivalent to level 12 (of 30) on the A-10, which is in the neighborhood of where i usually run my A-10 line-in. when running it to -0.1dB (FSD), no clipping is apparent on a 10-22KHz logsweep file, see image below
frequency response is claimed as 50-20KHz in the specs, however i think they are referring to the internal mics. when tested line-in with generated frequencies it actually has more low-frequency sensitivity than the A-10, see images below. A10 was actually worst of the bunch tested. DR100 was ruler flat
some rolloff tests, using test setup of soundforge playing generated sine waves>usb>grace sdac>line out>recorders
all recorders 24/44.1 except ICD-UX560@ 16/44.1
Tascam DR100 MKIII: flat to 20 Hz, -0.02dB@15 Hz, -0.1dB@10Hz
Sony A-10: -0.2 dB@100 HZ, -1.1dB@45Hz, -2.9dB@25Hz, -4.1Hz@20Hz, -6.0dB@15Hz, -9.6dB@10Hz
Sony ICD-UX560: -0.2dB@55Hz, -1dB@30Hz, -2.3dB@15Hz, -4dB@10Hz
Roland R07: -0.2dB@80Hz, -1.0dB@35Hz, -2.75dB@20Hz, -4.3dB@15Hz, -7.5dB@10Hz
noise tests in silent portion of above tests:
Tascam DR100 MKIII(minijack line-in, gain set to 10.5dB):peak signal =-2.1dB, peak noise= -86dB, rms noise = -100.5dB (-84dB/-98dB relative to peak signal)
Sony A-10 (line in, level set to 11 out of 30):peak signal =-1.1dB, peak noise= -79dB, rms noise = -92.5dB (-78dB/-91.5dB relative to peak signal)
Sony ICD-UX560: (line in)::peak signal =-0.0dB, peak noise= -74dB, rms noise = -90dB (-74dB/-90dB relative to peak signal)
Roland R07 (line in level set to 28 out of 100):peak signal =-0.1dB, peak noise= -79dB, rms noise = -92.5.5dB (-79dB/-92.5dB relative to peak signal)
noise floor of line-in on ICD is a few dB higher than the A-10 and R-07 at the same input sensitivity. Which is a slight hinderance considering its only 16-bit. DR100MKIII is in another league but was a good reference for my test setup.
finally an 8ch polywave. of 2 live sbd tracks played thru the same setup above. i purposely attenuated the input, so the resulting recordings would have levels peaking around -12dB, in a manner similar to how i would normally run a 24-bit field recorder. Giving no mercy to the 16bit recorder. wavs were all normalized in post to same levels then the 24-bit files were dithered to 16bit before all were combined into an 8ch 16bit wav. theyre not perfectly synched but you can audition various tracks
can you guess which recorder was used on each pair of tracks? im kinda more interested in what your EARS think, as anyone can really pick out most of the tracks from statistics using the numbers i gave above
8 ch poly wav:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1er8Z1Y4DTaVMVd4lJG4Ib_Q9olpCaFaD/view?usp=sharingkey to which tracks are which (in hidden text, highlight to see:)
1-2:PCM-A10, 3-4:ICD-UX560, 5-6:R07, 7-8:DR100MKiiipics and links:
ICD-UX560 not clipping at FSD:
low frequency tests. white numbers in top row are Hz.
top to bottom: Tascam DR100mkIII, A-10, UCD-IX560, R07
side by side with A-10
sony page:
https://www.sony.com/electronics/voice-recorders/icd-ux560quickstart guide and full manual
https://www.sony.com/electronics/support/res/manuals/4573/45739336M.pdfhttps://helpguide.sony.net/icd/u56/v1/en2/index.htmlspecs:
3 model variations:
ICD-UX560 - 4GB internal storage (the one i have and tested)
ICD-UX560F - 4GB internal storage+ FM receiver
ICD-UX565F - 8GB internal storage+ FM receiver
my impression: this tiny recorder definitely could have some application for:
-those on a serious rig budget
-those who just want a cheap backup recorder to kick around the gearbag as a spare or to record a backup off of headphone out
-people who are into the uber minimalist
rigs
-anybody who wants a cheap tiny mp3 player to beat around, active sports, etc
this is from 2016, would be nice if sony came out with a successor version with 24-bit wav and FLAC support, in the same form factor.