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Author Topic: Chopped Sony PCM-A10  (Read 57183 times)

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Offline RyanJ

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Chopped Sony PCM-A10
« on: July 07, 2022, 05:06:40 PM »
I've got a handful of Sony A10s and will bring multiple recorders in to a venue. In my almost 20 years of taping, I have never used internal mics to record. If I am going to tape, I am going to do it right and bring in some proper mics. I see the Sony A10 as an epic 007 recorder with some decent sound to it. The internal mics on the A10 have been bothering me ever since I got it. I've always wanted to chop them off. Well, I decided to do it today. Thanks to a few pics on TS, I got inspired on my day off. Also, thanks to Nicky C for some encouragement and telling me how to start it. I am really happy with the results on the first one. Will do the rest tonight. I have filled the internal mic holes with some clear setting epoxy. It may be just a small amount of space saved, but it's worth it to me.

Steps


1. Take two screws on outside of the unit underneath the grip below the internal mics. It does take some prying and you'll probably make some scratches in the grip to remove it.


2. Take 9 screws that hold the battery in place


3. GENTLY lift up the battery and to the RIGHT. It is ribbon connected and soldered in to the main board. You will see some tape over the mic jack, remove that and remove the two screws underneath. You can then move the plastic tray out of the way and you can now remove the internal mics.


4. I cut the mic cables close to the circuit board to remove the internal mic housing. You can now work on the internal mics without risking damaging the board.



5. I unsoldered at these points, removing the excess cable from the board to make it clean.


6. Back to the internal mic housing. Remove two screws on outside of the internal mic caps. To take the cap off takes a bit of finesse. It should rotate counterclockwise and come off.



7. There is another screw holding the cap onto the housing remove that and the cap comes off. Image 8 is what is left from the mic cap.


9. You are left with the bracket. This bracket can be removed from the plastic and placed back once you've cut the mic brackets. You can go a few options with how you cut it, but after doing a few, I feel this is best just to cut these and fill the holes with epoxy. It's important to cover the holes because the circuit board is exposed at this point when you close it.


10. At this point, I would cut the plastic mic protectors that are on the A10. I just used some wire cutters and it goes through pretty easy. I tried to cut as close to the base as I could and dremeled the rest away.


12. When closing the unit back up, this is the trouble point. I am not sure if this is a slide mechanism or a clip mechanism for closure. I've broken it both times and had to super glue the unit back together to make the bottom part flush. Everything else clicks in.

« Last Edit: July 09, 2022, 05:54:00 AM by RyanJ »
http://www.ninlive.com - The Nine Inch Nails Live Archive
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Mics: Schoeps MK4s, AT853 (4.7k mod)
Pre: Naiant IPA v1.0, Babynbox, Tinybox
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Offline dyneq

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Re: Chopped Sony PCM-A10
« Reply #1 on: July 07, 2022, 05:29:50 PM »
Thanks for sharing the snaps. I've been tempted to do the same. Based on other posts here, I believe I understand the steps, but do you mind sharing any of the trickier aspects & tips?

Offline RyanJ

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Re: Chopped Sony PCM-A10
« Reply #2 on: July 07, 2022, 05:34:27 PM »
Thanks for sharing the snaps. I've been tempted to do the same. Based on other posts here, I believe I understand the steps, but do you mind sharing any of the trickier aspects & tips?

I'll make a detailed post on the 2nd one. Opening the unit up is the trickiest. The two screws are behind the table grip on the top of the back (again pics are coming) and then when you open it you don't want to break any of the clips off that hold the A10 together. I had to superglue the unit back together for the bottom to sit flush. Instead of having to dremel down the internal frames of the internal mics, I would just remove them from the bracket altogether.
http://www.ninlive.com - The Nine Inch Nails Live Archive
http://www.ryanjonik.com - My Music Archive Blog
Mics: Schoeps MK4s, AT853 (4.7k mod)
Pre: Naiant IPA v1.0, Babynbox, Tinybox
Recorders: M10, A10, Zoom F8n, Marantz PMD-620 (Concert Mod), TCD-D8
Transfers: Everything you want

Offline Gaerlind

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Re: Chopped Sony PCM-A10
« Reply #3 on: July 07, 2022, 07:43:26 PM »
What for to do it if you can't make it nice and neat?
Sorry, but it's very rough work.
Device is just broken...
Sony PCM-M10, Sony PCM-D10, Roland R-07, Olympus LS-100, Zoom H2n, Alesis PalmTrack, Philips DVT7500
Shure SM7B, Shure SM57, Rode NTG-2, Audio-Technica AT875R, Audio-Technica AT35s, Godox Movelink M2

Offline Chilly Brioschi

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Re: Chopped Sony PCM-A10
« Reply #4 on: July 07, 2022, 08:09:00 PM »
In US there is a clay-like epoxy named PC-7, dries charcoal grey.

Certainly we only see day one result
A little sandpaper and Krylon Fusion, or similar automotive plastic paint will finish it beautifully.

Or go rough... Much less likely to attract a thief
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Offline fireonshakedwnstreet

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Re: Chopped Sony PCM-A10
« Reply #5 on: July 07, 2022, 08:26:38 PM »
Real nice
Mics: AT 3031; Samson C02; Studio Projects C4 (c, o, h); Nak 300/Tascam PE-125/JVC M510 (cp-1, cp-2, cp-3, JVC M510 superdirectional caps)
Recorder: Tascam DR-680 MkII
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Offline RyanJ

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Re: Chopped Sony PCM-A10
« Reply #6 on: July 07, 2022, 09:36:53 PM »
Certainly we only see day one result
A little sandpaper and Krylon Fusion, or similar automotive plastic paint will finish it beautifully.

Correct. I am not done, just filling the internal mic holes at this point and letting them set for a day or two. Just to be sure!
http://www.ninlive.com - The Nine Inch Nails Live Archive
http://www.ryanjonik.com - My Music Archive Blog
Mics: Schoeps MK4s, AT853 (4.7k mod)
Pre: Naiant IPA v1.0, Babynbox, Tinybox
Recorders: M10, A10, Zoom F8n, Marantz PMD-620 (Concert Mod), TCD-D8
Transfers: Everything you want

Offline Gaerlind

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Re: Chopped Sony PCM-A10
« Reply #7 on: July 08, 2022, 01:17:34 AM »
Can you made a test-recording with internal mics? Please.
To see the level of hiss made by recorder.

Probably to change the mic capsules to more noiseless is a good solution for some A10 users?
Sony PCM-M10, Sony PCM-D10, Roland R-07, Olympus LS-100, Zoom H2n, Alesis PalmTrack, Philips DVT7500
Shure SM7B, Shure SM57, Rode NTG-2, Audio-Technica AT875R, Audio-Technica AT35s, Godox Movelink M2

Offline SMsound

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Re: Chopped Sony PCM-A10
« Reply #8 on: July 08, 2022, 01:38:07 AM »
Looks way more  >:D without two microphones on top... now it's just your pocket MP3 player.
waves -> bits

Offline Ozpeter

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Re: Chopped Sony PCM-A10
« Reply #9 on: July 08, 2022, 04:48:53 AM »
Looks way more  >:D without two microphones on top... now it's just your pocket MP3 player.
I am sure there must be some samples from the internal mics in the main A10 thread.  They are not any kind of disaster in my opinion, especially if set to the wide position which gives a significantly better stereo image than you could get from the M10 internals.  I would only remove them if minimising size was really important.  Backup systems are always reassuring to have when recording on location.

Offline Twenty8

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Re: Chopped Sony PCM-A10
« Reply #10 on: July 08, 2022, 07:06:44 AM »
Can you made a test-recording with internal mics? Please.
There are other threads with discussion of the internal mics.  This thread is about removal of the internal mics.

What for to do it if you can't make it nice and neat?
Sorry, but it's very rough work.
Device is just broken...
This is a asshat comment.  This device doesn't have to LOOK good, it has to PERFORM well.  This is the most street racer thread in a month!

Thanks for posting RyanJ.  I would like to see more as I am going to do this to one of my A-10s when I have time off.

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Offline daspyknows

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Re: Chopped Sony PCM-A10
« Reply #11 on: July 08, 2022, 08:29:47 AM »
I would bevtempted to buy a chopped one.  Don't need or want internal mics. 

Offline Gaerlind

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Re: Chopped Sony PCM-A10
« Reply #12 on: July 08, 2022, 09:38:19 AM »
There are other threads with discussion of the internal mics.  This thread is about removal of the internal mics.me off.
Yes!
I ask CHOPPED internal misc sound. I mean preamps noise sound.
Recorder menu doesn't know that mics was chopped. So its possible to analyse clear preamp noise.
Probably this noise is made by cheap capsules. If it so - there is a lot of variants to modify this recorder.
Sony PCM-M10, Sony PCM-D10, Roland R-07, Olympus LS-100, Zoom H2n, Alesis PalmTrack, Philips DVT7500
Shure SM7B, Shure SM57, Rode NTG-2, Audio-Technica AT875R, Audio-Technica AT35s, Godox Movelink M2

Offline aaronji

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Re: Chopped Sony PCM-A10
« Reply #13 on: July 08, 2022, 10:42:23 AM »
Yes!
I ask CHOPPED internal misc sound. I mean preamps noise sound.
Recorder menu doesn't know that mics was chopped. So its possible to analyse clear preamp noise.
Probably this noise is made by cheap capsules. If it so - there is a lot of variants to modify this recorder.

Maybe I am wrong, but I don't think this is true. The circuit needs to be loaded with a resistance similar to that of a microphone, right? If this is correct, you could just set the recorder to mic-in, with nothing plugged into it, and record that. I recall discussions here saying that was not a valid way to assess the pre-amp...

Offline johnmuge

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Re: Chopped Sony PCM-A10
« Reply #14 on: July 08, 2022, 10:46:34 AM »
That is a really nice chop job. I haven't used internal mics since 1979 and don't plan on starting now. The smaller the better and blue tooth as a bonus. I think I'm going to try out one of these PCM-A10's.
> AKG c480b(ck61,ck63) Naiant Couplings-PFA / Beyer MC930 / Milab VM-44 link / Nevaton MCE400
 > Littlebox w/output xformers / Tinybox w/ dual output  
 > Tascam DR-680, DR70d / Sony M-10 / Oade ACM Marantz PMD660

 

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