Topic: Sony's new $600 recorder PCM-D50 PT II

[meatballs]

I just purchased a D50 used for ($375) from the yard sale. I'm taking the little idiot to Cuba to record street rappers.

The posts here were a great influence on my decision -- thanks! However, I can't help but now wonder.... what is the longest thread in tapersection history?

 

[anodyne33]

However, I can't help but now wonder.... what is the longest thread in tapersection history?

the original team pittsburgh thread. it was deleted years ago. 

[meatballs]

Pittsburgh !!!

  I was searching around lastnight for stand / mounting options for the D50 and came across this:
 lumedyne extension post B&H # LUATP6. I'm thinking..... buy the post and clamp to the post or put the post in a shockmount.

 

[mrsoul]

Can anyone confirm the use of Sony or Sandisk Memory Stick Pro Duo MARK 2 cards (16gb) for the PCM-D50?  I am looking to pick up one soon.  Some good deals on ebay on these older cards which should operate at speeds to handle the 24/44.1 that I will throw at it. 

I have a Pro Duo HG (4gb) but want to expand for the spring festivals. 

Looking at the Ultra II and the Mark 2 cards which I think should handle the write speeds.  I know Ultra II is much faster but Mark 2 should handle it.  Thanks for any info.

[jlykos]

Can anyone confirm the use of Sony or Sandisk Memory Stick Pro Duo MARK 2 cards (16gb) for the PCM-D50?  I am looking to pick up one soon.  Some good deals on ebay on these older cards which should operate at speeds to handle the 24/44.1 that I will throw at it. 

I have a Pro Duo HG (4gb) but want to expand for the spring festivals. 

Looking at the Ultra II and the Mark 2 cards which I think should handle the write speeds.  I know Ultra II is much faster but Mark 2 should handle it.  Thanks for any info.

I have a 16GB Sony Memory Stick Pro Duo Mark 2 card and I have been running it for a year without any problems.

[mrsoul]

Thanks.  Looks like Sony says the same.
http://esupport.sony.com/perl/support-info.pl?&info_id=19

[mrsoul]

There is a vendor selling 16Gb Mark 2 for $26. Just ordered from the guy in China. I'll let you know once I get it. Thanks again.

[Falconidave]

There is a vendor selling 16Gb Mark 2 for $26. Just ordered from the guy in China. I'll let you know once I get it. Thanks again.

Lots of counterfeit cards coming from China via eBay.  Be careful...

[mrsoul]

Always a risk you are right about that. I guess if it's not Mark 2 or fast enough, I will get the unrecognized media error message. What's the best price anyone has seen on 16gb Mark 2's?

[jlykos]

I wouldn't touch memory chips on ebay with the item location in China with a 10 foot pole.  I bought mine a year ago for around $100.

[tekdroid]

Always a risk you are right about that. I guess if it's not Mark 2 or fast enough, I will get the unrecognized media error message. What's the best price anyone has seen on 16gb Mark 2's?

16GB Sony Memory Stick Pro Duo (Mark 2) are currently $64.95 at B&H.

The PCM-D50 was released before Mark 2 sticks were re-branded like they are, so Sony's little compatibility table looks like it was updated for recent times (it doesn't just take Mark 2 or HG sticks).

I've heard from numerous reports it runs fine on Memory Stick Pro Duo not labelled Mark 2 (I am using a Mark 2 card, however). The manual itself says "Memory Stick Pro HG-Duo" and "Memory Stick Pro Duo (High Speed)" which nearly all the regular ones are.

According to Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memory_Stick
"All Memory Stick PROs larger than 1 GB support this High Speed mode".

So you should be fine with a regular Memory Stick Pro Duo of recent vintage, though it seems to make sense for Sony to push you into buying a card branded Mark 2 to simplify their table, even though these cards didn't even exist when the PCM-D50 was released.

http://www.memorystick.com/en/memorystick/feature/index.html#p02
The Mark 2 sticks, incidentally, just specify a minimum write speed of 15mbps, which isn't anything special. Remember these are megaBITs per second, not megaBYTES.

eBay and memory sticks: just say no.

It's a surprise to me that Sony (or Sandisk or whoever) can't buy some fakes, prove that they are to eBay, and shut every seller down who deals in the stuff. They are hurting their reputations by letting it continue.

[mrsoul]

Thanks for the info.

So, how fast do the cards need to write to handle 2 channel 24/44.1 ? 

[ilduclo]

Pittsburgh !!!

  I was searching around lastnight for stand / mounting options for the D50 and came across this:
 lumedyne extension post B&H # LUATP6. I'm thinking..... buy the post and clamp to the post or put the post in a shockmount.
 

I've just been using a camera tripod with a pan and tilt head. I think the $19 10' light stands on EBay might work ok for higher mounting. The camera tripod I have (cheapo) is light and collapses to about 18", I taped the whole body of the tripod to an overhead beam, the pan and tilt let me face the mics right where I wanted. Nice results.....

[mrsoul]

Thanks for the info.

So, how fast do the cards need to write to handle 2 channel 24/44.1 ?

http://www.sounddevices.com/calculator/index.html 

[xpander]

Ok people, time is near for my annual arctic expenditure. If anybody wants me to do some specific tests while there, please let me know. The temperatures will be about -20 C (-4 F) or lower, last year we got down to -30 C at one point.

No, I probably won't soak my D50 in icy water and let it freeze, but if you can think something less radical that you might want to know about cold weather handling, I might be able to arrange some field tests.

I reckon most here won't try and catch The Frozen Mouse & The Snow Crickets winter tour anyway, so this probably won't interest regular "tapers" as such. 
But if you ever wondered the working limits of the device, this is one chance to get an idea.