Topic: Sony D50 in the field ?

[arrowman]

Hey Now,

I did read the manual, but didn't understand the attenuator or limiter stuff that much.  I'm very new to all of this. 

thanks tho, I'll try again.   

[mrsoul]

If nothing else, turn on the attentuator.  That takes the input from your band down so the mic inputs don't overload so easily and you can turn it up a little :-)

[guysonic]

If nothing else, turn on the attentuator.  That takes the input from your band down so the mic inputs don't overload so easily and you can turn it up a little :-)

Maybe a better way to understand the 'attenuator' function is to realize this is a first stage mic preamplifier GAIN switch.  20 dB setting is best considered the NORMAL setting, and the 0 dB setting is the 20 dB boosted gain position with a lot less headroom/frequency bandwidth, and higher distortion.

So ONLY use the 0 dB setting if absolutely needing more gain, like maybe for acoustic type recording.  Otherwise, you're way better off in the 20 dB setting even if having to turn the REC level knob full up to #10 for adequate VU levels.

[arrowman]

Thank you.  that helps a lot.

[Outrageous]

Maybe a better way to understand the 'attenuator' function is to realize this is a first stage mic preamplifier GAIN switch.  20 dB setting is best considered the NORMAL setting, and the 0 dB setting is the 20 dB boosted gain position with a lot less headroom/frequency bandwidth, and higher distortion.

So ONLY use the 0 dB setting if absolutely needing more gain, like maybe for acoustic type recording.  Otherwise, you're way better off in the 20 dB setting even if having to turn the REC level knob full up to #10 for adequate VU levels.

It's hard for me to imagine that the "attenuation" switch is really a "gain" switch.  Are you sure about this?  Is this related to mike "trim"?  Also, I am very unclear about what you mean about clipping above or below the 2.5 setting.

[gearscout]

Just got my PCM-D50 today and, alarmed by all of the "reviews" that said it didn't work well with external mics, I couldn't wait to test it.

Plugging in a Sennheiser ME66/K6 (K6 is the "power" module that provides 48v by inserting a single AA battery ) and I found it to be excellent.  This is in line with what another user who has a Rode NTG2 reports -- shotgun mics work well with the D50.  Brad Linder's blog had a review quoted (not his) that said a Rode NTG1 did NOT work well with the Sony recorder.   There are more than enough variables for everyone to doubt either his...or my...results.

The 0-20 switch on the side of the D50 appears to be just a "pad."  Engaging it at 20 will prevent mics that are too hot from overmodulating.  But it's just a pad.  I haven't tested it enough to see whether that actually lowers the noise floor.  It will certainly vary from mic to mic, I would think...with better quality mics performing just fine whether you have the pad engaged or not.  It may just make it easier to control the volume with the dial.   

You guys are more technical than I am.  I'm just listening to the sound and watching the levels.

So, there's a field report.  I will provide some sample files. 

P.S. Plugged the ME66/K6 into the H2 and it was very good.  Maybe not as good as the Sony.  But maybe I'm buying expensive wine and thinking it tastes better.

 

[mrsoul]

PCM-D50 with external mics.  Great pull if I do say so myself, super quiet.  I did have the 20dB attenuator on during this recording.  I also found it very easy to control in the fanny pack during stealth operations.  The green and red peak lights are irreplaceable for this type setting.  Enjoy!

http://www.thetradersden.org/forums/showthread.php?p=779338#post779338

[Ozpeter]

Plugged the ME66/K6 into the H2 and it was very good.

Odd that the only mic I've seen anywhere that people say works with the H2 is that one.  Presumably it has a huge output - to get results from the H2 with an external mic it seems necessary to use something close to line level.

[spyder9]

Plugging in a Sennheiser ME66/K6 (K6 is the "power" module that provides 48v by inserting a single AA battery ) and I found it to be excellent.  This is in line with what another user who has a Rode NTG2 reports -- shotgun mics work well with the D50.  Brad Linder's blog had a review quoted (not his) that said a Rode NTG1 did NOT work well with the Sony recorder.   There are more than enough variables for everyone to doubt either his...or my...results.

Couple things:

1)  The ME66/K6 runs on either AA battery or P48 power.  The K6 is incapable of providing P48, whether its on batteries or not.  The P48 must come from a mic preamp.

2)  Rode NTG1 runs on P48 only.  NTG2 runs on either AA battery or P48.  The NTG1 would not run at all without P48.

[Mattyb123]

What is the deal with the digital input on this deck?

Would this work for going from my Sony DAT to D50?

http://www.soundprofessionals.com/cgi-bin/gold/item/SP-MINI-90

[mrsoul]

PCM-D50 with external mics.  Great pull if I do say so myself, super quiet.  I did have the 20dB attenuator on during this recording.  I also found it very easy to control in the fanny pack during stealth operations.  The green and red peak lights are irreplaceable for this type setting.  Enjoy!

http://www.thetradersden.org/forums/showthread.php?p=779338#post779338

here's a link for some medium bit rate mp3z of the Marc Cohn show (it will be available for 2 weeks)
http://www.yousendit.com/download/www/eTJlTG05NmM0b0RIRGc9PQ

[Belexes]

What is the deal with the digital input on this deck?

Would this work for going from my Sony DAT to D50?

http://www.soundprofessionals.com/cgi-bin/gold/item/SP-MINI-90

That looks to be just the adapter and not the cable, if you need the cable as well.

Not sure what Sony deck you have, but my M1 has digi out only via the 7 pin.

[Church-Audio]

Got my church audio omnis in the mail today, and made a quick entirely unscientific comp:
internal mics
church omnis
studio projects c4 omnis through mixpre (line in on sony)
The room is bad, I put the mics on a small table-top tripod, with lots of reflections from the table, and I am playing bad .... also its three times playing (I obviously have no three sonys do to a real time comp.).
Also, I normalized them all to 100%, but had to cut down the file-size several times to comply with th 516KB restriction, and so the gain is quite different on all three recordings. But one can get the idea ....
- The internal mics are not too bad.
- The church audio mics have audible self noise, but I bought them for outdoors, windy situations, so this will not be an issue. But they have a great frequency response, nice lows in comparison to the brighter (more metallic) sony internals.
- and then I realize once again, what great microphones the C4 omnis are, especially with the warm mixpre
Udo

The self noise on my omni mics is quite low I have not measured it but its much MUCH lower then my cardioid mics. I would say if you are having noise issues its with the preamp on the Sony try an external preamp with my mics. Then you will see how good the self noise is on my omni mics. Dont get me wrong I am not going to compair these to DPA mics for self noise but when I use one of my 9000 or 9100 preamps with these mics the self noise is almost none existent.

Here is a link to me playing guitar into a himd mic input with a pair of my omni mics this shows the noise floor is very low. http://www.freedrive.com/file/fe239dc20857d3b957d45116c7dd486b

[mozmoz8]

What is the deal with the digital input on this deck?

Would this work for going from my Sony DAT to D50?

http://www.soundprofessionals.com/cgi-bin/gold/item/SP-MINI-90

Hi, S&H is expensive for this little thing.

[Mattyb123]

I am going to use mine to transfer DATs from my Sony PCM R300........what kind of cable will I need.....optical S/PDIF?  Mine apparently just arrived at my house!