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

[headroom]

...
sorry not much time to comment. I am, going in a silent retreat tomorrow with ARTUR ( Advaita Buddhist teacher)  for 7 days. And have to finish my jobs here in switzerland

[krsb]

Just picked up a used D50 today! Sweet! Looking very good.

Plan to pair it with the V3 for shows when not in lowprofile mode, but also to plan to use when I am in the field to grab natural audio for slideshows.

Thanks to all for their advice on this fine unit.


cb

[mrsoul]

Works well in low profile as well since that 20db pad on the mic input is an amazing little life saver.  I personally do not prefer the limiter.  But, for mics into recorder, it's made some sweet sounding shows. 

[illconditioned]

I'm loving the D50.

I've been running Countryman B3 and Sennheiser KE4 directly into plug in power on mic in.  0dB atten for ambient stuff, 20dB atten for shows.  I like the lights green/red on each channel.  Controls are great.  The other great thing is the powersave modes.  You can leave it on and it goes into powersave mode.  Hit record, or plug in a USB cable and the unit "wakes up" and starts running.  Nice...

  Richard

[Jamos]

I'm loving the D50.

I've been running Countryman B3 and Sennheiser KE4 directly into plug in power on mic in.  0dB atten for ambient stuff, 20dB atten for shows.  I like the lights green/red on each channel.  Controls are great.  The other great thing is the powersave modes.  You can leave it on and it goes into powersave mode.  Hit record, or plug in a USB cable and the unit "wakes up" and starts running.  Nice...

  Richard

Richard,
So the D50 powers the B3's just fine?
I have a couple B6's that would be awesome to wire up to a 3.5mm and run directly into the recorder.

I owned a D50 when it was first released, but had to sell it in order to help fund my 702 that I needed for some work projects...
so I didn't get to test the built-in preamp very much.

thanks.

[illconditioned]

I'm loving the D50.

I've been running Countryman B3 and Sennheiser KE4 directly into plug in power on mic in.  0dB atten for ambient stuff, 20dB atten for shows.  I like the lights green/red on each channel.  Controls are great.  The other great thing is the powersave modes.  You can leave it on and it goes into powersave mode.  Hit record, or plug in a USB cable and the unit "wakes up" and starts running.  Nice...

  Richard

Richard,
So the D50 powers the B3's just fine?
I have a couple B6's that would be awesome to wire up to a 3.5mm and run directly into the recorder.

I owned a D50 when it was first released, but had to sell it in order to help fund my 702 that I needed for some work projects...
so I didn't get to test the built-in preamp very much.

thanks.

B3's are just fine.  But you need to rewire them.  I put a 2k resistor between FET source and ground, much like Chris Church does in his 4.7k mod.

B6's, no it will not power.  Not enough current for these guys on plug in power.  You'll need an external battery box, and *be careful*.  B6 will only tolerate something like 2V or damage will occur.  Most mics are cool up to 10V or so, but be careful when powering DPA or B6.  Also, B6, regular sens, will overload on loud music IME.

 Richard

[WiFiJeff]

I've had a D50 since it came out, but haven't used it much as I really love my Sonosax MiniR82.  The MiniR82 has spoiled me for most other small recorders, as it can run 5 hours at 24/96 without touching it, close to 10 hours with a small external power pack.  Only the D50 does this (with seamless track breaks at 2GB instead of 4GB). 

Recently I have had a recurrence of a weird problem with the the Sonosax, a R/L channel swap while recording, and have to send the machine back to Switzerland for repair.  This has turned me back to looking at the D50, but I have been a bit nervous about the sound quality given that Sony has stated that the preamp and A/D are not as high-end as the superb D1 (which however can only do 2 hours at 24/96 unattended, since it won't take memory sticks bigger than 4GB so far as known).  I was testing the optical-in signal from the Core Sound mic 2496 (Version 1) and found the recorder saw it at 24/48 instead of 24/96, but that the clock on the D50 was running double speed (and a 16GB memory stick pro duo card went from space remaining 7 hours + to 14 hours +).  So I'm pretty sure it's recording correctly at 24/96.  I recall reports when the D50 first came out that it had this problem with 24/96 signals from some high-end A/D too. 

Does anyone know if the recordings made this way are okay?  Also, what is a simple way to edit the wave headers to correct the header so that Wavelab, etc., sees the file as 24/96 instead of 24/48??

Jeff

[SClassical]

Jeff,
From my knowledge it's not the fault of the D50 but the fault of your core-sound Mic 2496 converter. Your core-sound converter is not sending the correct 24bit signal to your D50.

It happened to me with my D50 when using it with the V3. Grace Design upgraded the chip in the AD converter so that it will send the correct 24bit signal. Now it worked fine but I don't use it (my D50 and V3 is collecting dust now).

If you ask Core-sound to send you a chip so that their mic 2496 version 1 will send the corrected signal you will be find.

So it's not the D50's fault but the your mic 2496.

There were posts regarding this issue when the D50 first came out. Many people had this problem but solved it by upgrading a chip in the AD converter. If I were you I will contact Core-Sound. Good luck!

[SClassical]

Just picked up a used D50 today! Sweet! Looking very good.

Plan to pair it with the V3 for shows when not in lowprofile mode, but also to plan to use when I am in the field to grab natural audio for slideshows.

Thanks to all for their advice on this fine unit.


cb

cb,
Remember to upgrade your chip in your V3 before taking it for a run. If you have changed your V3 chip you should be fine running the D50 @2496.

[krsb]

Already done!
Previously, I was running the V3 into a Iriver, so I upgraded it a few months ago. (great service by Grace btw, sent the chip to me for free over here in Europe) 
 

cb

Just picked up a used D50 today! Sweet! Looking very good.

Plan to pair it with the V3 for shows when not in lowprofile mode, but also to plan to use when I am in the field to grab natural audio for slideshows.

Thanks to all for their advice on this fine unit.


cb

cb,
Remember to upgrade your chip in your V3 before taking it for a run. If you have changed your V3 chip you should be fine running the D50 @2496.

[headroom]

Is the Mini ME also sending the correct 24/96 Signal on the Coax Output? I know its not optical but its possible to make a conversion tho Toslink.

[headroom]

I've had a D50 since it came out, but haven't used it much as I really love my Sonosax MiniR82.  The MiniR82 has spoiled me for most other small recorders, as it can run 5 hours at 24/96 without touching it, close to 10 hours with a small external power pack.  Only the D50 does this (with seamless track breaks at 2GB instead of 4GB). 

Recently I have had a recurrence of a weird problem with the the Sonosax, a R/L channel swap while recording, and have to send the machine back to Switzerland for repair.  This has turned me back to looking at the D50, but I have been a bit nervous about the sound quality given that Sony has stated that the preamp and A/D are not as high-end as the superb D1 (which however can only do 2 hours at 24/96 unattended, since it won't take memory sticks bigger than 4GB so far as known).  I was testing the optical-in signal from the Core Sound mic 2496 (Version 1) and found the recorder saw it at 24/48 instead of 24/96, but that the clock on the D50 was running double speed (and a 16GB memory stick pro duo card went from space remaining 7 hours + to 14 hours +).  So I'm pretty sure it's recording correctly at 24/96.  I recall reports when the D50 first came out that it had this problem with 24/96 signals from some high-end A/D too. 

Does anyone know if the recordings made this way are okay?  Also, what is a simple way to edit the wave headers to correct the header so that Wavelab, etc., sees the file as 24/96 instead of 24/48??

Jeff

I think you can change the header  very easy with Amadeus Pro with the Command "Characteristica" or any other Professional Soundeditor. Good luck

[Scooter123]

Audio Lines in Chicago has the unit for $399.  Wow. 

Update.  I called and it is a bait and switch.  They are not in stock. 

[johnw]

Trying to decide between this, the FR2-LE and the R-09HR. Does anyone know how the D50 AD stage compares to the FR2-LE? For me stealth isn't really an issue, but I would like to know the dimensions of the D50. The specs say that it's 6.1" but I can't tell if that includes the mics on the top. I'd be using this with the RCA outs of an Nbox, so not really intersted in the mic-in gain FWIW.

[Belexes]

I'm not at home to give you the extact dimensions, but in terms of size, I posted a photo of my FR2-LE, D50, the old M1, and a regular R09. (HR is slightly larger)

http://taperssection.com/index.php/topic,113554.0.html