Guess what I gave myself for Christmas? And Santa, in the form of the Australia Post operative, arrived today unexpectedly early.
Almost everyone here has made their first comment something along the lines of "damn, it's tiny!".
Damn, it's tiny.
My recent(ish) recorder purchases include a Zoom H1N and a Zoom F1. The A10 is clearly significantly smaller than the H1N and is probably smaller in volume than the F1 overall, being thinner and narrower, but a bit longer. It has a noticably larger screen than either of the Zoom models.
Almost the first thing I tried were the internal mics. I like the idea of a carry-around sound recorder, so unlike most here, the internal mics interest me. I tested them first in front of the quite large Tannoy speakers in my 'studio', playing my usual test item, Eric Clapton's 'River of Tears'. This has a substantial bass line, a steady cymbal beat, and a vocal, and I find it usually reveals shortcomings in audio equipment, or at least it allows for useful comparisons. I was pleasantly surprised by the result - to my ears (elderly ears I admit), the sound is balanced - no particular vices that I could hear, with very usable range at both top and bottom and no muddy hump in the middle. Stereo image is waaay better than the M10, whose imaging was always pretty dire as you might expect from closely spaced omni mics. Just recording passing cars in the street with the A10 gave very satisfactory results, with a clear image of each vehicle passing from one side of the soundstage to the other. But the supplied windshield didn't seem to be doing a great deal to mitigate the effects of a light wind. I will have to find a suitable 'dead kitten' to replace it.
I think the innovative (in my experience) menu system works well, but when making settings it would have been useful if the current state of each option could have been displayed at the foot of the screen. At present you have to select the option to confirm its state.
Really I am finding it difficult to criticise the device, after making allowances for its size and price point. I guess I'm a bit disappointed that there's no way to play back what you've just recorded, using only the app. I might well use it with Roland in-ear mic/earbud mics, but in order to check the recording I will have to fish in my pocket to get the recorder out to press "play". It's a pity that there is no play button in the app interface (unless I can't see it!).
Apart from the A10 living in my jacket pocket, I will also use it in conjunction with cameras such as the DJI Osmo Pocket or the Insta360 One X (the latter happens to be very similar in size to the A10). These also tend to travel constantly in my jacket. Yes, it does tend to make me walk lopsided. Ideally I'd like to mount the A10 to the handle of the camera poles, and that's not hard to do, but it would be ideal if I could change the angle of the A10 to match the angle the camera is shooting at. I do have an adapter for that purpose but I think it weighs more than the recorder! A fiddle with my collection of GoPro mounts should do the trick in due course.
Thanks to previous posters for their advice and recommendations, and thanks also for making me $250AU poorer! And compliments of the season to all.