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Gear / Technical Help => Recording Gear => Topic started by: flintstone on February 05, 2012, 10:52:17 PM

Title: Sony D50 discontinued ?
Post by: flintstone on February 05, 2012, 10:52:17 PM
http://store.sony.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10551&storeId=10151&langId=-1&productId=8198552921665760564

Anyone have information, or speculation?  Sony introduced the D50 in Nov 2007.
Title: Re: Sony D50 discontinued ?
Post by: DigiGal on February 06, 2012, 10:54:50 AM
Really, discontinued in 2007?  Full Compass and B&H both show them in stock 2/6/12.

http://www.fullcompass.com/product/345911.html

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/524130-REG/Sony_PCM_D50_PCM_D50_Professional_Portable.html
Title: Re: Sony D50 discontinued ?
Post by: flintstone on February 06, 2012, 11:22:02 AM
No, INTRODUCED in 2007.  Sheesh.

The web page on Sony's site says "No longer available.". Retailers may still have stock on hand, but once that's gone, the D50 is history.  A 4.5 year lifespan is pretty good in the fast-paced world of consumer electronics. 

I think there are three factors.  First, the M10 is superior in several ways, which likely reduced sales of the D50.  Second, in the D50's price range, the competition has added multi-track recording and XLR inputs.  Third, the D50 uses Sony's proprietary Memory Stick flash memory cards, which are hella expensive in large capacity and hard to find.  The SDHC and SDXC cards are the way to go today.

The Roland R-26 is the best example.  Quiet preamps, 6 channel recording, price $499.
Title: Re: Sony D50 discontinued ?
Post by: cashandkerouac on February 06, 2012, 11:38:39 AM
No, INTRODUCED in 2007.  Sheesh.

The web page on Sony's site says "No longer available.". Retailers may still have stock on hand, but once that's gone, the D50 is history.  A 4.5 year lifespan is pretty good in the fast-paced world of consumer electronics. 

I think there are two factors.  First, the M10 is superior in several ways, which likely reduced sales of the D50.  Second, in the D50's price range, the competition has added multi-track recording and XLR inputs. 

The Roland R-26 is the best example.  Quiet preamps, 6 channel recording, price $495.

i agree that the competition has added feaqtures that the D-50 doesn't offer.  however, i don't see what the appeal is with the Roland R-26.  sure, you get 6-channel capability, but 4 of those channels are the built-in mics.  is there really a market demand for 4 built-in mics?  seems strange to me.
Title: Re: Sony D50 discontinued ?
Post by: flintstone on February 06, 2012, 11:42:34 AM
No, the R-26 can record from XLR and 3.5mm stereo inputs simultaneously.  See page 32 of the manual.
Title: Re: Sony D50 discontinued ?
Post by: DigiGal on February 06, 2012, 12:40:16 PM
No, INTRODUCED in 2007.  Sheesh.

Oops, misread that  :-[ 

Anyhow, looks like they're still available while supplies last then if they've been discontinued.
Title: Re: Sony D50 discontinued ?
Post by: Todd R on February 06, 2012, 02:02:53 PM
The D50 is still listed on the pro.sony.com website, with no indication it is discontinued.  If you go to the support tab of the pro sony site, they have a list of discontinued products, and the D50 is not there.

I'm not sure what to take away from the fact that it is listed as unavailable on the sony store site, but maybe there is still hope.  I've found the D50 to be a great recorder to pair with an optimod Lunatec V3, and apparently it works well with the SD USBPre 2.  It would be a shame if it is discontinued, since Sony doesn't have anything else with a digital input (do they?).
Title: Re: Sony D50 discontinued ?
Post by: flintstone on February 06, 2012, 06:57:03 PM
 Thanks, Todd.  I was hoping that Sony would bring out a new model to meet the competition.  It's possible that Sony simply has stopped selling the D50 through its consumer outlet, and will continue to sell it through the pro audio website.

Sony PCM-D1 has SPDIF optical output, but no input.  Just about all Sony minidisc machines had SPDIF optical input.
Title: Re: Sony D50 discontinued ?
Post by: page on February 07, 2012, 09:26:31 AM
I've found the D50 to be a great recorder to pair with an optimod Lunatec V3, and apparently it works well with the SD USBPre 2.

kangfirmed. I use mine that way.
Title: Re: Sony D50 discontinued ?
Post by: spyder9 on February 07, 2012, 10:36:59 AM
Not a big deal if it is discontinued.  It just means they are about to debut a new and improved version.  Probably the size of the M10 and will call it the D10.  My 2 cents.
Title: Re: Sony D50 discontinued ?
Post by: Fried Chicken Boy on February 07, 2012, 05:38:18 PM
Not a big deal if it is discontinued.  It just means they are about to debut a new and improved version.  Probably the size of the M10 and will call it the D10.  My 2 cents.

As long as they keep some kind of digi-input on it, that would be sweet.