Topic: Sony PCM-D50 - wow!

[nolonemo]

I'm so jazzed, I just have to share....

I just finished the edit of a recently shot HD single-camera video of a 30-piece jazz big band concert; I had the camera set up at the rear of the hall and was recording ambient audio into the camera via my AT-822.  I decided to set up the D50 in front of the stage, both as a backup in case of tape dropouts in the camera (which really screw the audio in HD because they are about a 1/2 second long), and perhaps to blend into the camera audio, which I was thinking would be the main audio at the time.  Because of space and audience constraints, I had to put the D50 about 3' from the edge of the stage at around stage floor level.  I set the internal mics to 120, turned on the limiter, tilted it up a little, took a conservative guess at the level based on some other gigs (there was no rehearsal or sound check opportunity to determine levels), and set it going in 48/24.

Turns out I set my levels quite a bit too low, and had to normalize up.  No problem - the D50s' self noise is low enough to allow that.  I was blown away by the clarity of the recording - unlike the hall audio recording, the D50 picked up all the stage details - the conductor's finger snaps, call outs to the band, it really was like you were right in there (which of course, the D50 was).  The only problem was the channel separation was a little too much because the D50 was so close, but that's easily fixed with a little channel blending.

I ended up using the D50 audio as the main audio because of the detail in the sound and adding in just enough of the hall audio to fatten the sound up without losing the fine detail in the D50 audio.

Anyway, I'm a real happy camper, when I got the D50 to upgrade from my Zoom H2, I thought it was a bit of an extravagance, but turns out to have been money well spent.  The Zoom is great for the money, but the D50 is in a totally different league (and rocks with the AT-822, but that's a different story).

[boojum]

Getting a good recording is just about as good as it gets.  I can think of one or two other things better, but not for this board.     

[mrsoul]

I agree, the PCM-D50 is a very solid recorder and I have made some very sweet recordings with minimal efforts.  Love the options and the build.  Thanks for sharing some samples if you have time.

[rastasean]

Thanks a lot now you just complicate the hell out of my next purchase. I was liking the Edirol R09HR--like most people on here--but I've come across a lot of positive reviews of this D50 so now I'm on the fence. I have been very pleased with my Sony HI MD recorder and its rock solid pre-amps but I know many people love the sounds of the 09HR. Have you ever used the 09hr before or was it pretty set that you were getting the D50?

Thanks,
Sean

[mrsoul]

The 09 input woes scared me enough and I know Sony makes a great recorder.  Haven't been disappointed and I personally think the build is much better on the D50.

[Belexes]

I have the R-09 (not HR) and the D50.  The build is much more impressive on the D50.  I only use the R-09 when I need a lot of stealth.