Sony just introduced two new WAV recorders. Here's a link to the Sony Japan web site that talks about them
http://tinyurl.com/cpt8weSony ICD-SX900 has 4 GB RAM built in and a grey body color.
Sony ICD-SX800 has 2 GB RAM and silver color.
The new machines are specifically designed to record music as well as speech. They are an evolution of the design of the ICD-SX77 and ICD-SX68 recorders, which are executive dictation machines introduced in 2007.
Sony says the new machines were designed with music recording in mind. You can select WAV or MP3 formats. Top WAV setting is 16/44.1 The new machines have an array of three built-in mics that Sony says have much lower self-noise than the original ICD-SX models. The mics have several sensitivity settings. You can use external mics if you prefer. And a foam windscreen is included.
You can record in full manual mode. The preamp features include a low cut filter and limiter. There is a 5 second pre-roll buffer.
The new recorders have a slender shape, about the size of three retractable ballpoint pens sitting side by side. (32 x 16 x 130 mm, or about 1.3 x 0.63 x 5.2 inches) Weight is 75g with battery, or about 2.65 ounces. Two AAA cells power the machine for 14 hours of WAV recording.
The size, weight, and price (about $300) of the new Sony recorders is similar to the Yamaha Pocketrak 2G model. The Sony's LCD display is long and narrow, with the signal strength meters shown vertically. This is better than the Yamaha's display, which uses a smaller, more conventional horizontal display.
The ICD-SX800 and 900 are specialized machines, which trade some features for very small size and long battery life. These machines are unlikely to make people sell their Edirol R-09HR recorders. But remember that Sony has the technology and experience to produce a very small recorder with excellent sound. Here's hoping that the ICD-SX800 and 900 carry on in this tradition. There's a chance that these new machines may be a stealth recordist's dream.
No announcement was made about delivery date in USA. I expect we'll see them by mid-year.
Flintstone
Topic: Sony ICD-SX900 WAV recorder (Read 5504 times)