Topic: comparison- Sony d50 vs Tascam Dr1?

[sailcat]

A more specific question, following up on my previous post on point-and shoot.

Anybody got experience with the comparative sound of these 2 using internal mics? I've got lots of reliable recommendations for the Sony, but nothing on the Tascam. I do field recording of African drummers, in small spaces and large, and need to use point-and-shoot techniques most of the time. The D50 and the DR1 are very,very nice, but if the Tascam will come close sonically, it's a seriously cheaper alternative. From what I've been able to read, the Tascam's extra low gain setting and "warmer" sounding pres might make it good for this specialized use.

Anyone?

[Kevin T]

Everthing I've read ( & thats way too much) says the DR1 would work well for you.

[flintstone]

The DR-1 preamps have considerably more self-noise.
But if you're primarily using the recorder to capture
loud drumming sessions, you probably won't notice.

Ditto the built-in mics.  The Sony mics sound more
detailed, but if all you're recording is drums (no cymbals)
it may not matter.

The Sony does have one clear advantage.  Sony gave
it a very effective limiter.  So you can record a hotter
signal with less worry that clipping will spoil the
recording.

Flintstone

[graemecogger]

There are some sound samples (unfortunately no drums) at this link:

http://www.wingfieldaudio.com/portable-recorder-sound-samples.html

To my ear, the Tascam has pretty poor sound quality using the internal mics, but judge for yourself!

[stantheman1976]

I'll get my drummer at church to play some for me this weekend and post some samples when I can.

[illconditioned]

I just bought the D50.  This thing is great!  Sound on the builtin mics is very good.  Very low noise preamp.  Excellent design and built quality.

And a great feature is the limiter.  Anything "over" triggers a -12dB drop in gain, and still gets captured!  Believe it or not there are two ADCs operating in parallel, one at +12dB and the other at +0dB.  The normal gain on the line stage is 12dB, but if the signal goes over, the lower gain, +0dB path is used.  Talk about over engineering...

  Richard

[spyder9]

I've owned both and I preferred the DR-1.  Granted, the D50 is very quiet, but the DR-1 offered me a much more robust, warm sound for what I was looking for.  Very Oade-ish sounding.  DR-1, to me, is much more musical than the ENG-sounding D50 too.   

That said, I have never run either with their onboard mics.  I'm sure the D50 would have an edge, because it was designed for that.  The D50 is certainly a well built piece of hardware.  Better overall build quality than the DR-1.  Hence, the large difference in price.   

[flintstone]

Spyder9,

Are you saying the DR-1 sounds better than the D50 when recording
line in from your Aerco unit, or better when using built in mics?
Or both?

When you record mic in, do you use the DR-1's "lower than low"
mic sensitivity? 

Flintstone

[spyder9]

Spyder9,

Are you saying the DR-1 sounds better than the D50 when recording
line in from your Aerco unit, or better when using built in mics?
Or both?

When you record mic in, do you use the DR-1's "lower than low"
mic sensitivity? 

Flintstone

Through the Aerco via line-in, ........and with no preamp, straight in through mic-in.  I've run AT853RX > Denecke PS1 > DR-1 (mic-in) and SBD > DR-1 (mic-in) and got wonderful results.  When I ran a SBD, I did not run the low sensitivity, for I wanted to hear how it sounded.  It got a little hot in the 2nd set of Moonalice.  Irregardless, I'm impressed with its pre/adc.  Heads and shoulders better than the first hand held, the Edirol R-1, which was wildly popular until a couple of years ago.  Give me a couple of days to work on those shows and you'll be able to hear for yourself.   

I have not used the onboard mics for either unit.