Sony PCM-M10 audio recorder - NEW

[dogmusic]

Here is an excerpt from a recording I made this morning of a local high school string quartet (2 violins, viola, and string bass rather than cello), playing in a very noisy restaurant.

I used an AT822 plugged into the mic input of the M10, about 8 ft from the group, close to center.

It was recorded at 24/96, but the file has been converted to 16/44.1.

It's not a great recording, but it may give an idea of what the M10 sounds like with an external mic .

http://www.box.net/shared/pda9pah103

[bucsab12]

Can the owners of the PCM-M10 please tell us how is the recorder, battery wise? Did Sony really achieve what they were claiming (28 hours on two AA batteries, if I remember correctly)? Thank you in advance.

[illconditioned]

Can the owners of the PCM-M10 please tell us how is the recorder, battery wise? Did Sony really achieve what they were claiming (28 hours on two AA batteries, if I remember correctly)? Thank you in advance.

I haven't used it a lot, but the battery is still lasting.  A couple of hours recording, connecting to USB, playing in the menus, and it is still registering "full".

It has a great "standby mode", so you never have to really turn it off.

Get this recorder if you're sitting on the fence.  You can't go wrong.

  Richard

[Jamos]

My first impressions are that the noise level is quite low using the buit-in mics. 

I have not tested the line level input yet.

When I picked it up, my vendor was saying that he was a little disappointed that "it felt so plastic".  He was comparing it to what the D-50 felt like.  Now I'll agree that the D-50 felt a little more solid (also twice the size), but if you've owned any of the other small recorders (R-09, Zoom, Tascam, etc.) I think you'd agree that the M10 feels a little more refined. 

I think this is the closest thing to a D-8 or M-1 that we've seen yet.

[bucsab12]

It doesn't surprise me that his recorder is a solid one, based on previous Sony recorders which have been great but it has just made my choice a lot tougher... After reading about 100 pages about the Edirol R-09HR, I was getting ready to order one but then I saw Sony is coming out with this recorder so I decided I will wait and see what people think about it.

I don't think I will use the internal mics though as I have bought a pair of CA-14's and a ST-9100 preamp so I will probably use the Line In socket in most situations. May also use the Mic In if the internal preamp is really as good as the one on the PCM-D50. So now my choice comes down to these two recorders.

Which recorder do you think will give me better results when using external mics? Maybe I will just have to wait till the PCM-M10 will be studied a little more in order to take a calculated decision...

[su6oxone]

Which recorder do you think will give me better results when using external mics? Maybe I will just have to wait till the PCM-M10 will be studied a little more in order to take a calculated decision...

The R-09HR has a good track record used by countless tapers, so I think if you go with it now it would be a safe choice that you wouldn't regret.  It's definitely a quality and very solid recorder.

[patchen]

Can the owners of the PCM-M10 please tell us how is the recorder, battery wise? Did Sony really achieve what they were claiming (28 hours on two AA batteries, if I remember correctly)? Thank you in advance.

I haven't used it a lot, but the battery is still lasting.  A couple of hours recording, connecting to USB, playing in the menus, and it is still registering "full".

It has a great "standby mode", so you never have to really turn it off.

Get this recorder if you're sitting on the fence.  You can't go wrong.

  Richard

I haven't logged a lot of record time either.  I've recorded probably 2hrs total, and have played back about as many files and mp3s as well.  So perhaps 5hrs use? My battery meter still says 100%  My guess is that this machine likely shares some of the power saving technology of Sony's Minidisc series.  The portable minidisc players from Sony always had uncanny ability to last forever on a single AA battery.  This is a great 'point and shoot' machine that slips easily into the pocket (about the size of an iphone but slightly thicker) and is very user friendly.

[dogmusic]

Can the owners of the PCM-M10 please tell us how is the recorder, battery wise? Did Sony really achieve what they were claiming (28 hours on two AA batteries, if I remember correctly)? Thank you in advance.

I think I've used it close to ten hours and the battery indicator shows full. These are the original in-the-box batteries.

[dogmusic]

My first impressions are that the noise level is quite low using the buit-in mics. 

I have not tested the line level input yet.

When I picked it up, my vendor was saying that he was a little disappointed that "it felt so plastic".  He was comparing it to what the D-50 felt like.  Now I'll agree that the D-50 felt a little more solid (also twice the size), but if you've owned any of the other small recorders (R-09, Zoom, Tascam, etc.) I think you'd agree that the M10 feels a little more refined. 

I think this is the closest thing to a D-8 or M-1 that we've seen yet.

I agree. The way this unit looks, feels and operates puts it in a different class from the other small recorders. The R-09 seems like a toy in comparison, and ugly to boot.

I wish the internal mics were cardioids instead of omnis, but it may make the unit more versatile as is, and the recordings have been quite clean.

I used a TCD-D3 for many years (until the battery packs died and Sony stopped support) and I also agree this will be a good replacement -- especially with the Micro SD card option.

BTW, I am using a Lexar 8GB Micro SDHC card with the M10 without a problem.

[dogmusic]

This is a great 'point and shoot' machine that slips easily into the pocket (about the size of an iphone but slightly thicker) and is very user friendly.

As I said elsewhere, most people when they've seen the M10 sitting on a table or in my hand think it's a cell phone. Especially because of the large display and the build quality.

Maybe someone will make a skin for it that has a fake QWERTY keyboard to cover the controls....

[stober]

still no digital in huh? It will never be as good as a D-8 or M-1 just having a little mini line in like that.

[patchen]

Could any of the other owners perhaps confirm the noise spec for me?  I've now tested it at all sample and bit rates, as well as with the mic and line inputs.  My machine _always_ has some residual noise down at -76db even with the gain set to '0', which by the way effectively turns the input off.  To test you can just plug in a dummy cable to the line input, or plug the other end into something that is creating no noise, set the gain to '0' and record a few seconds, checking the noise floor in an audio editing program. I want to make sure this is an across the board thing before I contact technical support, cause it seems like something might be off with my machine.  I'd be very appreciative if someone would check this for me.

For me this kind of makes the unit unusable for making line in recordings because as I said, the minute you boost the recording with normalization or limiting you've got what is to me, very audible white noise hanging out in the background.  I love this unit on the whole, but this could be a deal breaker for me...

[dogmusic]

still no digital in huh? It will never be as good as a D-8 or M-1 just having a little mini line in like that.

The D50 has digital in. Perhaps that's a more exact comparison.

My TCD-D3, which made some great recordings, required an external box for digital I/O, that I bought and hardly used.


Now that you can transfer your recorded files digitally to a computer via USB and memory card, digital I/O seems redundant, unless you're using a preamp with digital out.

For most situations, I like to take advantage of the handy small size of a unit like the M10, and keep the set-up to a minimum, i.e., no external preamp.

[dogmusic]

Could any of the other owners perhaps confirm the noise spec for me?  I've now tested it at all sample and bit rates, as well as with the mic and line inputs.  My machine _always_ has some residual noise down at -76db even with the gain set to '0', which by the way effectively turns the input off.  To test you can just plug in a dummy cable to the line input, or plug the other end into something that is creating no noise, set the gain to '0' and record a few seconds, checking the noise floor in an audio editing program. I want to make sure this is an across the board thing before I contact technical support, cause it seems like something might be off with my machine.  I'd be very appreciative if someone would check this for me.

For me this kind of makes the unit unusable for making line in recordings because as I said, the minute you boost the recording with normalization or limiting you've got what is to me, very audible white noise hanging out in the background.  I love this unit on the whole, but this could be a deal breaker for me...

I plugged into the M10 line in from a cable connected to my stereo which was not turned on.

I set the rec level to "0" and recorded 30 secs.

The downloaded file was opened in Audacity (the only audio software I have working now since upgrading to Snow Leopard) and I don't see any noise.

Here is 15 secs of the file if you'd like to check it yourself. I recorded at 24/96, but I converted it to 16/44.1 in Audacity.

http://www.box.net/shared/chro9lyezv

[patchen]

Thanks Dogmusic,
It is now confirmed.  Your machine exhibits the same noise floor as mine.  White noise hanging out around -76db.  Not a problem for tapers recording PA's I imagine but for anybody gathering quiet sounds it will be an issue unless they record with no headroom, any normalization will pull the noise floor right up.... My original microtrack is much quieter and I guess I will have to keep using it for when I want absolute fidelity.  Too bad...  Thanks again for running the test Dogmusic!