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Re: Olympus LS-10 and Sony D-50

Subject: Re: Olympus LS-10 and Sony D-50
From: "lilyplants" lilyplants
Date: Sun Jul 6, 2008 2:45 pm ((PDT))
Rob, thank you for responding to my question. 

After reading/listening to everything on the site including all the reviews and 
uploaded 
recordings, I have further questions.
- should I return the LS-10 
- buy the Sony PCM D-50 to try 
- wait for a light wt. point and shoot with warm sound
- consider something I'm missing (don't want to buy pre amps.. new mic would be 
fine)

It seems to me that the LS-10, although I LOVE the unit, won't provide the kind 
of 
recording I want.

the naturerecordists emphasize the Olympus LS-10 over the Sony PCM D-50 (is 
that for 
wt. and stealth only? or are you more concerned with isolating sounds than a 
sound 
environment?

Before I return the LS. I really need some feedback on the recorders 
considering my needs.

I want to do a variety of ambient sounds as well as music. For example, the 
sound of a 
field of tall grasses for a sound installation; groups of people in an urban 
environment. Goal: a you are there feeling which involves.

last night I recorded music from a DJ with people dancing in a room.
the LS is supposed to have quiet mic pre amps but I could hear an airy sound 
over the 
music and people which I could not hear with my Sony MD MZ-100.
the LS sounded too tiny to listen to with low cut on.
however, using its internal mics, the LS gave nice separation between music and 
people. I 
don't know if that was because of the binaural mics for the recorders.

I very much appreciate hearing from this wonderful group before making a 
decision.
lily

(I've tried to post a rich text message two times as a reply from Yahoo to 
Rob's message in 
the thread. my new message didn't show up. what's the problem? We do need to 
post 
from Yahoo don't we?)






--- In  Rob Danielson <> wrote:
>
> At 3:48 AM +0000 7/5/08, lilyplants wrote:
> >I ordered the Olympus LS-10 thinking it would be much easier to use 
> >than my MD Sony
> >MZM100 with soundprofessional binaural mics. It is.
> >
> >But it doesn't seem sensitive enough (okay with on high sen, 24, 
> >limiter on and clip off).
> >
> >I want it to sound as good as possible with ambient and music. The 
> >Japanese warbler is much
> >better recording than I have achieved.
> >
> >What really confuses me are the sound samples. Those Sony PCM D-50 on the
> >Wingfieldaudio.com site are moving (more overtones). The choir 
> >sample of the LS is fatiquing
> >and uninteresting. YET the samples provides on this site show both 
> >to be noisy although not
> >as noisy as the R09 (can't remember who did them (4 "point and 
> >shoot" recorders).
> >
> >How does one account for these differences.
> >and Can one achieve better results with one of these recorders over the 
> >other?
> >
> >I'm new to ambient recording. Thank you for your help.
> >lily
> 
> Hi Lily--
> The "hi-sensitivity" setting does make make good sense for ambience 
> recording. Maybe turn the Limiter off? Someone who owns an LS-10 
> might be able to post the settings checklist they follow for 
> recording quieter sounds and settings.  Close-mic'd music should 
> produce sufficient sound levels to work with.
> 
> As for improving the performance of the LS-10, I'd definitely follow 
> Vicki's recent comparison tests and suggestions including using Shure 
> WL183 external mics. Other recordists have been posting recordings 
> with comments.  Here's a search of "LS-10" in the list archive: 
> http://tinyurl.com/5bwupr  Raimund's suggestion of using external 
> mics with low self-noise and very high sensitivity is a good one 
> though there aren't too many mics to recommend that meet these specs 
> that are well-suited for recording ambience.
> 
> In interpreting the samples provided in the review web sites, look 
> for tests done in the field using high gain (and preferably with 
> specified condenser mics, if external mics are used).  Most of the 
> conditions I've come across to date are not similar to those found in 
> nature recording so they are not a very good indicators of the 
> performance you might get.  Rob D.
> 
> -- 
> 
> 
>






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