At 12:37 AM +0000 7/22/08, clay wrote:
>Oryoki published a list not so long ago of
>all the pocket (aka point & shoot) recorders,
>enve including the Microtrack in the comparison
>as a frame of reference.
>
>My question is: of all the pocket recorders,
>which most resembles something like an FR2-LE,
>i.e., which is the best pocketable CF recorder
>(irrespective of any included microphones)?
>
>thoughts?
>
>Clay
>
>hint: I have the little Zoom (4 channel)
>and that's not the answer, nor is the Microtrack.
Hi Clay--
As you are familiar with the MicroTrack and Zoom H2 and, if I recall
correctly, you own a Hi-MD and do not find the former two up to your
standards in terms of their mic input pre noise, you may be in for a
wait.
As has been pointed out, recordists using mics with over ~16 dB(A)
self-noise should be quite happy with the LS-10 and Raimund feels a
high sensitivity mic like the ME-67 effectively lowers the LS-10's
input noise to an acceptable level. Recordists wanting to record
ambience in quiet locations, as quite a few do with Hi-MD, might not
be as happy. Here's a list of noise specs for many mics
http://www.uwm.edu/~type/audio-art-tech-gallery/pages/MicSpecs-Cover.html
. There's also a list with mics whose self-noise is under 17dB(A).
Based on Raimund's input noise ratings
http://www.avisoft.com/recordertests.htm , I was including the LS-10
as a possible CF "replacement" for Hi-MD, but tests that Vicki and
Lilly recently posted have convinced me that there are some
significant audio performance compromises with this recorder. The
noise produced is quite warm and noticeable, there are discrepancies
in noise and level between the two channels of the two recorders I
studied and the response under 125 Hz seems to be poor when using the
external mic jack. Using Low-Sens and 24 bit recording mode did not
seem to improve noise performance that much in Vicki's tests we
further evaluated. There's also a peculiar time drift problem.
"Surprises" like this remind that there is really no reliable
substitute for side-by-side testing using very low self-noise mics if
one is looking for a great recorder (audio performance wise) at a
lower cost. Even creating a list of CF recorder "candidates" for
such a task is quite a task!
Number-wise, the next, most-promising candidate for testing might be
the Sony PCM-D50 which some of us expect to match Hi-MD's input noise
performance. Oryoki and others have pointed out that its not that
much smaller than a FR2-LE,..
One, concise way to look at the options is, the new CF recorders are
likely on par with MD recorders in terms of mic pre noise
performance, BUT, if your mics are noisy-- ALL of these recorders
area good match and you can freely compare them in terms of
non-quality affecting factors like recording media, convenience, etc.
Rob D.
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