Justin - I hope this proves useful for you:
I bought a Sony D50 before Xmas -
I was looking for a very portable recorder to be able to carry around on
standby.
I was also looking for a recorder with easy to use buttons for my 82
year old father to use to record some childhood memories - he was here
for Xmas and so I couldnt wait for anything else that was in the pipe line.
The D50 has admirably succeeded on this.
Whilst perhaps not the quietest recorder, I had previously bought a
second hand mixpre - so this would help when extreme quiet was
necessary and though adding bulk, in an over the shoulder bag I felt the
combined bulk was not excessive.
I carried out a few tests and I have put the result on the group files
area as D50_test.wav .
The recording is in 3 second segments.
The first two are the built in mics.
Next is using Rode NT2000 in the mic input.
The next three, 9-18 secs, the NT2000 using the mix pre - various
settings/outputs - sorry I cant locate my notes to be more specific.
The last is with the mix pre, but into my old RH1 minidisc, again with
the NT2000 mixpre.
I am not sure where the rumble came from - other than the actual disc
rotating.
The clock was a small carriage clock, at about 5 feet.
Conclusion.
For general sounds the D50 gives pretty good results.
For example I could barely tell a difference in comparing a recording of
a live piano between the built in mics and the NT2000.
For recording speech - an excellent notebook (the remote was very
useful - wish it had a play button as well).
The addition of the mixpre really improves the quiet sound - perhaps not
hugely different to the RH1 minidisc - but much more flexible, and great
battery life.
Can anyone advise how much external battery power would make the mixpre
last the night (say 8 hrs)with P48 and LED's on dim - thanks.
Yes the lack of XLR sockets is an issue - but I can live with it for
now - I shall prob buy a new larger recorder in a year or so's time or
when ever the next generation of the current crop are replaced.
Hope this is useful
Andrew
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