Sony PCM-D50 audio comparison

With the aim to have something to improve field recordings when I'm usually a crew of one, sometimes able to scare up a civilian to push the record button when I'm lucky, I got a Sony PCM-D50, the economy version of the PCM-D1.

You may find that there's a significant quality difference too between YouTube's encoding and the encoding of the same source file at Vimeo. Also, the source video as uploaded can be downloaded from Vimeo for analysis with my blessing. Link:

http://www.vimeo.com/2655404
In brief, this was a 3-stage comparison of on-camera audio from my Canon XL H1 (maybe not the fairest comparison, since as on-cam audio goes, the XL H1 usually is not half bad).

Second run has the raw 44.1KHz, 24-bit, uncompressed wav recorded from the PCM-D50 with a windscreen and tripod support, using the on-board condensor mics only.

Third run has a slightly sweetened version relying for source solely on the 2nd (PCM-D50) track, with added (mild) noise filtering and 3:1 compression from a -15 dB threshhold.

More details in discussion (or added here as called for.)

No consideration was given by Sony or any other company for this comparison test. The device used was purchased by the maker of this video and therefore this disclaimer is priobably not even necessary. Given widespread panic about the US FTC's revised guide on endorsements ( http://ftc.gov/os/2009/10/091005revisedendorsementguides.pdf ) I've chosen to add a disclaimer just to be utterly clear on this point. This is not an endorsement under those guides, as no incentives were given to make this video... I was simply unhappy with other reviews that seemed to be doing tests that really didn't demonstrate much of anything at all, except that the makers were intent on doing lots of reviews and doing them quickly.

Category:

Film & Animation

Tags:

• field
• recorder
• Sony
• PCM-D50
• test
• real
• world
• practical
• comparison
• audio
• recording
• options
• marching
• band
• outdoor
• music
• ensemble

[rtype909]

Wow the D50 sounds much better. The caps and crowd noises are pushed to very periphery and the bass is much deeper. Listening on Blue Sky monitors

[ebbixx]

@rtype909 Thanks for that insight!

[o7levi]

Hard to describe the differences, I'm not an audio afficianado by any means. The on-cam mic sounded a bit more loose, open and captured more presence, while the D50 sounded more focused, almost like a studio-quality recording. A mix of both would probably sound nice. It's a toss-up for me.

[ebbixx]

Thanks for the assessment!

[mandolinroad]

@o7levi Most people including myself don't have a proper listening setup with d/a's, speakers etc that hold up. Not to mention the fact that youtube's compresses audio (same for both clips though). So it's pretty hard to tell the difference it you're not in a studio environment.

[ebbixx]

@mandolinroad Quite true. That's one of the reasons I posted the link to the vimeo version. There, at least, you can download the video as I uploaded it, if you have an account.

[eyeonwashparish]

Thank you for posting this. This is the kind of test I needed to hear regarding external recorders. I'm impressed.

[stantheman1976]

Nice samples. This is right up my alley as a video and audio guy. I've had my D50 for about 6 months now and love it.

[4stral1]

stunning machine, use it right and get stunning stereo results :-)

[Sn4pDr4gon]

Wow. The recording on the D50 would be perfect for my acoustic Jazz trio (that I have no videos for). Thank you so much for taking the time to do this.

[DrakulaBambaataa]

Cool vid. Thanks.

[zep4life]

There is no comparison. You can't even hear the tom drums in the first one!

[ebbixx]

@MattAaron09 Since I'm usually recording as a one-person team I haven't had a chance to mic the drumline up close. I did have the drumline director approach me about doing an instructional video, but that was just before the economy fell apart, so I've yet to pursue that.

As a general comment, for large ensembles the rule of thumb tends to be, at least when recording from a single point, to place the mic(s) at roughly the same distance as the width of ensemble.