AV News 178 - November 2009
Sony also produce two other portable recorders i.e. PCMM10/B and
PCMM10/R however these are not relevant to this article. Built around a
metal chassis with metal panels the PCM D50 recorder weighing in at around
thirteen ounces with four AA size batteries is slightly larger and heavier than
many others, but its build quality is excellent. Recording levels are very
simple to set with a convenient wheel on the right side, without the need to
delve into complex menus. Storage of recorded audio is achieved with 4GB
of internal memory and there's also a slot to insert a Sony Memory Stick, this
can extend the memory by an additional 4GB. At the business end of the
recorder and protected by a metal cage are two electret condenser
microphones capable of exceptionally high sound quality, these can be
turned to either X-Y or Wide Stereo operating positions. These microphones
are however very sensitive and highly susceptible to wind noise when used
outdoors. Therefore a windshield is absolutely necessary; unfortunately the
windshield is not included and is an optional extra.
The PCM-D50 conforms to USB 2.0 Mass Storage Class Device standards
and connects easily to computers via USB cable for uploading recorded files;
these are always recorded as stereo .WAV format. Recording of .MP3 files is
not possible but these can however be played on the device if downloaded
from a computer i.e. used as an (expensive) iPod.
The PCM-D50 includes a unique dual digital limiter function (inherited from
the PCM-D1 recorder), a high pass filter with selectable frequencies (150 Hz
or 75 Hz) and SBM (Super Bit Mapping) noise shaping. It also includes a 5
second pre record buffer with an A-B repeat playback function. Files can be
recorded at selectable frequencies and bit depths including the popular 44.1
kHz/16bit, 44.1 kHz/24 bit, 48.0 kHz/16bit, 48.0 kHz/24bit and 96.0 kHz 16
and 24 bit. Monitoring may be undertaken using headphones plugged into a
3.5mm socket, monitoring volume is controlled by a convenient wheel
located on the left side. On the right side is located a line in socket for
recording from external sources. An external microphone can be used with
the recorder plugged into a dedicated 3.5mm microphone socket. If using a
conventional mono microphone then the recording is a stereo track with
sound on one channel only. This is not a problem; simply convert the stereo
to mono in Cool Edit, Adobe audition or whatever software you use. The
microphone pre-amp is of very good quality and is extremely quite. On the
down side XLR connectors are not provided but then this is intended to be a
small portable device.
Menus when needed are very intuitive and sensibly simple; they are
entered by self explanatory buttons on the face plate. Display is clear and
large; it can b