Sony PCM-D50 Professional Portable Stereo Digital Audio Recorder

Comments about Sony PCM-D50 Professional Portable Stereo Digital Audio Recorder:

The small Sony PCM recorder (a little bigger than their cassette walkmans used to be if anyone remembers those!) is exactly what I was looking for. I wanted something just to record acoustic guitar indoors- and for that it is excellent. The built in mics give a better quality of recorded sound then I expected, and so don't plan to even use my shure mic with it. It also has a headphone jack so you can play back your recording right from the unit- the headphone jack sounded excellent using sennheiser HD 280 pro headphones. The built in mics are very detailed sounding, but also very sensitive- touching, moving, coughing during recording may drive it into overload distortion- so take care to prevent that. I have heard they are also really prone to wind noise or crowd noise, so maybe not the best to record an outdoor concert, for that plug in some sennheisers or whatever, for which you would probably need an adaptor since it doesnt have XLR jacks. It has a great combination of features altogether, I'd rcommend to anyone but some of the most discerning recordists who might opt for something a little more upscale, for everyone else I can't see wanting much better than the Sony PCM 50.

Comments about Sony PCM-D50 Professional Portable Stereo Digital Audio Recorder:

I write classical music, both chamber and orchestral, and I need archival tapes to help get future performances. I found the Sony PCM-D50 is so easy to use and gives me a recording that rivals many archival tapes done in the concert hall. It's also completely uncomplicated to use and so small I can fit it in my purse.
I haven't had it long enough to find the possible flaws. So far, so good.

Comments about Sony PCM-D50 Professional Portable Stereo Digital Audio Recorder:

This PCM-D50 has some problem when record in quite environment and use memory card, and this recorder will record some noise ever 1 second. when you playback(use memory card), that noise is very easy identify. I already try 3 of them, 2 have the same problem. I do a lot of frequency test. That noise source is the data writing to the memory card. So when you use high bit rate the noise will appear every 1 sec, if you use low bit rate, the noise will appear around 4 second.
Summary: Try to use memory card and in quite environment to test your PCM-D50. Holpful your PCM-D50 without this problem.
The picture show that full frequrncy noise.
another thins, it have a noise line around 33Khz, very high and stable noise from PCM-D50.

Comments about Sony PCM-D50 Professional Portable Stereo Digital Audio Recorder:

I produce a podcast, and I wanted a way to record conversations when I travel. This fits the bill. It records in clean stereo, and the built-in memory can record almost seven hours of audio. It gives me the flexibility I have never had by recording to a laptop.

Comments about Sony PCM-D50 Professional Portable Stereo Digital Audio Recorder:

Great product. Got it out of the box, made my first recording in less than 2 minutes. Easy to use and intuitive, and very high quality. Great recordings. I use it for field recordings for ambient music, and in some cases it's almost TOO good. Picks up highway and traffic from quite a distance that I have to EQ out. Product is exactly what I hoped for.

Comments about Sony PCM-D50 Professional Portable Stereo Digital Audio Recorder:

So after much debate, I finally took the pludge to replace my old minidisc walkman (which replaced my beloeved Sony Pro-Walkman).

Right now I am using the PCM-D50 to record my talented daughter play somewhat complex solo classical piano in our 12x12 living room. I plan to branch out and use it for work -- which involves oral interviews and music recordings in the field - -but haven't done so yet.

First what I love:
It's incredibly easy to use (and I am a technophobe). The instructions are short and ez to read. It feels really really sturdy. And, I like the size. (I know some people complain that it's a bit big, but I kinda like how it feels in my hand -- definitely not flimsy!!). The interface is really simple, too. And for me, that's important. (Though I still live in fear that there might be a way to accidentally record over my recordings.)

I have to admit, what I like less is the actual sound. I know this is odd, because people much more knowledgable than I have all said they love the sound. But to me, it's not a very warm sound. It's rather cold, and singular. It's not terribly rich. I'm not sure how else to explain it. It's cool, and clear and lacking, well, warmth or resonnance. Our living room has a carpet, upholstered furniture, and normal ceilings, so it's not like the sound is bouncing off our bare floors or walls... It just seems to be missing a warm ring to the feel.

Actually, as a result, I've started asking my daughter to play slightly differently so I can capture the feel of her playing rather then just the notes.

Would I buy this recorder again, yes, totally. Am I bowled over by the sound? Not so much.

I've only had it a week though, we'll see what happens.

-Jo

Comments about Sony PCM-D50 Professional Portable Stereo Digital Audio Recorder:

Sturdy construction and superb recording quality. Purched for my daughter undertaking a degree in music (voice) and she is the envy of her peers.

Very satisfied.

Comments about Sony PCM-D50 Professional Portable Stereo Digital Audio Recorder:

Capturing Ambient sounds, Interviews, Recording Rehearsals.
Things that are great, Mic inputs, line inputs, Mic Pres, Light, Sturdy.
Nothing bad so far.

Comments about Sony PCM-D50 Professional Portable Stereo Digital Audio Recorder:

This is an amazing product. This does everything that I wanted in a digital recorder and it's portable too. When I first recorded, I was amazed at the quality of the recordings even at 44.1kHz 16-bit recording. It's convenient to use. The divider feature is excellent as it saves a lot of time editing. I highly recommend this to any audiophile. The only cons is that it does not include a remote. It must be purchased as an accessory.

Comments about Sony PCM-D50 Professional Portable Stereo Digital Audio Recorder:

I needed a portable recorder that would capture quality audio without the use of additional microphones or cables. After reading numerous reviews, I narrowed down my options to the PCM-D50 and the Zoom H4n.

Both were fairly intuitive to use. And the H4n was the more versatile of the two--and probably the better value, although it is very cheaply built; the battery compartment door nearly broke off in my hand the first time I opened it.

The deciding factor for me, though, was the sound quality of the internal mics. And there was no comparison. When turned up loud enough to get a decent recording level with its internal mics, the H4n was almost unusably noisy. The PCM-50, by comparison, was virtually noise free.

Comments about Sony PCM-D50 Professional Portable Stereo Digital Audio Recorder:

I use my Sony D-50 for interviews, sound/music recordings, public/Church performances, complement to my DSLR camera.
I've got very high quality recordings, thanks to the high grade built-in microphones. Menu is easy to use, clear and simple, as well as operation buttons.
The only negative point is the lack of a built-in speaker. This is like not having a built-in flash on a 7D camera.
Eddy (Tahiti)

Comments about Sony PCM-D50 Professional Portable Stereo Digital Audio Recorder:

Primary use is making field recordings of noise control projects. Secondary use is to record acoustic guitar, voice, flute, and ukulele with the eventual intent of producing a vanity CD. It worked just as advertised, and was simple to use. Within 15 minutes, I had pressed "record" to get three short samples (voice and acoustic guitar). Another ten minutes, and the DAW software was installed and the files were moved onto my computer. The D50 has the basic functions you need, but not a lot of things you don't need like multi-tracking and overdub capability. That is better done on the computer anyway.

The LED metering lights were very useful. Set the recording level so that the green light (-12 dB) is on a fair amount of the time, but the red overload light (0 dB) only comes on intermittently. The mics sound good, but I need to experiment to find the best placement for balance and best sound indoors.

The remote control is really essential for solo recording, and cuts down on handling noise as you press the buttons. It has the basic controls and a 36" cord, so you can point the unit and mics any way needed but still do the basic recording functions and divide track. The remote does not include rewind and play -- it is focused on recording tasks.

The unit does not sit vertically at all without using a small tripod - the bottom is rounded. It will lay flat on a tabletop. The tripod needs a fairly large footprint too, as the center of gravity makes it want to tip forward. A Gorilla tripod with segmented flexible legs works just fine.

Comments about Sony PCM-D50 Professional Portable Stereo Digital Audio Recorder:

I choose this model for its relatively extreme capabilities in a small package that includes decent microphones. It is a grab-it-and-go one-box solution. This replaces a long line of compact analog recorders that I've used over the years for audio time-shifting and informal field recording (usually at the annual South Indian Classical music festival in Chennai). The key selling point for me was the digital in/out (optical) connections. The controls might appear a little intimidating at first glance, but are quite intuitive.

This product has been out for more than a year, so like any contemporary electronics it is subject to "feature aging". For this one, the lack of compressed recording (MP3) and the limit of 4GB support for the Memory Stick slot are notable. Neither of these are particular issues for me.

Overall, this highly portable digital audio recorder offers an excellent value, all essential features for the recordist, and easy to use controls.

Comments about Sony PCM-D50 Professional Portable Stereo Digital Audio Recorder:

I have a Zoom H2 that sounds, if anything, slightly "enhanced" with its 4-point mic set-up compared to the Sony PCM-D50. However, in the first year of use, the tiny plastic tab that holds the cover over the SD card of the Zoom broke off, and I've been unable to get a replacement. Moreover, the Zoom is kind of a pain to operate--with its touch skin and tiny menus within menus. By contrast, the Sony PCM-D50 is built like a tank and feels like a "real" audiophile product, a professional instrument. It records only wav files and does not purport to have all of the features Zoom has crowded on board its lightweight plastic device--which claims to be a self-standing work station. But any professional will edit files with a full-featured computer software program. The Sony offers the user actual physical controls--buttons, switches, sliders--which is especially assuring. For stealth recording, the Zoom is no doubt preferable, providing the user can hit the right area under the touch skin. For professional recording, this Sony can't be beat.

Comments about Sony PCM-D50 Professional Portable Stereo Digital Audio Recorder:

i use this recorder for my studies because we want to write infant voices with cochlear implants...i believe is one of the top choices for this job and it has very easy use...with usb port for immediate data transfer...

Comments about Sony PCM-D50 Professional Portable Stereo Digital Audio Recorder:

I use the recorder for personal and professional live field recording. The built-in mics are excellent, better than the Olympus LS-11, which is what I had before. In fact, they are better than all of the cheaper (under $500) portable recorders, in my opinion.

The main reason I bought the recorder was because it has digital optical in and out, and no other recorder has it for the price. This is also a huge plus.

Comments about Sony PCM-D50 Professional Portable Stereo Digital Audio Recorder:

Straight forward controls... just like a professional recorder. For my needs, loosing the stereo mics and using the extra space for XLR inputs
would be ideal, but for the size and price I really can't complain too much about the stereo mini plug ins and outs.

Comments about Sony PCM-D50 Professional Portable Stereo Digital Audio Recorder:

I am a long-time journalist, mostly in newspapers and television, now doing audio stories for our local public radio station. I have not had much experience in audio, and was urged by a friend to try the Sony PCM D-50. I have found it to be excellent in all respects, especially the sound quality and ease of editing. I would highly recommend this recorder.

Comments about Sony PCM-D50 Professional Portable Stereo Digital Audio Recorder:

I bought this product because of so many other positive reviews. I am very happy with the way it records my singing voice. It is a great value for the price and B&H has the best price. [...]. I am very happy with everything, which is rare :)

Comments about Sony PCM-D50 Professional Portable Stereo Digital Audio Recorder:

Travelling in the UK for 2 months, recording occasional interviews, nature sounds and music. Wanted something that didn't require experience with or knowledge about recording but would yield good quality results. This product has been very satisfactory on all accounts.