Studio in Your Pocket

Jun 1, 2008 12:00 PM, By Geary Yelton

           
 

STEREO DIGITAL RECORDERS ARE MORE PORTABLE AND AFFORDABLE THAN EVER

FIG. 6: Although slightly larger than its competitors, the Sony PCM-D50 offers all the features you’d want in a portable recorder, including 4 GB of onboard memory and 12 hours of 96 kHz record time on a single set of batteries.

SONY PCM-D50

The PCM-D50 ($499) builds on Sony's experience with the outstanding PCM-D1 as well as with previous generations of digital recorders spanning decades. Though it is the largest, heaviest, and seemingly most rugged of all the recorders in this roundup, it still fits in a shirt pocket, if just barely (see Fig. 6). Its size offers advantages such as a generous amber backlit display, ergonomic buttons and knobs, and room inside for four AA batteries, offering a maximum 26 hours for playing MP3 files (it doesn't record MP3s) and 12 hours for recording 24-bit, 96 kHz linear PCM.

One physical feature that distinguishes the PCM-D50 is a pair of mics mounted on the top and protected by a rigid metal framework. They swivel from an angle of 90 to 120 degrees relative to each other, allowing you to shift from typical XY to wide recording positions and everything in between. The unit contains 4 GB of internal flash memory, and you can expand that further with one of Sony's proprietary Memory Sticks, either High-Speed Pro Duo or Pro-HG Duo.

Eleven buttons are on the front panel, with just three switches on the sides for Power, Hold, and DPC (Digital Pitch Control, which allows playback from 75 percent slower than to twice as fast as the original, without changing pitch). In addition to the usual Play, Pause, Fast Forward, Rewind, and Stop are buttons that access the menu and folder hierarchy, toggle the backlight, specify loop points, and divide files into smaller files. Three of the transport buttons serve double duty: when you're navigating onscreen, Play functions as an Enter key, and Fast Forward and Rewind function as Up and Down keys.

The display shows a variety of information, such as battery level, audio levels calibrated in decibels, and length calibrated in hours, minutes, and seconds. Quickly pressing the Menu button reveals the folder structure, and holding it for 1 second reveals a scrollable list of parameters and commands.

Regarding the time it takes to go from power-off to recording, the PCM-D50 is a little slow on the draw, especially when compared with speedy performers like the Marantz PMD620. It makes up for it, though, with its prerecord buffer, a very cool feature that captures audio occurring before you press Record by continually maintaining a 5-second buffer.

The PCM-D50 has one of the most flexible limiters I've seen. The recorder divides its input into two streams, one 12 dB lower than the other. With the limiter engaged, the PCM-D50 automatically begins recording the -12 dB signal whenever the input exceeds 0 dBfs. A menu setting lets you determine the rate at which the recorded signal returns to the higher level — either 150 ms, 1 second, or 1 minute.

FIG. 7: Designed with musicians in mind, Tascam’s new DR-1 features a chromatic tuner, a metronome, variable playback speed and pitch, a -inch mic input, and the ability to overdub tracks.

TASCAM DR-1

Shipping just in time for inclusion in this article, the DR-1 ($299) takes advantage of Tascam's many years of designing recorders that specifically target musicians. The DR-1 feels solid, contains a user-installable rechargeable battery, and has an amber backlit display as big as the Sony's (see Fig. 7). Although Tascam's recorder is one of the largest in this roundup, it's easy to hold and operate in one hand. It records WAV files at 44.1 or 48 kHz and MP3 files at any standard bit rate. The DR-1 is loaded with thoughtful features, and it even has a chromatic tuner, a fine-tunable A 440 oscillator, and a built-in metronome.

One distinguishing feature is a pair of top-mounted condenser microphones that rotate from pointing upward to pointing toward the recorder's front, making it easy to record yourself or mic a source in front of you with the DR-1 in your shirt pocket. For most recording, though, you'll probably want to leave it lying on its back; it doesn't have a threaded hole for mounting on a stand, and its bottom panel isn't quite flat enough to stand it upright. (The optional $75 AK-DR1 accessory kit includes a mic clip, tripod, and windscreen.) The reason is the unbalanced TS mono mic input mounted on the bottom, making the DR-1 one of only two units in this roundup that accommodate a ¼-inch plug.

On the top panel are two minijacks: one that accommodates a stereo mic input and supplies plug-in power, and another for a line input. The solitary output, another minijack on the right side panel, accommodates headphones and line levels. On the left side, a difficult-to-open door slides open to reveal the SD card (a 1 GB card is included) and USB ports. The DR-1's AC adapter (the $29 PS-P520) is an optional accessory, but you can power the recorder and charge the included lithium-ion battery by connecting its USB port to your computer.

The DR-1's front panel has a relatively large LCD and enough space for ten buttons and a data wheel. Two buttons on the side let you adjust output level, but you get an actual knob for adjusting input level. While recording, you can always see your settings, levels, and timing data at a glance. You maneuver your way though the onscreen text and graphics using a combination of the front panel's Menu, Stop/Home, Play/Pause, Rewind, and Fast Forward buttons and data wheel and the side panel's Setting button. The wheel is also handy for scrolling through audio files and entering values. Dedicated buttons let you enable looping and set start and end points, access functions such as Variable Speed Audition (VSA), and apply effects such as reverb and autopan to the input signal.

The DR-1 borrows technology from the MP-VT1, a vocal and instrument trainer designed to help you learn songs by changing their playback speed and pitch. Like the MP-VT1, the DR-1 can change playback tempo with or without affecting pitch, and pitch without affecting tempo. You can adjust playback speed from -50 to +16 percent and adjust pitch as much as six semitones up or down with 1-cent accuracy. The Part Cancel function reduces the gain of a selected portion of your recording based on where it's panned, allowing you to minimize a vocal part or an instrumental solo from a prerecorded song so you can record your own part.

Another standout function that's unique in this roundup is Overdub. You can record additional audio to an existing stereo track; even if the original file is an MP3, the overdub creates a WAV file containing both parts. A pair of Mix Balance buttons on the side lets you adjust the mix of the old and new recordings. You can overdub as many times as you'd like, creating a new WAV file with each pass.