by "Kelly Pierce" <kellyjosef@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
Apr 20, 2008 at 06:11 PM
"Julian" <JulianPAdamsNo@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message
news:bfs9049gl5hiriq090ddb70iqldj45fket@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> On Mon, 14 Apr 2008 16:42:47 -0700, "Al Gillis" <al.1020@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
> wrote:
>
>>Recently I've found myself interested in the Sampson Zoom H2 and H4
models
>>and the Olympus LS-10 recorders.
>
> The Zooms have a weird noise floor with nasty 20 dB noise spikes
> generated by the power supply:
>
> http://www.sonicstudios.com/zoomh4rv.htm
>
> The more expensive Sony models make a big deal of specifying they use
> a separate power supply PCB to avoid this kind of nonsense. Samson
> doesn't even publish a noise spec on the unit because the real numbers
> are no doubt horrible no matter how they are weighted or fudged.
> Edirol has gotten good re****ts on this regard. I have no knowledge of
> the Olympus LS-10.
>
> Having said that, most people post positive comments about the Zooms
> but I have also seen posts by people who claim they can hear this
> noise and it bothers them. My guess is if you are recording
> relatively loud sound sources they sound fine, but if you're going for
> recording quiet acoustic sound sources you may notice the grung.
>
> If I had to buy one today I'd probably bite the bullet and spend the
> money for the Sony. I don't know the street price but they have the
> pro unit for around $2,000 and the consumer unit for around $500 list
> price. I'd rather pay more now and cry once than pay less now and cry
> every time I use the thing.
>
> Julian
>
I can hear the noise floor on the Zoom recorders doing basic voice
recording
in a quiet room. The loud noise floor for me prevented me from seriously
considering most digital recorders. The Sony PCM D50 has changed all of
that. It is really quiet with the noise floor similar but not matching
that
of my Sony MZ-b100 minidisc recorder. The minidisc recorder requires a
real-time analog transfer so additional noise is added moving the
recording
to the computer and adjusting the sound levels of the transferred
recording
during production.
The D50 I've seen sell for less than $450. Sure it's pricey, but this is
the
first digital recorder that can record for more than six hours at CD
quality
in .wav format capturing quality audio equal to that of minidiscs for
under
$500. I'm confident that we will find additional innovation and
affordability in the next 12 to 24 months. With the D50, the only benefit
minidisc has in my view is affordability. This is not surprising
considering minidisc is a trailing edge technology that is declining in
use.
Being affordable is a tenuous claim when considering the significant
improvements in digital recorders and the price drops in the past two
years.
Kelly
