They say that there are ten reasons to buy a new piece of recording gear and the first nine are lust. Once in a while a piece of gear comes along that proves that point. I am talking about a piece of gear that will turn your head until it's nearly clean off your neck - "Exorcist" style. The Sony PCM-D1 is that piece of gear. In just one week, I've grown to realize that if any piece of remote recording equipment is worth $1900, this is it.
I've been using field recorders since the 70s. And for years, the Sony cassette recorder was my mainstay. But times have changed and digital is the way to go now. Prior to owning the Sony, I tried several recorders and each had its limitations. My most recent recorder was the M-Audio Microtrack. For $400 it did a great job, but its proprietary battery system and a cheap plastic case left me wanting more. Additionally, in the field, I grew tired of carrying the charger, memory cards, the mic, the cables, etc., necessary to make that unit work.
So I began to research the notion of a sturdy, all-in-one unit. I didn't want to have to carry a mic or cable; just one box that did it all. The Sony quickly landed on my radar as not only the most feature rich product available, but also the coolest looking.
FEATURES
There are too many features to list in this short article but there are some that will be important to podcasters. First, this is one tough unit. It's made of titanium. While I lived in constant fear of dropping the M-Audio, I have no such worries about the Sony. It's built to last.
The Sony is lightweight (18.2) ounces and takes up about as much room as two packs of cigarettes placed end to end. I found the PCM-D1 easy to carry and all the knobs and buttons were ergonomically superior to anything else I've used.
I really like having internal four gigabytes of internal memory. That means I don't need to carry memory cards. But if I decide four gigs isn't enough, the PCM-D1 does work with Sony Memory Stick Pro.
Another nice feature is the availability to run the PCM-D1 off good old AA batteries. It ships with four 2500 NiMh rechargeable batteries and a charger. I average four plus hours of recording on a single charge.
And then there's those mics. The matched pair X-Y electret condenser cardioid mics are built right into the Sony and can swivel to accommodate your desired recording angle. They are attached to a set of quality (virtually noiseless) pre-amps and sound good considering they are small capsule mics.
OPERATION
The PCM-D1 is very easy to operate. The manual is a short read and largely unnecessary since the controls are intuitive. The old fashioned analog style VU meters (one of my favorite features of the PCM-D1) are easy to read, but for those who are more comfortable with digital read outs, the Sony's got them.
Most hand-held units suffer from handling noise but if you carefully hold the PCM-D1 by the bottom, there's no noise. And better yet, there's a tripod mount on the bottom of the unit that makes it easy to attach the recorder to any number of devices that would make it easy to hold or position for recording. I came up with my own system of steadying the Sony and avoiding handling noise. I found a Canadian company that makes a bean bag called The Pod. It comes with a male tripod thread. When attached to the PCM-D1, it makes a perfect hand hold for the recorder and also works well at steadying the unit if you want to place it on a table or other flat surface.
While recording, I've learned to love the Sony's selectable software limiter. Every time I make a recording, the Sony simultaneously records a second mirror track at -20 db. This mirror track is stored briefly as the recorder checks to make sure there's no clipping. If I accidentally let the transient peak overload to the point of distortion, the backup audio is normalized and instantly inserted in place of the clipped signal. In a noisy situation where it's hard to ride the gain, this feature alone makes the PCM-D1 worth the money three times over. It's one of those features that once you've had access to it, you'll never want to go without it.
The Sony records directly to .WAV files. You can record at any number of standard sampling rates. Then you attach the unit to your Mac or PC with a supplied USB cable and the Sony mounts to your desktop like any other disk drive. You can then easily drag files from the recorder to your computer for editing and distribution. If you're at all familiar with computers, you'll find this about as simple as it gets.
CONCLUSION
I've used the PCM-D1 indoors and out, in quiet and noisy environments and no matter what I throw at it, the unit responds like a champ.
Other than a two-gig file size limitation and an inability to seamlessly switch between the internal memory and proprietary Sony Memory Stick Pro, the PCM-D1 is a nearly perfect field recorder. I expect years of service from this unit and there is a side benefit. It's great to have something to work with that's so cool looking, your interview subjects actually want to be interviewed!
For more on podcasting, visit my site PodcastingTricks.com
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