Sony PCM-M10

[bonestar]

Anybody tried the Sony PCM-M10 yet? My Zoom H2 crapped out on me after a year, so I'm looking for a new microrecorder for capturing songwriting ideas. I need something reliable and small enough to fit in a guitar case pocket. I've done a fair bit of online research, and was pretty much ready to go with the Olympus LS-10 when the new Sony caught my eye. They're the same price, so I'm pretty curious. I can't find much by way of reviews.

EDIT...whoops, apparantly it doesn't ship until September 28th. Still, anyone have the opportunity to try a test model or anything like that?

[bonestar]

Now has anybody tried it?

Yah, I know, only a couple of days released.

But damnit, I'm curious!

[Remoteness]

I would wait a few more minutes for a reply since it's brand spanking new.

[bonestar]

Anyone try it yet?

[Ozpeter]

Work from the most recent posts backwards at Sony PCM-M10 audio recorder - NEW

[poptart]

I was wondering if someone could help me with some information that I could not find in the manual. I currently use a tascam dr-08 but I'm running in to a problem.... perhaps the PCM-M10 would solve the problem...

Just like the PCM-M10 the tascam has its built-in folders of 2GB. If the recording goes beyond that, a new folder is created automatically. The problem is that there's an audio gap between one folder to the other once the track is merged.

The PCM-M10 has 10 folders in its built-in memory of 4GB. My question is:

1.How big is each folder?

2. If my recording goes beyond a folder, would I get a gapless audio when I merge the tracks or there's no solution?

I'm recording about 3 hours in 24/48K

any help please? :-)

[Geissler]

I own one of these.

1. As big as what you put in it. They're all empty by default.
2. Yeah, the tracks get split but you can rejoin them later in software.
3. microSD cards are cheap! Grab a 16GB card and you'll be good for waay more than 3 hours of 24/48

[jnorman]

taperssection.com is a good place to post questions about the m10 - there are many folks over there who use and really like that unit.

[VanDaven]

In case somebody else is looking for professional hands-on info on the PCM-M10, I have recently added one of these marvelous units to my small location recording setup. This setup is normally being used on low-budget ENG-style recordings and consists of a trusty Sound Devices 302 and the Sony unit, which replaced one of those Zooms that I recently started to loathe. Note that I also own a SD 788T that I consider overkill in some working situations.
Other than the Zoom, the PCM-M10 accepts line levels, unity gain is "5" on the dial. As the M10s output can be switched to true line out, it is also possible to achieve true TAPE RTN in case you want to monitor directly from the field mixer.
My normal setup for ENG dialog is mixer channel 01 - Boom, mxch02 - RF lav A, mxch03 - RF lav B.
The Sony's built-in AB stereo microphone system, featuring two omnis with a remarkably low noise floor, sounds very decent. It's as transparent as it can get with a Time Difference stereo system, and very forgiving in regards to the position of the device in the room. As the spacing of the microphones is way morennarrow than the usual 17 - 20 cm ("head width") minimum, ambience recordings might sound a bit too mono in comparison to coincidence stereo techniques used by other mini-recorders. Nonetheless, this can be rectified to a certain degree by applying a bit of extra delay on one of the channels or by using a dedicated plugin like the Waves S1 in post. I can't underline the ambience recording capabilities of the M10 enough, ever since I have been using it for on-location film atmo recordings, my dedicated stereo mic collection stay at home.

From all of the units I ever had my hands (and ears) on, the PCM-M10 gives the highest quality recordings in it's price range, the (analog) gain dial on the side of the unit is a big difference to those digital gain knobs (+/-) found on other recorders in terms of operability, Self-noise and A-D/D-A conversion are up to pro standards and the built quality is very convincing. Battery life is magnificent and the incuded remote control (wired) allows the recorder to stay in the field mixer bag most of the times. Last but not least, having the freedom to switch from dialog to (usable) ambience / atmo recording within a couple of seconds (unplug from field mixer - screw it on a tripod and off we go) saves a lot of time and weight and is the strongest point of this unit.

[king2070lplaya]

My friend, whose behavior I in no way condone, bootlegged a Mahler 5 performance by a somewhat well-known northeastern Ohio symphony a few weeks ago.

He sat in the second row with the PCM-m10 on his knee. The results Far far far exceeded even my expectations.

Not sure if it's legit to post a clip on here or not....?