ProAudio Review - August 2008 - (Page 15)

OLYMPUS Continued From Page 13 | IN USE The PMD620 breezed by many of the common pitfalls found in other flash recorders I have used, it doesn't escape taking a few stumbles along the way. Starting with its strengths, the PMD620's sound quality was very good, especially when using quality external condenser mics or a mixed signal into its line inputs. The built-in mics were quite decent in general, and particularly good and clear in close interview use. As is to be expected with two omni mics situated close together, using the PMD for general eventroom applications resulted in a fairly unfocused and narrow stereo-image recording. With good source volumes and high-output mics, internal self-noise on recordings was negligible, and handling noise when using the internal mics was impressively low. A handy included accessory doubles as a belt clip and adapter for the secure mounting of the PMD620 on a camera tripod (though I found this to be a somewhat odd choice over an even more useful mic stand mount). The PMD620's menu system is unified, consistent and flat – probably the most intuitively navigated of the breed. Because its recording settings are internally stored in three recallable presets, trips into the 23-item preset menu are significantly reduced. Presets can also be stored and recalled from SD cards – perfect for assuring consistent settings across multiple machines and users. Recording is quickly accomplished with a single push of the large Rec button. The Rec APPLICATIONS Broadcast and location recording KEY FEATURES SD/HCSD card flash recorder; records stereo or mono 44.1/48kHz, 16/24-bit WAV files, 32 to 192kbps MP3 files; 1/8" stereo mic in & line in/out jacks; powered by 2 x AA batteries or included AC adapter; USB 2.0 file transfer; built-in omni electret mics. button can also be used to manually break an ongoing recording and start a new file on the fly (aka, Track Increment); an option in the preset menu can be selected to instead automatically increment the track at set intervals ranging from one minute to 24 hours. Note that using either of the above options, however, results in a very small gap in recording continuity, the size of which is principally determined by the speed of the SD card. In practice, using a 66x SD card resulted in a virtually unnoticeable gap of just a few samples, and was corrected easily using the pencil tool in Sound Forge. Recording time is limited only by the capacity of the SD card, up to a maximum of two terabytes. Though it might be a few years before that max card size is available, it's nice to know card- and file-size limitations will not be an issue with the PMD. In playback, the Rec button can be used to mark in and out points for the creation of a new file from the defined section. Unlike several of the competing models, the PMD620 is capable of recording mono files, which reduces post-processing time for quick-turnaround reporting use. Likewise, I also appreciate he use of commonly available batteries (2 x AA, in this case) as opposed to the field-problematic rechargeable proprietary ones. Detractions include the absence of discrete L/R inputs and digital I/O, and its inability to act as a streaming USB interface for recording directly to a computer. By far, the strangest two design implementations on the PMD620 are that the headphone jack is placed squarely between the two built-in mics (creating an awkward handling situation and potential contact noise problems), and that the Record Time and Record Level displays are located on separate pages of a revolving four-page recording display cycle – not fun for those of us that must constantly reference both. SUMMARY Despite succumbing to some design pitfalls, the PMD620 is a welcome addition to the palm-sized, under-$500 digital recorder scene. Its quick one-touch recording, user presets, mono file ability, fast heads/tails editing and USB 2.0 interface make it ideal for journalists and news-bureau use. Marantz' considerable portable recorder history is displayed in the unit's field-friendly tactile approach, its sturdy build, its ease of navigation, and in its recording quality. PAR Studio Editor Stephen Murphy is a freelance broadcast, post-production and studio engineer. His website is www.smurphco.com okay, considering there were only four of them; in other words, they didn’t sound strikingly “cheap.” I never kept them, though, as the natural environments always seemed to be fine as-is (and if I really wanted ‘verb, I’d deal with that upon dumping the files to my DAW. For beginning audio hobbyists/music fans without the simplest DAW — like Apple GarageBand, for instance — LS-10 Reverb parameters could be helpful. Euphony was comprised of three interesting equalization settings; per recorded performance was either “that’s okay,” or, most often, “uh, no.” Again, I never transferred any files to my DAW using this setting. Is the LS-10 easy to use? Absolutely. I barely cracked the manual until I used it for about two months; other than the Fn function, I figured out everything else just by clicking through the menus. At a gig, I handed it to a audience member (that I knew, of course) and gave them a two-minute rundown of how to record, adjust record level, mic sensitivity, and so on. Finally, the LS-10’s stereo speakers were useful to nearly everyone that crossed paths with it — “Got it? Yep!” was quick and easy. My only problem with the LS-10 was that Rec Level was very hard to see, thus hard to adjust, in a typical, dimly lit club. In full daylight, the numbers on the Rec Level dial aren’t easy to see. On future models, I would suggest a larger number font and, most helpful, a LED backlight for the Rec Level dial; one for the Volume dial wouldn’t hurt, either. | SUMMARY The Olympus LS-10 would not be best classified as a “location recorder,” a moniker generally reserved for recorders with pro-level microphone input options, which LS-10 does not offer (it has only 1/8-inch input jacks). However, this 24bit/96kHz capable stereo recorder is an ideal portable recorder. It is solidly built, incredibly easy to use and carry, sounds better than good, and operates on two AA batteries. I would enthusiastically recommend it to anyone who needs a truly pocket-sized, 96k-capable PCM recorder who would be happy with nice sounding, fixed microphones. For this kind of product, such needs are probably that of the majority of potential buyers. Strother Bullins is Contributing Editor for Pro Audio Review. PRICE $499 CONTACT D & M Professional | ¤ 630-741-0330 · www.d-mpro.com www.proaudioreview.com August 2008 | ProAudio Review | 15 http://www.d-mpro.com http://www.smurphco.com http://www.proaudioreview.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of ProAudio Review - August 2008

ProAudio Review - August 2008 Contents Publisher's Page Broadcast News and New Products Yamaha Pocketrak 2G Olympus LS-10 Linear PCM Recorder Bench Test Marantz PMD620 Flash Recorder TASCAM DR-1 Portable Digital Recorder Tips From The Pros: Location/Production Audio Prosumer Portables in a Pro World Studio News and New Products Apogee Ensemble Solid State Logic Duende Mini FireWire DSP Live News and New Products Avril Lavigne's The Best Damn Thing World Tour Behringer Eurolive B412DSP and B415DSP Active Loudspeakers Gear for FOH Engineers — A PAR Contributors’ Wish List Contracting News and New Products Buyer's Guide Single Slice

ProAudio Review - August 2008

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