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Shoot Review: Sony PCM-D1

Jun 1, 2006 12:00 PM, Reviewer: Tom Patrick McAuliffe

Digital field recorder is a feature-packed portable audio tool.

Good audio is one of those things in life where the whole can be greater than the sum of its parts. The explosion of surround sound programming has made capturing great audio more important than ever. Take one part silent operation, two parts cutting-edge audio features, three parts audio sound effects (or Foley, as it's called in motion picture work), a good dose of 5.1 surround in the postproduction mix, blend in some sweat and inspiration, and you have the recipe for a great final audio track for your next project.

The new Sony PCM-D1 digital audio field recorder offers features and functions to help make that happen. Recording in stunningly clear 96kHz 24-bit audio, the device has no drive mechanisms, which cause noise, so the built-in condenser microphones can capture truly pure sound. At about the size of a reporter's notebook, it fits in the palm of your hand, weighs only 18oz., and can operate for about four hours on its four AA nickel metal hydride rechargeable batteries. It stores its WAV audio files on either its internal 4GB hard drive or onto the new high-speed Sony MemoryStick Pro storage cards that are about the size of a stick of gum.

When it comes to hooking up to a PC or Mac, the PCM-D1 provides a USB 2.0 interface. And when it comes to strength, the recorder is made from 1mm-thick pure titanium that's several times harder than anything else on the market today. And, according to Sony, “Super Bit Mapping significantly increases the dynamic range acoustically by reducing noise that's particularly easy to hear within the human audible band.” Because Sony understands that users often need to record to CD, particular attention has been paid to the 24/20-bit to 16-bit converters. The PCM-D1 comes with a case, a bundled audio editing application for Windows, and a battery charger/AC converter. And all this quality does not come cheap — this recently shipped product costs around $2,000. But is it worth it? Let's see.

Ready to record

I used the PCM-D1 for a variety of audio tasks. I recorded ambient sound and dialogue that would be added in editing to enhance the soundtrack of a video, and I also recorded a live jazz band. In both instances the unit performed flawlessly. The recorder's unique hip-pocket design includes two low-noise, high-sensitivity electret condenser microphones in an X-Y configuration at the front. They have a frequency response of nearly 30kHz and are incredibly sensitive.

Each mic has its own channel with an ultra-low-noise and -distortion AD797 chip from Analog Devices that provides a low signal-to-noise ratio, which goes along with the whole run-silent approach. In fact, Sony has done something else that's pretty cool: When converting down from 24- or 20-bit data, the information that would normally be thrown away is retained and the audible noise is shifted way up the frequency range where we can't hear it. Pretty slick. I could also use my more expensive mics with the PCM-D1 as it has a secondary mic input, and I have live monitoring via a headphone jack.

The PCM-D1 produced a stereo audio file of background sound on the set that captured things an on-camera or even an off-camera mic never could: wind in the trees and leaves rustling on the ground, creaking floorboards, and the deep sighs of actors. In one instance, our boom operator would have been in the shot, we simply set the PCM-D1 on a small table behind a flower vase and it recorded the dialogue very effectively. The built-in mics seemed to pick up and highlight the conversations and reduce the background clatter.

During recording, I can monitor my volume via twin VU meters or with the peak indicators on the small LCD info screen. And for operation in those dark venues, all controls can be backlit, making them easier to read. The large control knobs have a smooth feel, making it easy to adjust the parameters.

The PCM-D1 also offers several presets for EQ. The built-in digital limiter lowers audio by 20dB, which protects against clipping, and a 200Hz high-pass filter can help silence noise from things like air conditioners and electric hum. Another nice feature is that once you have all your settings dialed in, the D1 stores them in internal memory until you change them.

Easy edit

Once I got back to the edit suite, I hooked up the D1 via USB 2.0 to my computer, which recognized it as just another media source. Then I took the standard WAV audio files into Final Cut Express on the Mac for the video stuff and Digidesign's Pro Tools audio software on the PC for the music-related project. Both applications immediately recognized the recorded WAV files.

The PCM-D1 recorder produces only uncompressed files in seven different frequencies. For those going directly to CD, 44.1kHz/16-bit is available, while those who want the highest-quality audio will choose the 96kHz/24-bit setting. I recorded the video stuff at 16-bit, but we kept the music at 24-bit during the recording and post process. Then, we converted it to 16-bit for a CD. This allowed me to keep maximum quality until converting to AIFF for output.

Also bundled with the PCM-D1 is an application called DigionSound5 Express for Windows. It's a multitrack sound editing application that has a basic toolset for dealing with audio files. It didn't seem to like my Windows XP computer though and was prone to an occasional crash.

My main gripe is the cost of the PCM-D1. It is true in general that you get what you pay for — and there's no doubt it wins hands down in the coolness contest with its cutting-edge features — but at $2,000, the recorder is really at the very high end of the price scale. With iPods everywhere and other hard drive-based audio recorders in growing numbers, it's no surprise that we're starting to see $500-ish digital field recording solutions.

While we're dreaming, let's add the ability to encode AIFF files for direct burning to CD; and for the many solo CD/DVD burners with it, perhaps a IEEE 1394/FireWire/iLink interface as well as the USB 2.0. While I'm glad the PCM-D1 offers digital in and out, its jack is the consumer-type 3.5mm stereo mini connectors — XLR or even RCA jacks would be preferred. It would also be nice to be able to use the cheaper Sony MemorySticks.

All in all, the PCM-D1 is a feature-packed audio tool that has a variety of applications from audio for video to podcasting. In fact, I fell in love with this product. Sony has created what is arguably the best portable digital audio recorder to date. Coolness aside, the PCM-D1 has an ideal form factor and is super lightweight, producing outstanding audio quality with near-silent operation. Any digital content producer or audio-for-video engineer who's interested in the very highest quality portable audio device — and can afford it — can confidently end their search with the PCM-D1.

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bottomline

Company: Sony
Park Ridge, N.J.; (800) 686-7669
www.sony.com/professional

Product: PCM-D1 24-bit digital audio field recorder

Assets: Ideal form factor, lightweight, outstanding audio quality, near silent operation, outstanding mics.

Caveats: High cost, WAV files instead of AIFF files for CD, records only to MemoryStick Pro media, no IEEE 1394 I/O.

Demographic: Audio or audio for video professionals who want the highest-quality portable audio device.

PRICE: $1,995

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Contributing writer and reviewer Tom Patrick McAuliffe is a journalist, entertainer, and video creator who also writes for Broadcast Engineering magazine.

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To comment on this article, email the Digital Content Producer staff at dcpfeedback@prismb2b.com.

© 2008 Penton Media, Inc.