Sony PCM D100 Review - A Portable High-Resolution Audio Recorder
Experiences and adventures of a classical guitarist
The Sony PCM D100 with the “wide” arrangement.
The weather is great now, and I want to spend more time outside, to explore different locations. While I have a lot of recording equipment for different situations and purposes; as a one-person band, location recording can be tricky. Lugging microphones, cameras, cables, stands, etc. make sure that everything runs smoothly, by the time we start to play, we are already somewhat exhausted.
A portable recorder makes things infinitely less complicated, but most devices that I have tried over the years come with many shortcomings. A lot of people are raving about how great the Sony PCM D100 is, but there seem to exist very few acoustic music recordings on the internet made with it (there are many recordings of trains, cars, cats and other ambiences, but I cannot draw conclusions from such examples).
So, the rarity of any real music examples and the hefty price kept me away from it, but now I decided to get on my hands and find out if the D100 is as good as many people claim.
Recording on a 700-meter altitude monument in Greece
A view from the path to Zalongo, Preveza.
First I went up to the Monument of Zalongo, 700 meters altitude mount, near my beautiful hometown Preveza, Greece.
It was a windy day, and unfortunately, the provided windjammer from Sony was not enough to protect the ultra-sensitive mics. Therefore I had to be very creative with positioning the recorder; which resulted in an unorthodox, from the sound, perspective; but less exposed to the air.
Still, most of the takes got ruined by the clipping of the microphones, but I was lucky and just before the sunset, the wind recede just enough and I was able to have two full takes without any clipping.
(Note to self: next time I will have an idea to climb up a mountain to make a recording, I should bring more means of wind protection.)
The Humid Environment of a Small Port
Twilight at Mitikas, Preveza.
A few days later I decided to visit the beautiful port of Mitikas at Preveza, equipped with and my guitar, the D100 and my camera; I recorded "Αυτή η νύχτα μένει".
If you listen with headphones, you will hear the sound of the gentle waves as they wobble against the rocks behind me. And similarly, this soft breeze was enough to cause problems with Sony's sensitive capsules, even with the windjammer on. Therefore, I had to position the recorder lower than I would have prefered.
In both of these cases, bringing with me any other setup would be hugely unpractical. I wouldn't want to carry a laptop, interface, preamps, and expensive Neumann or Schoeps microphones on a mountain. Neither I would allow them to suffer in the humid environment of the port - considering also the additional setup time that is required for that.
In this manner, the Sony PCM D100 delivers on what is promising; high-resolution, clear and detailed recordings, in a portable short-scaled unit.
A few more notes
In closing, I want to add a couple of points that are usually not talked about much.
Practical nylon case and remote control.
Firstly, I don't really how Sony does that, but since July when I bought the recorder I used it extensively. I did several tests at my home studio, recorded a couple of my concerts and a few long rehearsals, a piano recital for a friend, some scratch ideas for new compositions and the two videos on the mountain and the port. And all that with the first pack of AA batteries that Sony provides with the recorder. It is unbelievable and not at all similar to my experience with Zoom and Tascam recorders that I've used in the past.
Secondly, the accessories provided with the D100 are extremely practical. Namely, the remote control is a god-send for a one-man band as I don't have to stand up all the time to press "rec". The carrying bag is very useful, as it protects the recorder from scratches and dirt - just do not drop it! My only complaint is with the windjammer which could have been more effective.
A new project; Urban Miniatures
A new project I took on is to compose 12 miniature pieces inspired by the city; twelve Urban Miniatures. These would be recorded monthly during the following year in 12 unique locations in Berlin. I plan to use my trusty Sony PCM D100 for all of them. Here is the first.
