TECHNOLOGY REVIEW


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Sony PCM-D100  PORTABLE AUDIO RECORDER


Jerry Ibbotson sees how the PCM-D100 – part of Sony’s new High-Resolution Audio initiative – stacks up in a competitive market.


I HAVE to admit to having something of a soft spot for the Sony brand. It goes back to my childhood: when I was a boy my dad worked overseas for a year. On his few trips home he would always bring my brother and I something special and on one occasion we each received Sony pocket radios. To this day I can picture what it looked like and, above all else, remember the iconic name emblazoned across the top. There’s a purpose behind all


this misty eyed nonsense. Sony has something that most start- ups would kill for: a rock-solid brand with the kind of heritage that makes worn-out 40- somethings like myself go all soft and gooey. So when they launch an all-new portable recorder like the D100 we sit up and take notice, particularly when recording on the go is something we’re very much into.


GETTING ACQUAINTED The D100 is part of Sony’s High-Resolution Audio initiative – a range of products that the company says is “designed to help music lovers conveniently access and enjoy the digital music they love in the best playback quality”. I can understand what this


means when it comes to Walkmans (yes, the name is back) but a portable recorder? Looking at the machine’s spec sheet gives a pretty big clue. As well as MP3 and wav formats, it also records in DSD, the codec used in Super Audio CDs. DSD is only 1 bit but with an astonishingly high sample sate of 2.8MHz. It’s still fairly uncommon and in fact the only other machine I’ve used with DSD was the Korg MR1 a few years back. In wav mode, the D100 can


record at sample rates of up to 192kHz (24-bit), which is


40 February 2014


pretty phenomenal. It comes with 32GB of onboard memory and a combined SD card/memory stick slot, so storage is easily expandable. It has a body of aluminium and plastic, two built-in 15mm mic capsules with adjustable positions (X/Y or wide), and variable range. The overall look of the


machine is restrained and professional. On one side of the body is a 3mm (minijack) input for an external mic, a line-in that doubles as an optical connection, the record level dial, and buttons for the


“The material was


crisp and clear and there was no


detectable preamp hiss; the scourge of any portable recorder.”


Jerry Ibbotsen


LCD backlight, plus the on/off for the whole unit (not your usual press-and-hold offering but a real-life sliding switch). Around the other side is the


input for a wired remote, the headphone level dial and connector and a line out (also on 3mm jack). Oh, and the whole thing runs on four AA cells or mains power. On the top (or the front,


depending on how you look at it) is the greyscale LCD display and navigation and control buttons. These look similar to the original Minidisc Walkman machines I used as a BBC radio reporter in the 90s and that’s no bad thing. My review machine came with no instruction manual but I was able to find my way around and get the recorder set up in my chosen format with no problem.


There are plenty of options


to play with, such as recording across both on-board memory and to an SD card or stick. There’s also a limiter, an option for Peak Hold on the meter, and even the option to record in two formats at once.


IN USE For my testing I went for something well within the unit’s capabilities: 48kHz 24- bit wav recording. There wasn’t much point is going for DSD mode as I don’t currently having something capable of playing back the files. Also, using a known quantity would let me compare the Sony with other machines in my embarrassingly large stable of small recorders. Press Rec once and the


machine arms; hit Pause and off it runs. The material (mainly dialogue and interview audio) was crisp and clear and there was no detectable preamp hiss; the scourge of any portable recorder. Voices were well defined and sibilance free. Interestingly, I also played


back some material that was already on the SD card that came with the test machine (note to other reviewers: best wipe your card before sending back to the PR bods). This was dialogue, in a range of languages beyond my comprehension, and also ambient fx of railway stations and other public places. It was all clean and clear and mostly recorded at 48k. A couple of the recordings were seriously over-moded but that would have to be (the other) user (s’) error as it’s a doddle to set level using the dial (which has a very neat flap covering the left/right channel splitter).


SUMMARY The Sony carries with it the reputation and heritage of one


of the legends of the audio electronic world. It’s an impressive machine that is well made and oozes quality. But… and you may have


sensed this was coming… there’s an issue. It’s a machine that costs close to £800 and yet it lacks something that plenty of others have: XLR inputs. Sitting next to my laptop right now is my own portable recorder. It produces high- quality audio, is capable of six channel recordings and has two XLRs. I’ve been using it today for a BBC Radio 4 interview, hooked up to a shotgun mic. It is a great machine but costs less than half as much as the Sony.


INFORMATION Feature set


• Records at sample rates up to 192kHz (24-bit) and DSD • 32GB built-in flash memory • Powered via four AA batteries • Two adjustable 15mm unidirectional mics


www.pro.sony.eu/proaudio www.audiomedia.com That puts the Sony in an


odd position. It’s a great machine but would I really want to spend that much cash on something without a pro- audio connection? It has an awful lot going for it but when you factor in price, any potential buyer needs to look around the whole marketplace before making their final choice.


THE REVIEWER JERRY IBBOTSON has worked in pro audio for more than 20 years, first as a BBC radio journalist and then as a sound designer in the games industry. He’s now a freelance audio producer and writer.


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