Sony PCM-D50 | built-in mics, Panasonic binaurals, Sound Professionals, Audio Technica AT822 (15 seconds each):Įdirol R-09 | built-in mics, Panasonic binaurals, Sound Professionals, Audio Technica AT822 (15 seconds each):Įdirol R-09 with FEL preamp | built-in mics, Panasonic binaurals, Sound Professionals, Audio Technica AT822 (15 seconds each). The high pitched noise is a refrigerator on the other side of the room. In this case it was a fire for the oven that heats our house. I just placed the mics about 1 meter away from the sound source. Again this is not done in any scientific manner. The sound clips below are divided into 15 second segments and are repeated twice, once to compare recorders and once to compare microphones. These binaurals cost me about 7 euros in arts and sound as good as anything you can find up to 150 euros. In short, they are one of the best deals in audio recording, with their open sound and flat response. There is a lot of info on the internet regarding these capsules. Homemade binaural microphones with Panasonic WM-61A capsules.The left mic is louder than the right one. The problem you will notice is that they are not very well matched. I’ve had these mics for over a year and have enjoyed using them. Sound Professionals SP-BMC-12 mini-binaural mics with Audio-Technica capsules (discontinued?).Audio-Technica AT822 – well made single point X/Y stereo mic, good for general use and capturing close sound sources.These are good for general use but you will definitely need to have a few different kinds of mics around for recording specific types of sounds or sound environments.
I started with the mics built into the recording units themselves. For external microphones I’ve used a selection of cheap to mid-level to compare (and also because it’s what I have around). This of course makes it slightly larger and more heavy if you’re concerned about portability. The Sony PCM-D50 is still new for me, but immediately I can say it feels much more sturdy than the Edirol and has better quality built-in microphones. I think the revised R-09HR model made by Edirol has improved some of these issues. For this reason I bought a FEL Battery Preamp, a great device for boosting any any signal to line level, including contact mics (to bypass the mic input). As for the preamp it just doesn’t ever seem to have enough power and is a bit too noisy. While nothing has broken so far, I’m constantly concerned about how long it will last. The device is pretty much made of plastic. The main drawbacks are durability and a weak preamp for mics. Its well worth it for the quality and flexibility it offers.
One of the main reasons I bought it was to be able to use rechargeable AA batteries so I wouldn’t have to worry about running low on power if I kept extra batteries handy. The Edirol unit I’ve had for almost 2 years and I can say its a handy little unit that works well for most occasions. The two digital recording devices used are an Edirol R-09 and a Sony PCM-D50.