Why the DR100, why not a PM10?

[gorillaonabike]

Due to the issues of trying to find a (free) sound recordist, I thought I would buy the sound kit myself. I know someone who knows a little about sound and has worked on a shoot with me where he wielded a boom, logged the sound, dealt with some issues and has a little knowledge. This is better than nothing and I have a boom and great pair of headphones kicking around.

I was about to buy an NTG-2 and a DR100 but in my research, I came across a Sony M10 and was surprised when a couple of individuals purporting to know about sound praised the recording qualities of the Sony above the DR100. This, incidentally is why I ruled out the H4N. With an NTG-2 I can use batteries rather than Phantom and if the little Sony genuinely has less 'white noise' than the DR, is simpler to use, has a longer battery life and cheaper then it appears to be better for my needs.

Sure, the DR has better functionality but I am shooting for as little hiss as possible.

So in this instance, I am going with the Sony rather than the Tascam. Unless, of course, I have missed something (and I know next to nothing about sound) and there is a compelling reason I should be going with a Tascam. The 'net is a big place and there are lots of spurious opinions out there so before doing something I regret, I thought I'd check on here to hear any opinions.

 

[brianluce]

Due to the issues of trying to find a (free) sound recordist, I thought I would buy the sound kit myself. I know someone who knows a little about sound and has worked on a shoot with me where he wielded a boom, logged the sound, dealt with some issues and has a little knowledge. This is better than nothing and I have a boom and great pair of headphones kicking around.

I was about to buy an NTG-2 and a DR100 but in my research, I came across a Sony M10 and was surprised when a couple of individuals purporting to know about sound praised the recording qualities of the Sony above the DR100. This, incidentally is why I ruled out the H4N. With an NTG-2 I can use batteries rather than Phantom and if the little Sony genuinely has less 'white noise' than the DR, is simpler to use, has a longer battery life and cheaper then it appears to be better for my needs.

Sure, the DR has better functionality but I am shooting for as little hiss as possible.

So in this instance, I am going with the Sony rather than the Tascam. Unless, of course, I have missed something (and I know next to nothing about sound) and there is a compelling reason I should be going with a Tascam. The 'net is a big place and there are lots of spurious opinions out there so before doing something I regret, I thought I'd check on here to hear any opinions.

I don't know about the sony, but it sounds good. One thing about the Tascam though, it's got a great battery system. It has a built in lithium that recharges off USB and it also takes 2 AA batteries, when the lithium dies, the AA's kick in.
Nice.

 

[Alcove Audio]

Because there are a very limited number of mics that supply their own phantom power, and even fewer that are used for production sound. If you don't use the NTG-2 or the AT897 you will now have to get a separate phantom power supply.

The other thing is that they are comparing the on-board mic/pre-amp combination when talking about S/N ratio. My peers and I hate noise, so we look for units that are as sonically clean as possible. Units like the M10 are great to keep in the car to capture the quick sound effect, and we always - if we have one - turn it on when using our big rigs; our mantra is you can never have too much coverage when collecting sound effects.

Another consideration is that a mini-pin connection is nowhere near as stable as an locking XLR connection. A little tug and the mini-pin may not record anything, and, unless someone is monitoring it, you won't notice.

It's no surprise that the mini-pin connection of the Sony is superior to the Tascam as far as sound quality, but neither is a professional unit and both are far noisier than anything I use. I seriously doubt that, if you heard an A/B comparison, you could tell the difference between recordings done with both units using the on-board mics or a mic using the mini-pin input.

One more thing - when the NTG-2 or AT897 or other mic is using its internal battery to supply phantom power it has a weaker output signal.

Please keep in mind that all of these units are bottom-of-the-budget-barrel audio choices. None of them would be chosen as a front line piece by a professional; or, if it is, it is as a recorder only in conjunction with a decent mixer that will have superior pre-amps and more solid phantom power capabilities.

 

[gorillaonabike]

Because there are a very limited number of mics that supply their own phantom power, and even fewer that are used for production sound. If you don't use the NTG-2 or the AT897 you will now have to get a separate phantom power supply.

The other thing is that they are comparing the on-board mic/pre-amp combination when talking about S/N ratio. My peers and I hate noise, so we look for units that are as sonically clean as possible. Units like the M10 are great to keep in the car to capture the quick sound effect, and we always - if we have one - turn it on when using our big rigs; our mantra is you can never have too much coverage when collecting sound effects.

Another consideration is that a mini-pin connection is nowhere near as stable as an locking XLR connection. A little tug and the mini-pin may not record anything, and, unless someone is monitoring it, you won't notice.

It's no surprise that the mini-pin connection of the Sony is superior to the Tascam as far as sound quality, but neither is a professional unit and both are far noisier than anything I use. I seriously doubt that, if you heard an A/B comparison, you could tell the difference between recordings done with both units using the on-board mics or a mic using the mini-pin input.

One more thing - when the NTG-2 or AT897 or other mic is using its internal battery to supply phantom power it has a weaker output signal.

Please keep in mind that all of these units are bottom-of-the-budget-barrel audio choices. None of them would be chosen as a front line piece by a professional; or, if it is, it is as a recorder only in conjunction with a decent mixer that will have superior pre-amps and more solid phantom power capabilities.

I see it as a sort of 'starter kit.' It will record nice enough sound if I set everything up well enough. It's a bit like my camera / lighting kit - it's all starter stuff until I get good or get people on board who are good with sound. Once I'm good then I may well upgrade. Or if I'm not good by December 2012 then I'll put it all up for sale.

 

[Alcove Audio]

If you have already made up your mind, why bother to ask?

 

[gorillaonabike]

If you have already made up your mind, why bother to ask?

If you read my post, you will see that it asks the question PM10 or Tascam? Initially I thought I was going with the PM10 but you've convinced me to go with the Tascam because of the choice of mics.

Therefore, I hadn't made up my mind.

 

[Chrisk]

IMO the phantom power on the Tascam might as not be there. It's not very good and prone to whistling. At first I thought it was my unit but I have heard this from other users too.
One of the reasons I ditched it, couldn't trust it.

 

[brianluce]

IMO the phantom power on the Tascam might as not be there. It's not very good and prone to whistling. At first I thought it was my unit but I have heard this from other users too.
One of the reasons I ditched it, couldn't trust it.

That's a new one. I've used the hell out of mine, mainly with an Oktava hypercardiod and never had a single issue. ymmv.

 

[Chrisk]

maybe mine is more prone than others, maybe certain mic combinations though I have had problems with quite a few mics. Do you mind me asking what AA batteries you use and do you ever use them long enough to get down to 2 or 1 bars??