Sony announces PCM-D50 handheld flash recorder

Sony has announced a new handheld flash recorder in the PCM-D50, a 4GB jobbie that also includes a Sony memory stick slot for extra storage, internal stereo condenser mics, and a list price of $599. It has a pretty powerful preamp for unpowered external mics -- which it'll also recognize automatically as soon as you plug them in -- usable internal mics, and a chunky metallic feel. Sounds like just what the doctor ordered, but in case you're not convinced, check out some sample recordings at Brad Linder's blog.

[Sneakz @ Oct 7th 2007 7:35AM]

Wow , the biggest hyperlink I have ever seen on Engadget!

[JJV @ Oct 7th 2007 8:04AM]

ye,,, they are hyperlink-happy

[Mossman @ Oct 7th 2007 9:23AM]

has anyone noticed there isn't anything related to that tag? when you click the hyper link it says there are no posts!

[Atanas Boev @ Oct 7th 2007 9:31AM]

http://wideurl.com/aitch-tee-tee-pea-colon-double-slash-
wubbleyou-ee-en-gee-aye-dee-gee-ee-tee-dot-see-oh-em-slash-
two-double-zero-seven-slash-one-zero-slash-zero-seven-slash-
ess-oh-en-why-minus-aye-double-en-oh-you-en-see-ee-ess-minus-
pea-see-em-minus-dee-five-zero-minus-aitch-aye-en-dee-aitch-
ee-ell-dee-minus-eff-ell-aye-ess-aitch-minus-are-ee-see-oh-
are-dee-ee-are-slash
:)

[Jon @ Oct 7th 2007 8:08AM]

And a hyperlink back to a tag that is already visible on the bottom of the article... Why not link to something useful rather than bombarding us with google keyword optimisation?

[BurnedBeyondRecognition @ Oct 7th 2007 11:20AM]

That's standard Engadget practice. Never, ever link to another site in the text section; editors are *required* to link to external sites only via the images or the "read" link. Obviously those links are out of context, hence worthless.

[Michael Geary @ Oct 7th 2007 5:09PM]

That's why I never, ever click on links in the text of an Engadget article. What a waste!

[Crayola @ Oct 7th 2007 8:08AM]

... 4GB jobbie ... Sounds like a wee one, wait till the 32GB drops, man! That would be a big splash!

[rudebo @ Oct 7th 2007 8:10AM]

i love the way this thing looks :P
and it sounds awesome :P a sony product worth buying :)

[strider_mt2k @ Oct 7th 2007 8:21AM]

This is the kind of thing Sony has the chops for.
Good design with that techie kinda mystery to it that makes you wonder what you could do with it.

Pretty cool, although I liked the older model's analog meters.

[tekdroid @ Oct 7th 2007 8:37AM]

i will most likely pony up the cash for this if it's half of what I think it will be.

[peternj @ Oct 7th 2007 9:07AM]

Well I own the Sony PCM-D1 which is a beauty. Great retro design, nice weight and records wild noise, music and speech better than it should. This new one is similar and is cheaper, missing one or two in the field tweaks but is also great by the sound of it.
Sony can be simply amazing and I agree this is where they shine.

[Karim @ Oct 7th 2007 12:07PM]

Design is not working for me. Is something salvaged from deorbited Salyut capsule circa 1972, da?

[Dull @ Oct 7th 2007 9:26AM]

Almost look like a tricorder.

[zorg @ Oct 7th 2007 9:45AM]

Yaaay! A Sony product vastly more expensive than the competing Zoom H2

http://www.oreillynet.com/digitalmedia/blog/2007/04/zoom_h2_digital_recorder_detai.html

and Marantz PMD620

http://www.flickr.com/photos/joshb/1455247119/

and with the bonus of proprietary storage for extra wallet-raping thoroughness!!! Whoopee!

[tekdroid @ Oct 7th 2007 10:05AM]

sony charge an arm and a leg for their highspeed cards, yes.

But it all comes down to quality of preamps, built-in mics, battery options and runtime, and general real-world in-use tests are done before any conclusion can be made on how much better value the competition may or may not be.

The Marantz has yet to be released, just like this one. The H2 is not everyone's cup of tea, for some of the reasons mentioned above.

[zorg @ Oct 7th 2007 10:39AM]

tekdroid is perfectly right---i don't yet know price/perf comparison of these recorders ... i was mainly trying to name the competitors and suggest the possibility that, as has often happened in the past, sony will charge a large premium for a small benefit ... but i don't know whether history will repeat here

[JeffDM @ Oct 7th 2007 3:42PM]

The story that Engadget linked to explained why Zoom is undesirable, but they used the H4 as a comparison.

[Dennis @ Oct 7th 2007 4:59PM]

The reason we're seeing a bunch of these flash recorders is that flash recording has no moving parts and is therefore inherently quiet, minus the noise introduced by the hardware elements and the control scheme. It's all about the quality of the mics, the pre-amps, the converters, and ease of operation.

Zoom is a budget-level brand (I own an H4, and it's fine, for what it is). Sony clearly has made an attempt to get those components right, with separate circuit boards to reduce interference. Stand alone pre-amps can cost in the thousands of dollars, so of course the pre-amps on the H4 are noisy.

4GB is enough to record about 13 hours at lowest quality (22/16) and 2 hours at highest (96/24). If someone needs more capacity than that, they are in a similar class of people who need 32GB CF cards for their digital SLR cameras.

[cpostudios @ Oct 7th 2007 11:01AM]

I don't understand why they don't put XLR inputs on these audio recorders.

[lolec @ Oct 7th 2007 12:53PM]

looks like the Bioshock flash recorder :S!

[dUN @ Oct 7th 2007 1:03PM]

Looking at the device, it gives me a feel that SONY is readying for WWIII !
How on earth are they goona sell a consumer electronic like this?

[oGMo @ Oct 7th 2007 1:53PM]

Because this isn't consumer electronics, it's proaudio. :p

[JeffDM @ Oct 7th 2007 3:36PM]

Yeah, I don't understand what about this thing that could ever give the impression of it being consumer electronics. If you just want a recorder for voice notes, then you can probably buy a Sansa or some other consumer device.

[LT73 @ Oct 7th 2007 2:45PM]

I wonder when we will see an all-in-one digital recorder with a quality pre-amp, compressor, and mic?

cpostudios - XLR connectors are great and in fact an industry standard. That said they are also a fairly large connector. I'm not sure it would be feasible without adding too much heft to the device.

[TIMMAH! @ Oct 8th 2007 2:28AM]

Records in ATRAC only?

[tekdroid @ Oct 8th 2007 12:58PM]

* Recording File Format

Linear PCM Stereo .WAV

[PenaltyKillah @ Oct 9th 2007 11:40PM]

The latest MP3 players from Sony look all flashy and colourful, yet the best in recorders look so old-school.

Is that supposed to be a professional look then?