Sony PCM-D1 Digital Recorder

Sony PCM1D RecorderOK. To anyone out there who was thinking of kicking in for the Snowball mic that was featured yesterday, I’ve changed my mind. Now I want this.
( I want it, I want it …. hmm wasn’t that from the old Who tune ,Magic Bus? Some how I can’t see it being used as a theme for CSI: North Alaska…. I digress)

Look at the picture. Can you believe this thing, it records to 4Gb internal flash memory, or memory sticks,
It has built in stereo condenser mics.
It records 24/96 WAV files {insert Kermit waving arms hysterically and screaming Yaaaay here}.
It has analog VU meters.
It runs off only four AA batteries.
It’s made by Sony.
It’s made out of titanium.
It looks so damn retro, James Bond meets League of Gentleman.
THIS is one of the coolest audio toys I’ve seen for ages. (Yeah yeah until the next one).
It would look so cool next to my laptop, really it would. Trust Me.

And at US$2,000, I’m probably not going to see one of these in the Santa Sack come Christmas.
{insert heavy sigh here}. Still there’s always the M-Audio Microtrack at a quarter of the price and tenth of the style.

Here is the hype on the PCM-D1 Digital Field Recorder from Harmony Central

Sony’s new PCM-D1 portable recorder was created for high-quality mobile recording in an array of applications including live sound, house of worship and theatrical performance, as well as by journalists in the field.

The new recorder is lightweight, free of all drive mechanisms, equipped with extraordinarily sensitive, built-in condenser microphones, and designed with circuits that process stereo sound with virtually no extraneous noise.

“The PCM-D1’s level of quality is matched only by its extraordinary ‘cool’ factor,” said Paul Foschino, senior manager for professional audio in Sony Electronics’ Broadcast and Production Systems Division. “The body of this portable recorder is fashioned from pure 1mm thick pressed titanium that’s several times harder than alumite-treated aluminum. “

I still want it.

UPDATE: Sony finally put some numbers up. You can find all the silly stuff at http://bssc.sel.sony.com/BroadcastandBusiness/markets/10013/pcmd1.shtml

Published

4 comments

  1. Damn, I’m looking up all (yes all) google results over this one.. Do I want it ? More than anything rightnow. Even canceled pc upgrades/xbox360 to save up, I dont care if it costs $2000

  2. What if you don’t want to use the built in condenser mics? Cheap Sony mics are trash.

  3. Hi Sparx,

    Somehow I don’t think these are the same mics that you get in a Sony Cassette recorder.

    Have a look at the numbers (
    http://bssc.sel.sony.com/BroadcastandBusiness/markets/10013/pcmd1.shtml ). There is a stereo mic input mini jack and a line level mini jack. If you want to use something else, go for it.

    For me the joy would be walking in to a gig, setting this up next to the desk and pressing Record. No cables, no power supplies, no jerking around. It would be brilliant (Christmas is only 6 months away if anyone is interested)

  4. could’ve used one of these at the celtic festival on the weekend – heard some beautiful guitar (chords) from one of a trio that were playing,but they didn’t have any recordings of themselves for the public – maybe THEY should buy one too !
    r.e. mikes – agree with you thatch – (fortunately) theyr’e not going to defeat the whole purpose of a great machine by compromising the quality of the most important part of it – it’s ears !!

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.