3 new recorders announced this week, Olympus LS-10, Zoom Q3 and the Sony PCM M-10.
Olympus LS-11
Visually similar to the currently popular LS-10 but with more in-built memory and longer claimed battery life.
More information from Olympus here.
Zoom Q3
This new Zoom shares build with the H4 series but adds a camera.
Zoom Q3, in a colour that looks like something Dr Manhattan would come up with
Not sure if that is a good idea or not.
Zoom says, “The Q3 uses the same microphone capsules as our industry-leading H4n Handy Recorder and is perfect for recording anything where great audio and video are a must. From live musical performances and rehearsals, interviews, conferences to video podcasts, journalism, education, recitals, weddings or sports, the Q3′s pristine audio quality takes your videos to another level. Designed with everything you need to make your movies right out of the box, the Q3 includes HandyShare software for editing, and a 2GB SD card for up to 1 hour of video recording time. And the Q3 will also accept up to 32GB SDHC cards for a staggering 16 hours of moviemaking”
Details from Zoom here.
Sony PCM M-10
This looks like the best of the bunch to me. A smaller model than the D-50 and much cheaper than the D-1. This model adds the ability to record to MP3 on the device, apparantly not available on the D-1 or D-50 (never used one).
An article on Sound on Sound here.
Nothing on the Sony pro site with information on this.
Sound on Sound say, “It’s capable of recording 24-bit audio at sample rates up to 96kHz, and it can also record straight to MP3, a feature not found on Sony’s more expensive portable recorders. (The D1 and D50 come with computer software that lets you convert the recorded PCM audio into a variety of formats, including MP3.)
Other features of the M10 include on-board DSP processors that can alter the pitch and speed of audio during playback, so you can slow down a recorded guitar solo to learn how to play it, for example, and there’s a limiter that can be engaged to prevent the input signal from distorting.
Clever recording functions include a five-second buffer, and there’s the option to install a removable flash memory card, which can be used for computer-less backup and for extending the total recording time of the device (a cross-memory feature spreads a long recording over both the on-board memory and the flash card). Computer connection is via USB and it’s powered by conventional AA batteries.”
via nature recordist.
