A Quick-and-Dirty Comparison of (Some) Handheld Digital Audio Recorders Matt Blaze 17 July 2009

From a post on the naturesounds list, another good comparison of handheld field recorders, Nagra ARES-MII, Sony PCM-D1, Sony PCM-D50, Olympus LS-10, Zoom H4n, from Matt Blaze. Also included is a baselined recording using a Sennheiser MKH-800 Mid-Side pair into a Nagra VI. These recorders could be considered to be towards the top end of the handheld, built-in mic range.

Well worth the time listening and comparing as they are being used in typical environments for this kid of gear, urban. Probably easier to compare if they were mixed together in a single track.

More links

Information and specs PCM D 50, Thomman

Information and specs PCM D 50, Sony

Review PCM D 50, O’Reilly

Review PCM D 1, Harmony Central

Information and spec PCM D1, Sony

Information and specs LS 10, Olympus

Information and specs LS 10, Thomann

I won’t dwell on the technical differences as these are quite easy to google but briefly, both are single point stereo microphones with capsules in X-Y configuration.

Power

Both mics are battery powered (NT4 9V or phantom, AT822 1.5V) so work well with things like minidisc and a zoom H2. This means that the NT4 works well with almost everything but the AT822 is better with plug-in power type devices.

Weight

The NT4 weighs about double (I would guess but have not weighed them on scales) that of the AT822. This could important for when you end up standing like a statue to capture a sound you weren’t expecting.

Costs

The NT4 also costs about double what an AT822 does. My at822 was £120 via ebay and the NT4 was £240 via competitive high street store.

Sounds

The AT822 I would say is better at soundscapes (wide sounds with lots of variety/range), in that it picks up and handles off axis sound better than the NT4, but then the NT4 is more accurate and directional. The NT4 also picks up sound from behind the MIC array – something that I don’t think the AT822 does. One important difference for the casual user is the AT822 is better at handling windnoise and comes with a lowcut/filter. The better performance in a slight breeze is I think, down to the fact that the mic capsules are have a protection screen build around them and that the mic capsules themselves (I think) are smaller. The NT4 will distort in a very slight breeze, whereas the AT822 handles well with the low pass filter (has proved itself at the top of a hill in moderate winds).