Olympus Sonority Serial Number Mac
Marybelle Bailey
Thanks for the comprehensive user's comparison. I have the LS-10, and I find it very, very useful. I used minidisc and Hi-MD recorders in the past and the ease of use is great.
There is one issue with the Olympus that hasn't been addressed with the LS-11, however, and I'd like to know if the Sony has this as well:
If the Olympus runs out of power when recording a file, the entire file is lost. All of my MD recorders would conclude the file before switching off. Does the Sony conclude and save the file if the power runs out during recording?
First off, excellent comparison.
There one major problems with both the LS-10 and LS-11 you didn't mention regarding the microphone input. The bass roll off that is present with the LS-10/11 internal mics is also "built in" to the microphone preamp of the Olympus units. Thus even if you plug in a mic that is flat down to 10Hz you will still get 6db per octave roll off which is almost 30db down at 20hz. There is no way to bypass this without using an external preamp.
This makes the the Olympus useless for any critical recording application even with external mics.
If you are looking for full frequency reproduction the Sony PCM-M10 is the only choice.
One additional PRO that the Sony has is that its inputs (mic and line) are very resistant to overloading. The M10 will take a 4db (2V peak) full professional line signal without clipping. The Olympus will only accepts consumer -10dbV (0.447V peak). This makes the Sony very easy to use with professional studio equipment.
violinbf: In fact I did mention quite specifically that the mic input on the LS-10 "rolls off the bass at about 6dB per octave". This does not make it "useless" however, since many sources do not have usable content below that frequency. But I agree it does severely limit the applications to which you would want to put this recorder.
Thankfully Olympus are reading and taking notes, so this will be fixed in their next model. :-)
A very useful review and comparison. For some reason Olympus made the LS-10 to have very low Line-in sensitivity compared to other handheld digital recorders, which is a minor problem for anyone using an external preamp.
Despite Aivsoft's figures, I have found the noise floor on the LS-10 to be noticeably higher than with the Edirol R09-HR, which despite its poorer build quality, is a nicer-sounding recorder imo.
It is not true about the battery dying aspect of the LS10. I routinely leave mine running all night somewhere and enjoy the dawn choruses that recorded, once I add fresh batteries.
Great review! Unfortunately my 3rd LS10 is going back for a dead internal mic channel.
Thanks Stan for emphasising that point. I did mention the "cross-memory" recording feature on the Sony. It's handy if you need many hours of uninterrupted recording, though that's likely to be a minority concern.
Thank you for such great reviews.SO informative. I am still on the fence about Olympus LS-10 or 11 or Sony M10 or Sony PCM-D50. I will use for recording a band I am in with alot of percussion, bird sounds in nature for a children's project I am doing as well as other musical recordings which I may want to ownload to my i-tunes. I am willing to pay for a superior product. I may be doing all this in the dark and wonder which of these have a light up display and which is best compatible with a MAC. ?
OS Compatibility: These are "USB 2.0 Mass Storage Class Devices" and hence are recognised by Mac OS and other operating systems. The only limitation would be that the bundled software is for Windows only, but this is not necessary to use the recorders. You can check the manufacturers' sites for more specific info, though often they might say they support a more limited subset of operating system versions than they in fact do.
Suitability for different sources: Both recorders are quite capable for recording a wide variety of sound sources. They have a high sensitivity setting for quiet sounds and low sensitivity for a band or other loud sounds. Sound quality is (in all except extreme situations) not limited by the recorder but rather by your microphone selection.
LCD screens: Both units have decent screens, much better than on older recorders I have used. The M10 allows you to set the back-light to be always off or on, plus timed settings of 10 and 60 seconds. The LS-10/11 also has settings for 5 and 30 seconds. While the M10 screen is reflective it is still readable in light. Mind you, my eyesight is a bit bonkers so I am not the best judge of this.
Thanks so much for sharing this very informative review! I really appreciated finding such resources when I'm trying to make my choice.
I am an ornithologist working in a tropical rainforest, and currently I'm looking for a good recorder to try to record the bird calls as I do my bird census. I probably should be able to get an idea from what you have written, but still I'd like to hear your comments on these two models regarding this specific application - if the focus is to be able to identify the different bird calls (hence the bird species that gives the calls) from the recordings, which model would you give more preference to?
Thanks very much again. :)
It would be difficult for me to recommend a unit for a specific application I have not tried. It would seem to me that the microphone you use would have more impact than the recorder itself. Do you plan on using some sort of parabolic dish so you can more accurately pinpoint calls?
Thanks Robin for your response! As of now, I'm not planning on using such an external device (mostly due to portability issues) - but I'm not against this idea if it is necessary/highly recommended. Given this, could you give me some comments? Thanks so much!
You are limited with the built-in mics. By their very nature, both will capture best the sounds immediately around the recorder. Though the Olympus is more directional, most would recommend you get external microphone(s) to suit your purpose. If you want to be able to hone in on sounds you hear, pointing a microphone at the target, then you could do well with the Sennheiser ME66 supercardioid, which requires the K6 power module. This can run off a battery, so you have nothing else to carry.
But even for this moderately priced mic you will be paying significantly more than the recorder.
A good resource for you would be the Nature Recordists Yahoo group.
Thanks Robin for your comments and great help! That has been quite helpful. I'm heading for the forest soon, and for this time, I guess I'll try using just the recorder and see how things go - and will explore the external mics more later. Thanks so much!
And following on Blue Robbin's and your discussion, I already have the K6/ME 66 and wonder which of the 2 recorders, the Sony M 10 or the Olympus LS 11 would best interface with it in the field to record bird songs.
Hi Robin,
Thank you for your review. I still cannot decide between the M10 and the LS-11. I'm an aspiring opera singer and I'd be using the machine to record my practice sessions. I'm a mezzo-soprano with an extended voice (E flat bellow middle C to E flat 2 octaves above middle C = 3 octaves). I need to get recordings as close to reality as possible and not something that is flattering....
I'm a bit confused... I know most people think that the Sony PCM-D50 is an excellent machine and that its little brother the M10 comes close to it. But when I compare the M10, D50 and LS-11 on the Wingfield website, using the cello recording, the sound coming out of the Ls-11 seems closer to that of the D50 than the sound of the M10 does. Here is the link: -recorder-sound-samples.html
I really like the sound recorded with the M10 (that's the one of the three I prefer actually), but as it seems very different from that of the D50, I'm wondering if it's not a distortion of reality (it seems to lack brightness in the middle range).
What do you think?
Thank you very much.
I have addressed some of these concerns in a new article. When I listened to the recordings I preferred the LS-11 to the M10, but I am sure that is the microphone. The M10 sounded "boxier" to me, less forceful. But as I discuss in the article, it is difficult to make conclusions from those recordings.
I think most DJ mixers operate at -10dBV so you could plug the Olympus straight in. However, if you take the output of a professional (studio) mixer that operates at +4dBV you might overload the inputs unless you turn the output on the console (assuming the outs you are using have an attenuator) way down.
AMAZING GOOD review Robin, thanks!.. I plan to use one of these recorders with an external shotgun Sennheiser K6 ME67 to record birds... I was just wondering about the MANUAL REC LEVEL of the Sony unit: does this wheel works as well with the external mic as it does with the built-in mics?... I guess you will use the whell based on the meter shown in the screen WHILE recording, right?..
I am more for the Sony one but would love to hear from you before deciding!..
THANKS!
Diego (diegocolom...@gmail.com)
Hi Robin,
Which recorder is easier to use?
I had a Zoom H2 that was a bit complicated, but I was able to figure it out.
I lost it and replaced it with an H4 which I got rid of because I couldn't figure it out.
I hear some reviews saying thee Sony is easy to sue and others saying it isn't.
Thanks
Has anybody found or cobbled-up an external battery pack for LS-10? For example, how about a pair of D-cells and wires to dummy AAs...as is done sometimes for Vivitar flashguns....? Would require a small hole in the battery lid for the wires.
Other, slicker solutions? I do run out of battery frequently.
I find the Olympus slightly easier to use since the menu is organised and the buttons more intuitive. But that said they both are quite simple devices once you have your settings the way you want them. Likely they are simpler than multi-channel (>2) recorders or those that overdub etc.
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