The portable audio recorder market is heating up. Sony’s latest entry into the category is the PCM-D50 Linear PCM Recorder.

The PCM-D50 is a 96 kHz/24-bit recorder fitted with two-position (X-Y or Wide) stereo microphones, 4 GB of internal flash memory and a Memory Stick Pro-HG Duo slot (for additional storage). The body of the D50 is constructed of lightweight aluminum. The recorder uses conventional AA alkaline batteries.

Highlights:

• Portable and rugged 96 kHz and 24 bit recorder
• LCD digital peak bar graph metering – along with dedicated nominal and peak level LED’s
• Offers solid-state storage – free of drive mechanisms
• Built-in high quality electret condenser stereo microphones
• Dual A/D digital limiter and low cut filter
• MP3 playback and digital pitch control

The recorder includes a USB high-speed port for uploading/downloading its native .WAV format files to/from Windows PC or Macintosh computers. Other PCM-D50 features include digital pitch control, dual digital limiter (inherited from the PCM-D1), low-cut filter, Super Bit Mapping, A-B repeat and MP3 playback capability. To complement the D50 recorder, new optional accessories include a remote commander, tripod stand, and microphone windscreen. Additionally, the D50 offers compadible mounting and use with the recently introduced XLR-1 wide-bandwidth balanced XLR microphone adapter.

The PCM-D50 lists for about $600 – which puts it at the high end of the prosumer portable media recorder market. The specifications look good for the price, but some may not like Sony’s decision to use Memory Stick for storage, instead of more common and inexpensive memory formats.

via Brad Linder