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Hi, I am new to recording. I have bought a Sony d50 to record voices and ambient sounds as well as to hook it up to a parabola for distant pinpoint sound recording to for a stills photographic project.

Any advice on using the inboard mics and any other useful stuff to help me to shorten the learning curve will be gratefully received.

Thank, Alex

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If you can, don't turn the gain up above the number 4. Once you get above that it starts to get a little noisy. Fine to turn up if in louder environment but not good for recording quiet sounds.

Also, make sure you are actually recording!! Pressing REC only 'primes' the record, you have to press 'pause' to actually record. Seems simple, but I've missed out on a number of recordings when i've pressed the record button twice and thought I was recording. Sounds silly but it's very easy to do!

Get a mini windjammer for the mics, this is ESSENTIAL! I use the Rycote one for the D50 and it's excellent.

Other than that, just enjoy it, it's an incredible device.

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Thanks! Regarding your advice on the gain, is this in conjunction with a parabola or in all recording scenarios? – Earlsmead Feb 13 2012 at 16:24
I've never used it with a parabola, i've just used it on it's own a lot and from experience in recording ambiences I find that 4 is the best for level/noise floor balance. I'm only talking about the internal mics gain! – SC Audio Feb 13 2012 at 17:48
That's great advice. I've got the Sony wind jammer. At the risk of abusing your good nature could you point me towards some advice on what to do with the sound in 'post'. I'm looking for a basic workflow not unlike what I'd run on images from a photographic shoot in Lightroom - if you see what I mean! – Earlsmead Feb 13 2012 at 20:09
@sc audio why do you say that you can't turn the d50 above gain 4? I agree that the noise is disturbing - is this the case with all d50's? And if so how do you deal with it? Thanks, Earlsmead – Earlsmead Feb 14 2012 at 9:20
@Earlsmead I'm not saying you can't turn it up above gain 4, I'm just saying that for recording quiet sounds it's the level I have found that gives me the best balance. Also, depending on what you will do to the sound afterwards dictates the noise floor that is acceptable. I try not to process the sounds in my library at all, just cuts and minor edits are done. This means they can be processed if and when they are needed and it's the RAW sound that is used. I use Wavelab and Protools for editing the sounds. – SC Audio Feb 15 2012 at 11:34
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