New Recorder Suggestions

[WSGR]

Hey all I'm looking for a new recorder in the $100-$200 range. The main thing I'm looking for is a recorder with a low noise floor/self noise. The last Olympus recorder I had was pretty good but still had a lot of hissing present which made it difficult to record the more quiet sounds unless I took big risk by getting the recorder closer. After looking online it seems like Sony has some of the better options. Been looking at the Sony PCM-m10, Zoom H1n, Zoom H5, and the Olympus LS 100, as well as some others. Thought I'd reach out and see if anyone here had any good suggestions and experience with higher end recorders.

[YourNaughtyNeighbour]

I was thinking about asking a similar question: Unlike WSGR I'm looking for a cheap throw-away record with long battery life. I have park with some benches nearby, and I guess it might be a good spot to record during the night. If possible, I'd like to plant one or multiple recorders there for a few days.
The other recorder suggestion thread here is quite old, and most of the links are dead. Would it be possible to start a new suggestion thread here, with more recent recorders in different price-ranges?

[Paul7979]

which one did you get guys in the end ? thanks

[YourNaughtyNeighbour]

I ordered two cheap recorders from Ali****, but they didn't ship yet. I'll keep you updated.

[Paul7979]

Thanks..

[Million1]

I'm considering to buy the new OM System LS-P5. It's the successor to Olympus LS-P4 which I'm currently using. On the downside, LS-P5 is slightly bigger and requires two batteries. Price is around $250.

On the lower end of your price range, I'm considering Sony ICD-UX570 as suggested by edtraveller in another thread. It has to be one of the smallest LPCM recorders? Made of cheap plastic, but it's praised in reviews. Does anyone here own one?

This is just my own wish list. I don't have any experience with these models. If I end up buying one of them I can provide some audio samples.

[bossceo]

Zoom H1n is by far the best recorder I would suggest it to you

[Million1]

I bought the Sony ICD-UX570 mentioned above and I've had it for over a month now, so I'll share some observations.

I can only really compare it with my Olympus LS-P4 recorder since I don't own any other expensive ones. To get a fair comparison I put them side by side while recording. The Sony has CD quality, while Olympus has HD quality, but I don't think that matters for sex recordings. Both recorders are configured to use high mic sensitivity and no noise filters. I had to amplify the recordings of the Sony (approx 10 dB) to get the same level of loudness.

When I record in a silent room, I can tell that the Sony picks up less white noise, so that's good. However, in hotel environments, to my ears the sound is "thinner" in lack of a better word. Olympus can give the sense of "being in the room" and it just sounds very natural. I don't know why but I haven't yet got that impression from the Sony. I don't know if you agree, but if you want you can compare my latest hotel sounds #47 and #48 with my previous recordings. The Olympus has a zoom function, marketed as "unleashes the power of proximity in noisy environments or when recording from a distant position". I do use maximum zoom, so maybe that has to do with it.

The Sony doesn't have a zoom configuration, but it has something called "focused" mode that should prevent it from picking up sounds from all directions. I also picked the "Lecture" scene setting, since I thought it should be suitable for picking up voices from some distance. Unfortunately, for some reason I don't understand, enabling "focused" turns the recordings into mono instead of stereo. I guess it could be argued if that really matters. After all, sex sounds usually only come from one direction so there isn't much of a stereo effect to them. But with a mono recording, if you weren't there, you can only guess which sounds originated from the couple's room and which sounds came from next door. Also, if there's a wind blowing into just one of the mics, the recording will be ruined. In stereo mode, the other channel may be unaffected.

Hmm, what else can I tell you. It very quickly turns on, within a second. Handling the recorder doesn't cause too much noise (as opposed to the Olympus which I can barely touch without causing very loud unpleasant noises). One minor issue is that the headphone input is located between the microphones which means that it isn't possible to listen while recording through a wall. Oh, and the power switch is near the top of the recorder, so when I attach a wind screen it's very easy to pull the switch down and turn the recorder off by mistake. It happened twice already.

All things considered, I think Sony ux570 is a good recorder and well worth the money, but I don't think it will be my first choice in hotels in the future. Well, unless there's some combination of settings that I haven't yet thought of. If you have any advice, please let me know.

[Paul7979]

I bought the Sony ICD-UX570 mentioned above and I've had it for over a month now, so I'll share some observations.

I can only really compare it with my Olympus LS-P4 recorder since I don't own any other expensive ones. To get a fair comparison I put them side by side while recording. The Sony has CD quality, while Olympus has HD quality, but I don't think that matters for sex recordings. Both recorders are configured to use high mic sensitivity and no noise filters. I had to amplify the recordings of the Sony (approx 10 dB) to get the same level of loudness.

When I record in a silent room, I can tell that the Sony picks up less white noise, so that's good. However, in hotel environments, to my ears the sound is "thinner" in lack of a better word. Olympus can give the sense of "being in the room" and it just sounds very natural. I don't know why but I haven't yet got that impression from the Sony. I don't know if you agree, but if you want you can compare my latest hotel sounds #47 and #48 with my previous recordings. The Olympus has a zoom function, marketed as "unleashes the power of proximity in noisy environments or when recording from a distant position". I do use maximum zoom, so maybe that has to do with it.

The Sony doesn't have a zoom configuration, but it has something called "focused" mode that should prevent it from picking up sounds from all directions. I also picked the "Lecture" scene setting, since I thought it should be suitable for picking up voices from some distance. Unfortunately, for some reason I don't understand, enabling "focused" turns the recordings into mono instead of stereo. I guess it could be argued if that really matters. After all, sex sounds usually only come from one direction so there isn't much of a stereo effect to them. But with a mono recording, if you weren't there, you can only guess which sounds originated from the couple's room and which sounds came from next door. Also, if there's a wind blowing into just one of the mics, the recording will be ruined. In stereo mode, the other channel may be unaffected.

Hmm, what else can I tell you. It very quickly turns on, within a second. Handling the recorder doesn't cause too much noise (as opposed to the Olympus which I can barely touch without causing very loud unpleasant noises). One minor issue is that the headphone input is located between the microphones which means that it isn't possible to listen while recording through a wall. Oh, and the power switch is near the top of the recorder, so when I attach a wind screen it's very easy to pull the switch down and turn the recorder off by mistake. It happened twice already.

All things considered, I think Sony ux570 is a good recorder and well worth the money, but I don't think it will be my first choice in hotels in the future. Well, unless there's some combination of settings that I haven't yet thought of. If you have any advice, please let me know.

Thanks for your detailed review ! I havent much experience and I have owned only zoom H1n which I returned because it didn't work anymore after a week or two ..

I bought ux570 for like 85 euro like 91 bucks ...and I like it but I understand Olympus ls p4 is better but more expensive..

Overall I am satisfied with ux570 and I also like it because it doesn't need batteries but it can be recharged.. strangely enough it seems one of the mics is less sensitive.. not sure if any settings have to be changed..also I have to try the lecture settings and the focused mode ...Id like to hear edtraveller too about this..