More tests of the Sony PCM-A10 at extremely low gain levels. I recorded a few seconds of test tone followed by 20+ seconds of a quiet room at gain levels 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5, and then level 25 as a high gain level for comparison (highest gain should have the best noise performance).  The recordings were then normalised in Reaper, resulting in gain being added to each clip of: +40.8dB, +39.1dB, +37.7dB, +35.7dB, +34.6dB and finally +2.87dB (gain level 25).   

Hopefully what you can hear in this is that levels 1 and 2 have a high level of noise, but then it suddenly drops off at level 3, and levels 3, 4, 5 and 25 all have nearly identical levels of audible noise.

My conclusion is that when recording a dynamic source such as a thunderstorm, I can safely go all the way down to gain level 3 to minimise the chance of clipping, while not adding significant noise when I later raise the levels in post.

Sony PCM - A10 Gain Test (Extremely Low Levels)

Stereo soundscape recordings. Sometime nature, sometimes people, sometimes machinery. Sometimes quiet things like a single branch creaking in the wind on Dartmoor, sometimes odd moments in the city. Mostly local, but sometimes travelling. 

Sony PCM - A10 Gain Test (Extremely Low Levels)

Douglas Langley