Topic: FR2 / PMD 670 users...speak out!

[Nick's Picks]

Hey now folks...

i'm getting ready to plunk down for one of these two units.  I know all the specs and possible modifications that are offered by the Oades.  I've got Carls' W-MOD FR2 at my disposal to play with.

I"m really wanting to hear from the Martantz PMD670 users in here.  What do you think of it?
While i'd rather have 24bit capability....I dont think it justifiies the $1,000 difference in price tag once all is said and done between these two devices.  I think 24/96 is better, no doubt.  But i'm not unhappy listening to 16bit redbook standards either.

The Marantz goes for as little as $650.  I understand that Doug recomends an upgrade that lowers the distortion levels or something, making it perform better as a PA recording device.  Given its 16bit limitations, I'm thinking I can get away with 1-2gb CF cards or just a single 5gb PCMCIA card as storage.  Bringing this up to around $800. 
It seems as though it runs for a long time on 8 AA cells, and i've got tons of 1800mAh NiMH doube As so I would be all set here.    Buying from the Oades w/whatever MOD doug has for it should still keep this in the under $900 ball park I would assume.  Anyone know better?  Anyone have one of these Oade mod PMDs ?

The FR2, modd'd would be in the $1600 range.  Plus another $250 for a pair of 5gb PCMCIA cards to allow 24bit recording...which I would do.  But for this kind of money, i"d honestly rather wait until the 722 becomes a retail reality.  Plus, I find it a little bulky.  And it would require me to carry lead around to power it.  Another big negative to me.  I would guess that it sounds superior after Doug gets his hands on those preamps, but honestly I love the sound of my mics so much that anything that offers little in the way of coloration gets my vote.

So i'm looking for opinions.  Especialy you Marantz users.  what do you think?  Ease of use?  Real life record times on its 8 AAs ?  Size, portability, rugged? 

inquiring minds want to know.

[BobW]

FR-2 good.
removeable HD good. No transfers, just swap it to DAW, via USB2.0 dock.
MOD good. (I like a T on the recording side, though I have a "W" headphone amp - a Pimeta PPA)

All IMHO, of course.

[Nick's Picks]

yea, the FR2 rocks.
Doug has offered an "O mod" for me, which is the cheapest mod of them all....some sort of overload modification.  These things brickwall stock?  Not sure what the intention of the overload mod is, but i'll have the ability to send it back for further tweaking if I buy through Doug.  So that is a good thing.  Its just more dough than I really want to spend.  Then throw in at least one 5gb PCMCIA drive ....ugh!

The Marantz has my interest more due to price and battery options.  Doug says its pale sounding comparred to the FR2 in 16bit mode.  Lots of crap circuits that the mic pre input routes through on its way to the A/D chip.  Running line in gives you a fairly direct path...and he thinks the A/D stage is pretty solid.  The mod he offers for this will make it sound the equivilant of a P1.  I need more than that though.....so thats a bummer.

[Daryan]

This past week I ran quite a bit Gefell 210->straight to the t-mod FR-2.  The sound is fantastic, and quite frankly I have never in all of my life heard a soundstage like the one I do when running mic into the fr-2.  It doesn't have the presence of the mini-mp which I enjoy, and for such reason I will keep the mini-mp as well, but the sound is just huge, detailed, slightly warm, pretty much everything I wanted and then some.  I can msn message you some tapes if tyou want to hear them.  If you have any specific questions, e-mail me at daryan.v.lenz.nv8n@statefarm.com, as I am rarely around these parts!

Daryan

[eric.B]

yea, the FR2 rocks.
Doug has offered an "O mod" for me, which is the cheapest mod of them all....some sort of overload modification.  These things brickwall stock?  Not sure what the intention of the overload mod is, but i'll have the ability to send it back for further tweaking if I buy through Doug.  So that is a good thing.  Its just more dough than I really want to spend.  Then throw in at least one 5gb PCMCIA drive ....ugh!

The Marantz has my interest more due to price and battery options.  Doug says its pale sounding comparred to the FR2 in 16bit mode.  Lots of crap circuits that the mic pre input routes through on its way to the A/D chip.  Running line in gives you a fairly direct path...and he thinks the A/D stage is pretty solid.  The mod he offers for this will make it sound the equivilant of a P1.  I need more than that though.....so thats a bummer.

I agree..  I have been running a P1's a/d stage for a while(v2>line in P1) and dont get me wrong.. it sounds "pretty good"..  but I wouldnt move up to something in the marantz price range and go solid state unless it was an improvement over the P1's a/d, which is a tad grainy, but acceptable..

[silentmark]

The Marantz has my interest more due to price and battery options.  Doug says its pale sounding comparred to the FR2 in 16bit mode.  Lots of crap circuits that the mic pre input routes through on its way to the A/D chip.  Running line in gives you a fairly direct path...and he thinks the A/D stage is pretty solid.  The mod he offers for this will make it sound the equivilant of a P1.  I need more than that though.....so thats a bummer.

Just run a pre & ad in front of it, unless you were shooting for less gear ... FWIW, I have been thinking of going the Marantz route for quite some time now, see no need to go 24 bit as I don't even own a dvd player, heh and 16 bit works for me, then again it would be even cheaper to go JB3 ... blah blah blah ...

[dnsacks]

Nick:

Nothing direct to add, but at your pricepoint why not run a modded ua5->jb3?  OR, get a pdm670 and use it un-modded behind a ua5 (or other pre/ad) solely as a digital storage device?  The BIG advantages I see with the pdm670 over the jb3 as a digital storage device are a) coax digital in and b) METERS (nice meters @ that) -- got to play with one that was patched out of my tmod ua5 at grisman -- the meters are a definite plus!

[Nick's Picks]

i went the way of the fr2.....

[Craig T]

i went the way of the fr2.....

mod?

[jpschust]

has anyone tried the fr-2 at 24/192?  is it reliable?

[Nick's Picks]

i went the way of the fr2.....

mod?

Just the O mod.  I wanted to hear it stock before contemplating the T mod.  The W mod probably wouldnt be my first choice w/my AKG c414s.  they are warm sounding on their own.

[Daryan]

The fr-2 records flawlessly at 24/192 on sd discs only!  And, not to mention that the only ones it will reliably do this on are the "industrial type" discs, which range in price from 400-1000 dollars per disc.  Likely the toshiba drives will begin to support these rates within the next year, but not until, and at this price, it just isn't really feasible at the moment for most of us.  Also, the fr-2 only supports 192 using the analog in only, not digital.  I hope this helps and if you have questions, I will try my best to answerr them.  I have a direct contact at fostex from Japan who answers all of my specifics!

Daryan

[jpschust]

growl.  the fact that it doesnt record 24/192 via an digi in bothers me.  oh well, guess it is time to wait for the 744. 

[Daryan]

Yeah, I don't really understand the innerworkings of the unit enough to explain why!  Jonny, I will shoot Doug an e-mail and try to find out for you, and more importantly, if there is a way around this.  With the t-mod, my feeling is once you got to use it, you may not care though, it really is that good!  Trust your ears...
Daryan

[jpschust]

i've got the exact sound i want right now.  i don't want any other mods, changes updates or upgrades at the moment, i just want a digi in 24/192 recording device.