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Author Topic: Marantz PMD-706 Six Channel Recorder?  (Read 108772 times)

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Offline datbrad

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Re: Marantz PMD-706 Six Channel Recorder?
« Reply #105 on: November 23, 2017, 01:56:50 PM »
Regarding the use of input capacitors, I'm not aware of any portable recorders where phantom power and DC offset are blocked in the mic pre without coupling capacitors. To my knowledge transformers are the only other way to do it, and you have to go to outboard preamps for that design simply due to their size. Maybe there have been some innovations in portable recorders I'm not up on, but I remember John Hardy put out a studio rack mount preamp 30 years ago touting the absence of coupling capacitors, but he used big fat Jensen transformers to do it. I don't stay on top of every new development in audio, so things may be different today but I'm all ears and would love to be brought up to speed if there are new options.
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Offline goodcooker

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Re: Marantz PMD-706 Six Channel Recorder?
« Reply #106 on: November 23, 2017, 02:47:44 PM »
I think that's the practical question.  Once you reach SD price territory, why not buy SD?

I'm seriously reconsidering my plan to buy an SD Mixpre6 in favor of this deck. The Mixpre6 doesn't seem very user friendly for a hobbyist IMO (overly complicated menus and polywave files) and the powering options leave something to be desired. I could use the large number of USB batteries I already have to power this thing and I like the form factor. The OLED screen on my PMD620 was the easiest to read in the dark screen I've ever used so I'm glad they kept that in this deck.

The Oade modded Marantz decks of the past were some of the best sounding recorders I've ever heard. Who knows? Maybe this thing sounds good straight out of the box. Looking forward to hearing a trial run.
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Offline jbell

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Re: Marantz PMD-706 Six Channel Recorder?
« Reply #107 on: November 23, 2017, 03:45:15 PM »
^ IMO the Mixpre-6 is really easy to use!  It has very intuitive menu structure if you used recorders before. Only issue I've had was the current firmware causing recording issues. 
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Offline Cheesecadet

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Re: Marantz PMD-706 Six Channel Recorder?
« Reply #108 on: November 24, 2017, 09:41:50 PM »
So if a pro line level XLR out is +4 dBu and the Marantz unit line level in can handle +12 dBu...why are people saying it will distort and not handle a sbd feed?

Also, are AKG481's considered "sensitive mics".  They are -34 dBu sensitivity.  Are they too senstive to use with the mic input naximum of -8 dBu on the low setting (+28 dBu) on the unit.  If so, would a -12 dB inline pad resolve that issue?

Also, for those that have received one already, any first impressions?

Thanks for answering all my questions about this unit!
AKG 481's, DPA 4061's (Matched), AT ES933's w/ AT853-ELE's (SC/C/O), ECM-19B's, MixPre-3, A10, M10 x 2, Hi Ho Silvers, Various Darktrain & GAKables

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Offline noahbickart

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Re: Marantz PMD-706 Six Channel Recorder?
« Reply #109 on: November 26, 2017, 11:20:14 PM »
Anyone have one of these in hand yet? I'm curious about sound, obviously, but also about ergonomics, battery power, etc.

I suspect we'll see a bunch in the flesh at Phish NYE run....
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Offline goodcooker

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Re: Marantz PMD-706 Six Channel Recorder?
« Reply #110 on: November 27, 2017, 10:07:35 AM »

I ordered one this morning. It should be here by Friday and I can do a little write up and snap a few comparison pics over the weekend. Not sure when I'll have a chance to run it beyond a home test...not a lot of taping opportunities coming up for me right now.
Line Audio CM3/OM1 || MBHO KA500 hyper>PFA|| ADK A51 type IV || AKG C522XY
Oade Warm Mod and Presence+ Mod UA5s || Aerco MP2(needs help) || Neve Portico 5012 || Apogee MMP
SD Mixpre6 || Oade Concert Mod DR100mkii

pocket sized - CA11 cards > SP SB10 > Sony PCM A10

http://www.archive.org/bookmarks/goodcooker

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Offline hoppedup

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Re: Marantz PMD-706 Six Channel Recorder?
« Reply #111 on: November 27, 2017, 11:36:17 AM »
I have one. I took it out of the box and fired it up to check out the menu. I can take some pics of it side by side with the 70-D and post them  tomorrow. At first glance the screen seems small and the white on black will take some getting used to. I won't be recording anything until December 8th, AFAIK.

I'll hook it up and let it run with phantom on tomorrow to get an idea on battery life with a USB battery.
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Offline OOK

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Re: Marantz PMD-706 Six Channel Recorder?
« Reply #112 on: November 27, 2017, 05:00:19 PM »
Looks like the mic gain stage starts at +28db.. that's pretty high for what we do...especially up close... you would need to run some inline pads to knock the signal going in down.... I am curious to see how this plays with our recording environments..

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Offline goodcooker

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Re: Marantz PMD-706 Six Channel Recorder?
« Reply #113 on: November 29, 2017, 04:24:10 PM »

Got mine today and just unpacked it and had a quick look and a test.

First impressions - it's small - pretty much the same size as a Tascam DR70d - the screen is really small but is white on black OLED and easy to read.

It includes a bracket for DSLR mounting, a USB A-micro B cable and a set of 1/4 inch to XLR cables (nice build too).

I plugged it into a cheapo 5V USB battery and it fired right up. Takes 4 AAs as well. I'll have some in there as a backup. Scrolled through the menus to find the phantom power and gain controls.

Found another menu setting for ganging channels in three different groups so it looks like any of the 6 inputs can be assigned to any of the 3 groups.

Gave it a quick run with my Schoeps MK41 > nBob > PFA setup and it did what I expected. It saves a separate 2 channel file for each stereo input and the mix- so 4 wav files total. I hope there is a way to change it so that only files that are actually recorded are saved but probably not.

I'll read the manual, go through all the settings in the menu and report back with battery tests, some comparison pictures and whatnot later this week.
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pocket sized - CA11 cards > SP SB10 > Sony PCM A10

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Offline IronFilm

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Re: Marantz PMD-706 Six Channel Recorder?
« Reply #114 on: November 29, 2017, 07:04:20 PM »
How is the noise floor and pre amps?

Offline hoppedup

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Re: Marantz PMD-706 Six Channel Recorder?
« Reply #115 on: November 30, 2017, 03:11:09 PM »

Got mine today and just unpacked it and had a quick look and a test.


Thanks for the report. I got knocked down by the crud going around here and haven't had much desire to do anything. I did figure out that the gain appears to be smooth and not stepped and you can record just one stereo file and turn off the separate mix channels. I put a blank 32gb card in and it showed a little over 10 hours record time. I turned off the other channels and it jumped back up to 32 hours and change.
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Offline datbrad

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Re: Marantz PMD-706 Six Channel Recorder?
« Reply #116 on: November 30, 2017, 09:28:54 PM »
I just hope the delays in releasing this deck were to avoid making beta testers out of the first batch of owners. The frequency and pace of firmware updates in the next few months will reveal how well Marantz managed their quality control.
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Re: Marantz PMD-706 Six Channel Recorder?
« Reply #117 on: December 03, 2017, 11:14:06 AM »
Anymore updates from those that received one already?
AKG 481's, DPA 4061's (Matched), AT ES933's w/ AT853-ELE's (SC/C/O), ECM-19B's, MixPre-3, A10, M10 x 2, Hi Ho Silvers, Various Darktrain & GAKables

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Upcoming:
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Offline goodcooker

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Re: Marantz PMD-706 Six Channel Recorder?
« Reply #118 on: December 03, 2017, 07:42:05 PM »

I'm taking mine out for a show on Friday night so I'll have some info about how it performs in the field this weekend.

Set it up and let it run for several hours recording the TV - two channels with P48, backlight on full, all other channels disabled for more than 5 hours and didn't even use half of a 6000mAh USB battery so it doesn't seem very power hungry. The menus are pretty simple so finding the typical preshow stuff like enabling record channels and setting up the mixdown channel is pretty straightforward, The channel ganging feature is pretty nice. You can assign any channel to a group and control it with the lowest number gain knob from the assigned channels.

The test recordings were nice and clean so I'm optimistic about the preamps. No way to tell how it will perform in a high SPL environment until I get it out at a show. I tried out the low and medium settings. Medium seemed really sensitive even just recording the TV soundbar while watching Netflix.

Been pretty busy but I'll try to post some pictures of it next to the gear I have - an Aerco, a DR60d and a DR2d to get an idea of the size. One thing that's nice about the design is that the back surface is angled like the front so it sort of leans toward you when sitting on the back panel making it easier to see the angled screen. The screen is really small - I have really bad eyesight so I wouldn't be able to read it at all if it were in my bag on the floor and I was standing.


Line Audio CM3/OM1 || MBHO KA500 hyper>PFA|| ADK A51 type IV || AKG C522XY
Oade Warm Mod and Presence+ Mod UA5s || Aerco MP2(needs help) || Neve Portico 5012 || Apogee MMP
SD Mixpre6 || Oade Concert Mod DR100mkii

pocket sized - CA11 cards > SP SB10 > Sony PCM A10

http://www.archive.org/bookmarks/goodcooker

"Are you the Zman?" - fan at Panic 10-08-10 Kansas City
"I don't know who left this perfectly good inflatable wook doll here, but if I'm blowing her up, I'm keeping her." -  hoppedup

Offline buck99

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Re: Marantz PMD-706 Six Channel Recorder?
« Reply #119 on: December 04, 2017, 02:46:32 PM »
I have some questions about the Marantz 706, to help me with comparison to my Tascam DR-60D and DR-70D.

Does the 706 allow pause during recording? (the DR-60D does but the DR-70D doesn't, grrrr)

Does the 706 have a remote control option?  I don't see a port for one or any mention of one.  Both Tascams have a wired remote which I love.

How clean are the 706 preamps?  Please reply with specs and/or head to head comparison.  I can't find EIN data anywhere for the 706.  A head to head against the DR-60D or DR-70D would be very helpful, or even the Olympus LS-100.  The Tascam preamps are OK, the Olympus has a better EIN spec.

Thanks!

Follow up: I called Marantz with these questions, info below: 

Pause while recording: they tested it and said it paused without creating a new file.  Good news to me, can someone confirm this is true?
Remote control: nope, no immediate plans, argh, deal breaker.  Bad news to me.
Preamps: did not know EIN values.  Argh.  I hope someone can report some head to head tests.
« Last Edit: December 05, 2017, 12:05:01 AM by buck99 »

 

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