I was looking at the R1 or PMD660, the thing I don't like about the R1 is that even when the unit is "locked" you can still change levels with the dial. Sometimes I like to put my recorder in my pocket and I don't need the levels getting all jacked up as a result.
I hadn't thought of that, but that's kinda the situation with almost all the stealth gear I've ever had. I had a recording come out with levels decreasing all the way through the recording because I kept bumping the knob on my Sbm-1.... just have to be really careful, I guess.
With the R-1 the input dial is not like on DAT or the SBM-1. It's actually kind of nice. It's built in to the left side of the unit and practically flush. Like a typical walkman volume level. Not to mention that it is not overly moveable. Not saying that the dial is stiff, but that it's the kind of thing where if you had a piece of tape over it there' no chance it would move. With DAT and the SBM, the dials were much easier to move.
Other pluses I see to the R-1 for the average taper is that it uses batteries as opposed to an internal power source. So much less room for error that way and so much more versatile on the whole. Especially for taping roadtrips and things like that where, although you might have a computer handy for show file transfers, you might not have the hours and hours it would take to reliably charge your MT before your next show, or if a show comes up on short notice that you decide to tape, where you couldn't do it because you don't have enough time to charge your MT. And even if you do go with the USB battery pack that people are now talking about (if they can even get that to work), you're kind of blowing the original idea of an "all in one" solution and adding yet one more piece of crucial gear to your chain (which I hate doing-> less is better for me). Besides the fact that the R-1 is pretty much guaranteed to work as effectively as it can for as long as it's shelf life is considering you're not just waiting for the internal battery to die (ipods anyone?).
With regards to the metering only showing one channel, this is no different than what we all had available with the Sony DAT's, pre SBM-1. Even though the Sony's showed different right and left, you could only control the one knob. So, again, no "loss" of functionality with the R-1.
Since I've already popped for the 2GB card, and since the firmware isn't updated yet for file splitting, I may just go and buy another 2GB card to take with to shows, so if it looks like the show is going to run longer than 2 hours, I can just pop the new card at the encore break. As well, I think I'd rather have two 2GB cards rather than one 4GB card. Always nice to have a backup, just like I used to do with DATs.
So far, the R-1 has proved to be a very reliable and great sounding unit, right out of the box, as advertised. Which is probably my biggest issue with the MT. The MT so far looks like an engineering nightmare, and they've been promoting it so heavily since last year, which reflects pretty badly on M-Audio since they obviously didn't pull it off. I don't have much faith in them fixing all the issues with that thing.
And even if they do, by that time something else will probably have come along. Who knows how many things are in the works. Which is my ultimate point: I have shows to tape NOW, and I need something that works. If and when the MT ever gets fixed or something else comes along, then I'll buy that. But for now, why get antsy?
