Topic: Marantz PMD 660 pics

[Nick's Picks]

Just got this from Doug yesterday.
its pretty small...probably a little big longer than the Edirol R1.

all on one 16bit kick ass box!  can't wait to run it tonight for Dickey Betts!

[Ray76]

Just got this from Doug yesterday.
its pretty small...probably a little big longer than the Edirol R1.

all on one 16bit kick ass box!  can't wait to run it tonight for Dickey Betts!

that looks nice Nick!+T for the pic. It reminds me , looks wise of those old cassette decks with the built in mic. what mod is it???or is there only one type of mod for it??is this going to be your capture device or are you just demoing it?

teddy

[Nick's Picks]

Doug sent it to me to play with for a couple weeks. 
I think there are two mods.  a basic mod, and the concert mod (more headroom).
Not sure what he does to the preamp section, but he disables all other I/O in order to buff it up.
He really likes it..and has been using this himself for a while.

so i'll mess w/it and see how it goes.  Maybe it will kick ass...and my new Mme will be on the chopping block to buy one of these.
but I doubt it.  I have my heart set on the Mme>flashtracker.

[Ray76]

Doug sent it to me to play with for a couple weeks. 
I think there are two mods.  a basic mod, and the concert mod (more headroom).
Not sure what he does to the preamp section, but he disables all other I/O in order to buff it up.
He really likes it..and has been using this himself for a while.

so i'll mess w/it and see how it goes.  Maybe it will kick ass...and my new Mme will be on the chopping block to buy one of these.
but I doubt it.  I have my heart set on the Mme>flashtracker.

Hell if he uses it that says something right there.

[Nick's Picks]

i know.  he was all horny for his Wmod FR2 before this came along...now its all the rage.

[Ray76]

i know.  he was all horny for his Wmod FR2 before this came along...now its all the rage.

I just wonder how he learned how to do all that stuff...He have a sound or EE degree?

teddy

[Nick's Picks]

i dont know.  maybe just a tinkerer forever.  he's probably been doing this stuff for nearly 30 years.  at least since the early 80's when he would mod his F1 PCM recorder.

i've been fucking around w/a soldering iron and circuit boards for a couple years now..and I have asperations of building my own crap..but lack the abilty to read schematics..or i'd be off to the races.
cables will have to be my only ability for now.
my point..self taught is possible.

[Ray76]

i dont know.  maybe just a tinkerer forever.  he's probably been doing this stuff for nearly 30 years.  at least since the early 80's when he would mod his F1 PCM recorder.

i've been fucking around w/a soldering iron and circuit boards for a couple years now..and I have asperations of building my own crap..but lack the abilty to read schematics..or i'd be off to the races.
cables will have to be my only ability for now.
my point..self taught is possible.

it takes a special kind of mind to understand that stuff.

[neutrino]

When the compact flash card is installed, does it insert completely inside the unit, enabling you to close the door or does it stick out as it appears in your picture?
dB-

[Nick's Picks]

you can close the door and its all sealed up.

[Hotwheels]

Can you compare this to a non-modified unit? I have a stock 660 I bought beforfe Doug was selling his and I am thinking of getting one of the basic mods if it results in a significant improvement in the preamps.

[Nick's Picks]

nope. i cant compare...having never used a stock one.
the consensus from the Oades is that its not suitable for concert recording w/o the mods.

the concert mod is the one to get if that's what you're using it for. 
go over to his forum and read up !

[Nick's Picks]

http://www.oade.com/digital_recorders/hard_disc_recorders/PMD-660MODS.html

his retail page.

also, there is a monsterous thread on this on his forum.  fwiw

[d5]

Hey, that looks just like mine...

http://taperssection.com/index.php?topic=45166.0

One thing that I learned quickly about the 660 is that using it to supply phantom power has a significant drain on the batteries. This was probably exaggerated by running mod 460's, but I was seeing about 2 hours alkaline battery life vs. about 4 hours when not supplying phantom.

Also, in a conversation with Doug, he suggested trying to get the record level set as high as possible using either the microphone attenutation or the 660's attentuation or some combination of both.

[Nick's Picks]

good to know.
I am using alkalines tonight to power it.  I expect around 2 hours.  I'm sure I'll end up w/a cut.
next week, i'll make a voltage stepper to bring my little 6v SLA down to 4.8v.  that'll do the trick.


a couple of diodes in series I believe?
not sure how this is done, but something I've wanted to do.  Doug said he'd walk me through it if need be.

[Nick's Picks]

ok..this thing sounds really, really good.
like a Tmod ua5..only w/a wmod soundstage.  made my 140s sing!
its a real snap to use..and the meeters rock.  nice hold feature.  great box.  stealthers rejoice!  now you can have something small only w/a HUGE sound

[spyder9]

Did you run it without the MME in front?  How long did the batteries last? 

[Nick's Picks]

yea, just ran it solo.  the batteries would have gone the full 2.5 hours.  i was using energizer e2's, which I think are the best.

[F.O.Bean]

i dont know.  maybe just a tinkerer forever.  he's probably been doing this stuff for nearly 30 years.  at least since the early 80's when he would mod his F1 PCM recorder.

i've been fucking around w/a soldering iron and circuit boards for a couple years now..and I have asperations of building my own crap..but lack the abilty to read schematics..or i'd be off to the races.
cables will have to be my only ability for now.
my point..self taught is possible.

it takes a special kind of mind to understand that stuff.

I took electronics for a few years, i built my own AM/FM radio

[Nick's Picks]

thats cool!

ever take a 148 apart?  not much to it.  I feel that I could assemble one if I had the parts and one to look at.
I understand most of what i'm seeing..but lack the talent or imagination to actualy come up w/something like that on my own.
:-)

what would be interesting..is to build one, but make more like a Tmod sound (as the 148 is more warm to me)

[kgreener]

Also, in a conversation with Doug, he suggested trying to get the record level set as high as possible using either the microphone attenutation or the 660's attentuation or some combination of both.

Nick, did you use, or have to use, any attenuation when you ran this the other night, such as d5 has to use with his mod 460's?  And did you have any issues with brickwalling? 

Thanks.

[Nick's Picks]

Doug told me to run the -20db pad on it....which I did at first for the opener.  But, I could not get levels hotter than -12 w/the gain cranked...so I turned off the pad and ran it straight up at 0db. 

[kgreener]

thanks again Nick.  let me know if you plan to post any .wav samples of this box in action, i'd love to hear them.

[Nick's Picks]

http://www.nickspicks.tzo.com/16bit/db2005-08-24

[kgreener]

damn son, you're fast! 

thanks brother, i'm checking these out now...+t

[Ray76]

http://www.nickspicks.tzo.com/16bit/db2005-08-24

thanks so much Nick!!
lookin at it too.
teddy

[Nick's Picks]

no problem guys.

its slow though..only 387kbps upstream. 
the info file has no setlist, fwiw.

[Chuck]

A couple of questions...
If the PMD660 runs on 4 AA cells. (1.5v x 4 = 6v) Why can't you just use a 6 v SLA to power it. You mentioned having to step the voltage down to 4.8 v. (By the way, this can be done using some 1N400x diodes in series.) I'm also wondering about transfer time from the unit to a computer through the USB 1.0? cable.

[Nick's Picks]

A couple of questions...
If the PMD660 runs on 4 AA cells. (1.5v x 4 = 6v) Why can't you just use a 6 v SLA to power it.

beats me.  the input says 5v. and its not my unit...and i'd rather not fry Dougs recorder.
maybe the marantz steps the voltage down internaly...who knows.

You mentioned having to step the voltage down to 4.8 v. (By the way, this can be done using some 1N400x diodes in series.) I'm also wondering about transfer time from the unit to a computer through the USB 1.0? cable.

its usb 1.1.  I poped the card into my CF reader on my printer...and didn't benchmark the time it took to transfer.  but I would guess its no faster/slower than any usb CF reader.
thanks for the diode info.  i'll go to RS tomorrow and check that out.

[kgreener]

hey Nick, or anyone else, would it be possible to power this PMD660 externally using one of those walmart DVD batteries?  just curious.  i'm clueless when it comes to batteries and powering options.

thanks!

edit:  your Ratdog recording sounds real nice, Nick.  i'm d/l'ing Hornsby now, and i'm sure it is fine too.

[Chuck]

hey Nick, or anyone else, would it be possible to power this PMD660 externally using one of those walmart DVD batteries?  just curious.  i'm clueless when it comes to batteries and powering options.

thanks!

According to Doug Oade:
You really need a 5v DC source. The best ways to accomplish this is using a 6v battery and knocking the voltage down with a couple diodes, or using a DC source above 6 v and building a 5 volt regulator. 5 v regulators are easy to find, as that is a standard voltage used in computers.

[kgreener]

wow, thanks for the quick response and the info, Chuck, +t

[johnw]

FWIW I use the SIMA adapter on the 5V setting powered by a Walmart battery to run the JB3. I didn't measure the voltage, but no problems running the JB3 which is pretty picky about power.

[Chuck]

FWIW I use the SIMA adapter on the 5V setting powered by a Walmart battery to run the JB3. I didn't measure the voltage, but no problems running the JB3 which is pretty picky about power.

SIMA adaptor? 

[Kindguy]

Am I reading the specs right, No digital in/out on these?

[Nick's Picks]

nope.
that comes w/the 24/96 PMD 671

[F.O.Bean]

FWIW I use the SIMA adapter on the 5V setting powered by a Walmart battery to run the JB3. I didn't measure the voltage, but no problems running the JB3 which is pretty picky about power.

SIMA adaptor?

a walmart type voltage regulator, the ones that go from car cig lighter>5v regulator>jb3/sony/adaptaplugs!

[johnw]

EDIT: here's the local thread http://taperssection.com/index.php?topic=38106.0

[johnw]

FWIW I use the SIMA adapter on the 5V setting powered by a Walmart battery to run the JB3. I didn't measure the voltage, but no problems running the JB3 which is pretty picky about power.

SIMA adaptor?

a walmart type voltage regulator, the ones that go from car cig lighter>5v regulator>jb3/sony/adaptaplugs!

It's really nice though. The adapter has a fixed output cable and a switchable input cable to let you choose between a car adapter or a wall plug - or in this case a radioshack "M" adaptaplug on the end of an adaptacable coming out of a Walmart battery. No hacking or soldering needed 

[eric.B]

Am I reading this right..  the pmd671 only records 44/48 via spydyff? no 96k or higher?

Marantz PMD-671
DIGITAL IN/OUT Type
Impedance :75 ohms
Standard Level : 0.5 Vp-p
Sampling frequency : 44.1/48 kHz

[Nick's Picks]

the 671 is 24/96
http://www.oade.com/digital_recorders/hard_disc_recorders/PMD-671.html

[rdvdijk]

the 671 is 24/96
http://www.oade.com/digital_recorders/hard_disc_recorders/PMD-671.html

I think the question is about (quoted from that URL) :

Analog - 24 bit 96,88.2, 48, 44.1,kHz (PCM)
Digital : 48, 44.1kHz

Roel

[johnw]

That was the question when it first came out, but if you search some threads here, some members who own one of these verified it does 24/96 digital in. No idea why the manufacturer's specs don't note this.

[eric.B]

Am I reading this right.. the pmd671 only records 44/48 via spydyff? no 96k or higher?

Marantz PMD-671
DIGITAL IN/OUT Type
Impedance :75 ohms
Standard Level : 0.5 Vp-p
Sampling frequency : 44.1/48 kHz

the 671 is 24/96
http://www.oade.com/digital_recorders/hard_disc_recorders/PMD-671.html

the 671 is 24/96
http://www.oade.com/digital_recorders/hard_disc_recorders/PMD-671.html

I think the question is about (quoted from that URL) :

Analog - 24 bit 96,88.2, 48, 44.1,kHz (PCM)
Digital : 48, 44.1kHz

Roel

That was the question when it first came out, but if you search some threads here, some members who own one of these verified it does 24/96 digital in. No idea why the manufacturer's specs don't note this.

thanks guys..  +t's

[spyder9]

This is probably a dumb question, But does the 660 have a built-in ADC in it?  Or all the recordings through the XLR just analog > CF card?      Gosh, I sound dumb.   

[eric.B]

This is probably a dumb question, But does the 660 have a built-in ADC in it?  Or all the recordings through the XLR just analog > CF card?      Gosh, I sound dumb.  

yikes Dan..   how else is an analog signal turned into data to write to the card?..  +t for yikes of it!

edit:  599!!

[d5]

This is probably a dumb question, But does the 660 have a built-in ADC in it?  Or all the recordings through the XLR just analog > CF card?      Gosh, I sound dumb.  

yikes Dan..   how else is an analog signal turned into data to write to the card?..  +t for yikes of it!

edit:  599!!

Make it an even 600

[spyder9]

+T guys.  I'm a tool!   

[phr]

Re powering the 660, I've found it's quite conservatively spec'd.  I noticed NiMH battery life in the 671 manual was spec'd with 1600 mAH cells.  Cell capacity in the 660 manual wasn't specified but I bet it's the same.  I'm using 2500 mAH Sanyo HR-3U cells (sold retail as Energizer 2500 mAH at 4/$10 at Target, these are very good cells) and the 660 will record for close to 8 hours nonstop on a charge with these cells, at least with phantom power off.  I was originally going to set up an external pack but I find that the 2500 mAH cells last long enough that I don't mind swapping them out once in a while.  If I did an external pack anyway, it would be just four NiMH cells (1.25V each) and that should be close enough to 5v to keep the recorder happy.  I notice internally the 4 cells are set up in series/parallel for some weird reason, so there's a dc/dc converter in there stepping up the 2.4 volts input.

Here are some cheap 4.8v packs that should also work fine (I don't think the Powerizer cells are of the best quality though):
http://batteryspace.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWCATS&Category=471

The $12.95, 4800 mah pack should run the unit for way more than 12 hours.  Or the 3300 mAH pack including a charger is a pretty good deal.

My pmd660 review mentions a few other possibilities: http://www.nightsong.com/phr/pmd660.html

[badsneakers]

can you run this on a wall wart??

[aberg]

Yup, provided it puts out 5v DC.

[KingReptile]

ok..this thing sounds really, really good.
like a Tmod ua5..only w/a wmod soundstage.  made my 140s sing!
its a real snap to use..and the meeters rock.  nice hold feature.  great box.  stealthers rejoice!  now you can have something small only w/a HUGE sound

As you would say this unit makes me horney ..Dougs the man!!, I plan on stopping by his place when i go to Georgia..I think i best clean out my snorkle before i gaze at all his toys!!