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All in one for 2024?

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yousef:
For my infrequent taping outings nowadays I'm getting a bit weary of mics>adaptor>Tinybox>3.5mm>M10. An all in one beckons.

But what to go for? I've seen an old Marantz for sale locally, as well as a couple of Tascams.

I'm looking for:
- something that saves space by foregoing built-in mics
- able to power a pair of 4022s for 2-3 hours on
-replaceable, ideally rechargeable, batteries (ie AAs)

Happy to buy old tech/secondhand/new. What's out there?

grawk:
zoom f3
mixpre 3
sonosax r4+
Nagra VII

yousef:
Thanks for those. I think the Zoom is the closest to the form factor I'm looking for but it's a weird little thing...

What are the modern equivalents of the PMD661 or an M10 with XLR inputs?

goodcooker:

--- Quote from: yousef on April 01, 2024, 08:33:15 AM ---Thanks for those. I think the Zoom is the closest to the form factor I'm looking for but it's a weird little thing...

What are the modern equivalents of the PMD661 or an M10 with XLR inputs?

--- End quote ---

The Tascam DR100 has decent sounding preamps built in with XLR connectors and is close to the size of the PMD661. The Zoom F3 is smaller (no internal mics) and likely sounds better. I don't have one but I auditioned a lot of shows recorded with one and it does sound good. If I had to make this choice I'd go with the Zoom F3.

fanofjam:

--- Quote from: goodcooker on April 01, 2024, 09:25:05 AM ---
--- Quote from: yousef on April 01, 2024, 08:33:15 AM ---Thanks for those. I think the Zoom is the closest to the form factor I'm looking for but it's a weird little thing...

What are the modern equivalents of the PMD661 or an M10 with XLR inputs?

--- End quote ---

The Tascam DR100 has decent sounding preamps built in with XLR connectors and is close to the size of the PMD661. The Zoom F3 is smaller (no internal mics) and likely sounds better. I don't have one but I auditioned a lot of shows recorded with one and it does sound good. If I had to make this choice I'd go with the Zoom F3.

--- End quote ---

Seconded.  I bought a zoom f3 recently.  I still own a DR100 and PMD661, both MK1 versions.  I'm not selling either of those because my DR100 is beat to shit.  PMD661s are selling for around $150 so not worth selling since I value it for its digital RCA inputs.  I'd rather keep it than sell it for that much.  All this is to say that, now that I have the F3, I'm grabbing it 100 times out of 100 in favor of the other two all things equal.  I don't know if it's 32bit float, improved preamps, or what, but the sound out of this little powerhouse completely blows away the DR100 and PMD661 internals.  And it fits in my pocket and is MUCH better on power than the other two.  This is a no brainer if I'm the decision maker. 

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