Has anyone used the Olympus LS-10 and the Marantz PMD620? I'm interested in knowing more about the two of these. The reviews of both were good but I am wonderng about how they stand up to what we use them for.
Use the search function. There are lots of posts here with plenty of user verdicts.
Bottom line: LS-10 and PMD620 are OK, but with their current pricepoint, R-09HR provides much better value for money and has lower self-noise.
I don't know about the LS-10, but I don’t think that is a particularly fair assessment of the PMD620. For starters, the 620 is going for $299 whereas the R09HR is going for $335 (lowest prices I saw from reputable dealers in an admittedly quick online search).
In terms of noise, the R09HR is probably a bit quieter, but the 620 is probably less noisy than other recorders in the class (including the R09, DR-1, and MT2). I say “probably” because I have yet to see any real comparisons, or even measurements at typical recording levels (which may be important given the often non-linear relationship between gain and noise). In any event, the self-noise of the 620 is sufficiently low for most any live music recording.
I would give an edge to the 620 for design/layout, ease of use, plug in power voltage, and battery life and to the R09HR for offering sampling frequencies above 48K.
If high sampling rates are necessary, it is a no-brainer. But if not, I fail to see how the R09HR is a “much better value”. Of course, to each his own and YMMV and whatnot!
P.S. nak700s: I haven’t had any problems with the SD access door. Like any of these things, I wouldn’t manhandle it, but with a little care, it should be no problem…EDIT TO ADD: As for digital in/out, here is a pretty good list of recorders with digi-in (
http://taperssection.com/index.php/topic,114653.0.html). Your options, at least at the low end of the price spectrum, are pretty limited in this regard.