Topic: new marantz PMD 661

[Matt Quinn]

I'm not a huge fan of the way it's laid out (ie table-top style controls), but other than that this thing looks killer. Mod that sucker up & I could have a SOLID bit bucket for the V3 or a tiny 24 bit all-in-one for low-profile/travel etc. Damn.

[run_run_run]

If this sounds decent stock, I will be all over this by summer. Been doing 24 bit inside with a laptop and UA-5 and love it.

[Since85]

Is there some type of "button hold" on this? Does one exist on a 660?

Looks like with the deck's layout, it would be easy for a wrong button to get pressed during a recording, if the thing was stuffed in a bag. If it can get modded to sound like an ACM671, this thing will be awesome!

[JasonSobel]

Is there some type of "button hold" on this? Does one exist on a 660?

Looks like with the deck's layout, it would be easy for a wrong button to get pressed during a recording, if the thing was stuffed in a bag. If it can get modded to sound like an ACM671, this thing will be awesome!

don't know about the PMD660.  but on the new PMD661, there's clearly a switch for "key lock".  look at the last picture.

[Krispy D]

yes the 660 has a lock feature.  when engaged only the levels are adjustable.

[spyder9]

Smaller, takes SD cards........ and has coax.  This puppy will be an extremely hot seller.  Nice job Marantz!

[datbrad]

I like the fact that the meter ranges have several steps between -12 and 0, something that is lacking on a lot of 24 bit units that have only a couple of positions between those two points in the range.

[newplanet7]

H A W T!

Hopefully Busman will be up for modding this one too.
Or even better maybe it won't need a mod.

I love my busman 660 so this should be stellar.
I've been wanting to go balls deep into 24bit for a while.
This should do it for me.

Nice find and great thread.

[aaronji]

Smaller, takes SD cards........ and has coax.  This puppy will be an extremely hot seller.  Nice job Marantz!

Assuming it is bit-perfect.  Apparently, Marantz has yet to provide a straight answer with respect to that issue.  I have a hard time believing that they wouldn't make the digital-in bit accurate, however...

As far as release date, Marantz claims late (December) 2008 or early (January) 2009.  Apparently, though, a Marantz rep is currently traveling around showing a pre-production prototype and soliciting input from some of their dealers.  This rep is scheduled to be making the rounds through mid-December.  This would seem to make that target date pretty unrealistic, but maybe first quarter 2009?

[Krispy D]

at only $600 this thing is going to kill the resale value of the 660...  anybody want mine now before this comes out?

[johnmuge]

This looks like a nice upgrade to the 660.  Smaller, 24bit and a digital in.  Very nice !!!

[JasonSobel]

Smaller, takes SD cards........ and has coax.  This puppy will be an extremely hot seller.  Nice job Marantz!

Assuming it is bit-perfect.  Apparently, Marantz has yet to provide a straight answer with respect to that issue.  I have a hard time believing that they wouldn't make the digital-in bit accurate, however...

regarding the ditial input and bit-perfectness.  While nothing has been confirmed, the other recent decks released in the PMD series with digital inputs (namely, the 670 and 671) were both bit-perfect digital inputs.  So at least Marantz has a good track record there.

The other unanswered question is automatic seamless 2 gig splits.  Again, at this point in time, Marantz has a lot of experience making these flash-card recorders, and I'd expect this deck to have seamless splits.

[Krispy D]

this has a 2nd line in as well,  looks like a mini plug.  Any idea of if this box could run an on the fly matrix?  like a ua5?

[aaronji]

regarding the ditial input and bit-perfectness.  While nothing has been confirmed, the other recent decks released in the PMD series with digital inputs (namely, the 670 and 671) were both bit-perfect digital inputs.  So at least Marantz has a good track record there.

The other unanswered question is automatic seamless 2 gig splits.  Again, at this point in time, Marantz has a lot of experience making these flash-card recorders, and I'd expect this deck to have seamless splits.

Well, going by the track record again, their last offering, the 620, records up to the 4 GB .wav format limit in a single file.  Otherwise, you can set an auto split by time increment.  Since some aspects of the two recorders look pretty similar (buttons and screen, for example) seems reasonable to assume that they have brought forward some of the other features too...Guess we'll have to wait and see; I hope some more information will be available soon...

[spcyrfc]

i called this a while back in a thread somewhere that i now cannot find... oh well there goes my i told you so moment.
this thing looks like a winner. i had the 670 when the 671 came out and that sucked. i think the 660, due to its size will retain a decent selling price, but then again...

i want one of these.