Topic: new marantz PMD 661

[carpa]

Given that the product's been announced a few days ago, what will it be at your experience a reasonable time to wait before it will be available (in USA at least, since a few months gonna pass till we can have it in EU)?

thanks
c

[tilomagnet]

This looks great. I'd buy this just for the coax digi input.

[leehookem]

sweet looking recorder.

[Cheesecadet]

updated today...January 2009 street date @ $599


http://www.prosoundweb.com/srlive/article/marantz_professional_debuts_pmd661_compact_digital_recorder/

[ChrisMofNS]

Here's a size comparison thing that compares the new PMD 661 to the PMD 620, Edirol R-09HR, Olympus LS-10 and Tascam DR-1.

I understand people looking for the 661 might not be looking at those other recorders, but someone might find it useful!

http://www.sizeasy.com/page/size_comparison/20215-PMD661-vs-Tascam-DR-1-vs-Olympus-LS-10-vs-R-09HR-vs-PMD620

[Ozpeter]

Good grief, what will they think of next (I mean the site devoted to comparing sizes)?!  Very handy though, thanks for the link and input.

[crispin]

Dear Carpa

In France it is advertised b to be available on January 15 for 599 euros...

http://www.playback.fr/marantz-pmd661-53440.html

Whether you want to be the first one on the block to have one - or to wait for some evaluations/field tests is another question ....

[ChrisMofNS]

Someone just created this one that might be more useful (has 660, 702, and Fostex FR2LE).

http://www.sizeasy.com/page/size_comparison/20269-Fostex-FR2LE-vs-Sound-Devices-702-vs-Marantz-PMD660-vs-Sony-PMD-D1-vs-Marantz-PMD661

[flintstone]

That would be me!

[flintstone]

The PMD661 users guide and other information is now available online.

http://www.d-mpro.com/users/folder.asp?FolderID=4405&CatID=18&SubCatID=169

Flintstone

[spyder9]

Can't wait to hear some sound samples of this puppy.

[JasonSobel]

here's an interesting part from page 26 of the manual:

With the Auto Track (Automatic Track incrementing) On, a new audio file is begun automatically at specifiec intervals of recording time.  The Auto Track can be set to increment every 1, 5, 10, 15 or 30 minutes, or every 1, 2, 6, 8, 12, or 24 hours.  The Auto Track makes finding a particular point in a recording easier....

The continuity of sound is not guaranteed and depends on the speed of a card or the file size.

Note:
New audio file starts automatically when the recorded file size reaches 4GB.

so it looks like it's got auto-split (either at a specified time interval or at 4GB), but they explicitly say that it's not guaranteed to be seamless.  while that's not a good sign, perhaps it's just a disclaimer because not every card they tested is fast enough, or something like that.  but out at a show, I like to be certain that an autosplit is seamless.  I guess time will tell.

[flintstone]

The specs Marantz provides for the PMD661 are probably best interpreted
by comparison to other Marantz products:

S/N ratio, according to Marantz
PMD671 mic input 65 dB, line input 86 dB
PMD661 mic input 65 dB, line input 85 dB
PMD620 mic input 68 dB, line input 80 dB
PMD660 mic input 60  dB, line input 80 dB

Dynamic range, according to Marantz
PMD671 86 dB
PMD661 85 dB
PMD620 81 dB
PMD660 80 dB

From these figures, I'm hoping that the PMD661 will have sonic qualities close to the well-regarded PMD671.  The online fact sheet says the PMD661 has ""upgraded mic preamps" and "exceptional onboard preamps."  I guess we'll have to wait until January to find out!

Flintstone

[Javier Cinakowski]

nice post flintstone!

I wonder what the specs are of oade/busman modded 660's are...  The 661 looks promsing, stock.

[aaronji]

Thanks, flintstone!  I was wondering when some more information was going to pop up on the Marantz site.  I have been checking pretty frequently.

One thing I noticed is that it is made from ABS with a metal face plate.  Should be pretty sturdy.  And weighs in at less than a pound too...

Also, it doesn't look like an "on-the-fly" matrix, as discussed a few pages back, will be possible.

The file/menu structure looks almost identical to the 620's with the latest firmware upgrade.  Simple and logical.  In fact, the buttons, layout and appearance are all pretty similar to the 620.  Sort of like the feature set of the 660 "hybridized" with the design features of the 620.

Now, all we have to do is hear it...