Topic: Marantz PMD 660

[aberg]

Since it's a 16bit only recorder, maybe using slower cards is best... is 45x even too fast?

[spyder9]

Could it be the the card needs to be formatted?  I format after everytime transfer my music, instead of just erasing.

[aberg]

Could it be the the card needs to be formatted?  I format after everytime transfer my music, instead of just erasing.

That's possible too. can you guys check that out?

[Unitmonster]

mine is always formatted. no difference.

[aberg]

mine is always formatted. no difference.

Strange that Oade is aware of this problem but it's not listed on their website... or is it?

So slower Lexar and Sandisk are best?

[aberg]

Would this be a good choice?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820171103

If so, I might sell by Kingston card...

[aberg]

Learned a few important things in my recent discussions with doug about the ACM660:

1.  The level meters are attenuated for running with the pad enabled.  If you turn off the pad you're getting a TOTALLY inaccurate reading of the meters which is why people are getting clipping.  Without the pad you'd have be peaking WAYYY lower than 0db.

2. I've been having a ton of problems with noise in my unit related to my CF cards.  Doug emailed me today to say that others are having the same problem and it's related to the new fast cards.  I have no idea what the solution is, but be prepared to experiment with different cards. I'm on my 3rd now and am still dealing with more self-noise than I can tolerate.  Will report if I get more findings.  Here's the note from Doug though:

Blane, I am getting more reports of induced noise from other 660 users.
It seems it IS the card as when they go back to older, standard speed
cards, the noise goes away. It only happens with higher speed hi
capacity cards. Just thought I would pass it on as I doubt there will be
a fix for this...Doug

Still seems odd though with no moving parts and all...

I can see where a higher speed card can introduce noise b/c of the way it writes the data (in bursts, instead of continuous) but this should be a moot point with the slower cards (non "ultra").  I'm at a loss as to what is really happening, but once a certain brand is id'ed as working with the 660 everyone should stick with it. 

Would this be a good choice?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820171103
If so, I might sell by Kingston card...

I'll take the kingston card off you andrew if the price is right. 

New, I've seen them for $150, and mine is in mint shape, so maybe $125 shipped?

[Unitmonster]

I'm planning to go down to future shop and see if I can actually try a few brands in my unit.  THis is a really worrysome problem to me though, because a few years from now, today's "Ultra" cards will be considered slow (I'm guessing).  We might well end up with another premium market on old slow CF cards just for units like ours. 

[aberg]

I'm planning to go down to future shop and see if I can actually try a few brands in my unit.  THis is a really worrysome problem to me though, because a few years from now, today's "Ultra" cards will be considered slow (I'm guessing).  We might well end up with another premium market on old slow CF cards just for units like ours. 

Yeah, I wish I'd been made aware of this problem before putting down $750USD. Does Doug suggest running the gain real high then to minimize this issue? Mostly I tape louder groups.. rock and jambands.. maybe this won't matter to me.

[Unitmonster]

I'm planning to go down to future shop and see if I can actually try a few brands in my unit.  THis is a really worrysome problem to me though, because a few years from now, today's "Ultra" cards will be considered slow (I'm guessing).  We might well end up with another premium market on old slow CF cards just for units like ours. 

Yeah, I wish I'd been made aware of this problem before putting down $750USD. Does Doug suggest running the gain real high then to minimize this issue? Mostly I tape louder groups.. rock and jambands.. maybe this won't matter to me.

For loud rock shows I doubt you'll even notice the issue.  I tape a ton of quiet shows with a lot of dynamics which I then run through the L3 Ultramaximizer. If there's a significant noise floor, then it just gets amplified.  Listen to the attached sample for what I mean. 

I should stress that what I'm mentioning is my experience with MY unit.  Your own units might not have the same trouble (though mmmatt's seems to have similar noise). 

Andrew I'd suggest waiting for your unit to arrive and doing some tests before selling your card and buying a new one.

[aberg]

I'm planning to go down to future shop and see if I can actually try a few brands in my unit.  THis is a really worrysome problem to me though, because a few years from now, today's "Ultra" cards will be considered slow (I'm guessing).  We might well end up with another premium market on old slow CF cards just for units like ours. 

Yeah, I wish I'd been made aware of this problem before putting down $750USD. Does Doug suggest running the gain real high then to minimize this issue? Mostly I tape louder groups.. rock and jambands.. maybe this won't matter to me.

For loud rock shows I doubt you'll even notice the issue.  I tape a ton of quiet shows with a lot of dynamics which I then run through the L3 Ultramaximizer. If there's a significant noise floor, then it just gets amplified.  Listen to the attached sample for what I mean. 

I should stress that what I'm mentioning is my experience with MY unit.  Your own units might not have the same trouble (though mmmatt's seems to have similar noise). 

Andrew I'd suggest waiting for your unit to arrive and doing some tests before selling your card and buying a new one.

Yeah Blane, not planning to dump it until I do some testing with my own box... thanks for bringing this issue to light though... matt has an unmodded unit right? That might explain the issue in his case...

On another note, how was jazz fest?

[Unitmonster]

one more update from Doug today:

Hi !
 I use the standard speed Sandisc cards, the ultras can be a
problem...Doug

Jazzfest was lots of fun.  Saw quite a few shows, and did a lot of taping.  You should def. try to make it up for the fest next year.

[aberg]

one more update from Doug today:

Hi !
 I use the standard speed Sandisc cards, the ultras can be a
problem...Doug

Jazzfest was lots of fun.  Saw quite a few shows, and did a lot of taping.  You should def. try to make it up for the fest next year.

I really should have gone when I was living in Ottawa or Kingston. Now I'm in Kitchener and it's probably a 7 hour drive to Montreal... ugh.

Oh well... that's good to hear from Doug about the Sandisks. They've really dropped in price. I paid $200 for my Kingston about 9 months ago, and a brand new 4gb Sandisk is $125 at newegg... not bad!

[mmmatt]

Here is a comp with the stock 64MB card.

[Jammin72]

Well.... Got my notice that the Warm ACM 660 is shipping to me today!  Excellent!!

Bad News I ordered one of the RiData's.... D'Oh!

OK... How to fudge funds around and get a Sandisc here on time.