Topic: Marantz PMD 620 or Tascam DR100?

[BitRater]

Hello all,

New here and looking for a new portable recorder. Looking for something that I can use as an all-in-one kind of unit, suitable for recording concerts, interviews, nature, general stuff.

I've seen reviews on the Marantz PMD620 and many are positive. The audio samples found over at the Wingfield Audio site are pretty good, to my ears sounding very close to the Sony PM-50 in quality. The only concern I have is that the mic in jack is only 1/8", meaning I would have to use an XLR adapter if I wanted to use XLR mics - provided I choose carefully to ensure the mic is a good match.

The Tascam DR100 looks pretty attractive because it has XLR mic jacks. But it's so new that nobody has yet had a chance to evaluate its real-world quality and capabilities.

Both Marantz and TEAC have had decades of experience in building audio recorders, so both should be good. But I wonder, which one should I buy? Which one is likely to have better onboard electronics, since they're roughly in the same price range?

The DR100 seems squarely aimed at competing with Zoom's new H4n, but I can't but also wonder if the DR100 might not be just a souped up TASCAM GT1 with XLR jacks and a few more options?

[flintstone]

In overall dimensions and weight, the DR-100 is about double the size of the PMD620.

Doug Oade is selling modified versions of the the PMD620,  which should improve the PMD620's preamp performance.  A few people who post to this forum are ordering the Oade mod PMD620, so we should find out more soon.

There's a $100 rebate available through March 31 for PMD620s purchased from an authorized dealer like Oade.  The PMD620 was introduced in Fall 2007, so it's a bit early for a replacement machine (PMD621?) to be in the pipeline.  I think Marantz just realized that its MSRP is too high when compared to competitors like the Edirol R-09HR and Olympus LS-10.

Since it won't ship until the end of March, nobody can tell you whether the $430 DR-100 sounds closer to a $200 Tascam DR-1 or the $900 HD-P2.  The Tascam press releases say the DR-100 is for pros who don't need the time code features of the HD-P2, so there's some reason to hope.  Also, the DR-100's competitor, the Marantz PMD661, sounds very good and includes a digital input.  So if Tascam wants to win customers for the DR-100, they better bring the goods. 

Flintstone

[aaronji]

Doug Oade is selling modified versions of the the PMD620,  which should improve the PMD620's preamp performance.  A few people who post to this forum are ordering the Oade mod PMD620, so we should find out more soon.

There are at least three taperssection members already using an Oade concert mod 620 (that I know of, and one more with a super mod).  I have used it with Sennheiser MKE2s and Church Audio CA-11s (both with plug-in power and through a battery box) and, more recently, with DPA4060s.  Another user has been using it with a pretty interesting Schoep's set-up (http://taperssection.com/index.php/topic,100090.msg1544645.html#msg1544645; a couple of his recordings with this gear are on the LMA) and kbergend has been using one with AT943s (and maybe some other mics?).

I am really pleased with mine, and I get the impression that the others are too (but, of course, I can't speak for them).  The person using the super mod, for nature and ambient, told me he thinks it is great and was going to scrap some heavier/bulkier gear in its favor...

[kbergend]

Doug did a concert mod on my stock PMD620 a few months ago (against his normal policy, but he offered to do it as a shameless ploy to entice me to order one of his R-44s, which was successful  ), and I've recorded a few shows with it with very nice results.  The stock unit actually sounds fine if you mainly plan to record interviews and moderately loud concerts, in fact my most-downloaded show on LMA ever is Grace Potter recorded at Lincoln Center last year using AT943s into the pre-modded 620 without so much as a battery box.  But the noise floor on the stock recorder is pretty high, so for quiet concerts (and I'm sure for nature recordings) the upgraded pres make a huge difference, especially if you need to add a significant amount of gain in post.  Here's a 24-bit sample of Shawn Colvin with Emmylou Harris at the Orpheum in Boston last week, AT943 cards DINa > Oade Concert PMD620 from 20th row center.

http://tapers.org/kbergendorff/samples/pmd620oade_sample24.flac

I added 10dB of gain to the raw recording and did some limiting on the applause at the end.  There's still some audible noise, but with the stock unit you'd basically be listening to Shawn crooning through a sea of hiss with that much amplification.

I have no experience at all with the Tascam, the main selling point for the Marantz for me was its size.

[BitRater]

Doug did a concert mod on my stock PMD620 a few months ago (against his normal policy, but he offered to do it as a shameless ploy to entice me to order one of his R-44s, which was successful  ), and I've recorded a few shows with it with very nice results.  The stock unit actually sounds fine if you mainly plan to record interviews and moderately loud concerts, in fact my most-downloaded show on LMA ever is Grace Potter recorded at Lincoln Center last year using AT943s into the pre-modded 620 without so much as a battery box.  But the noise floor on the stock recorder is pretty high, so for quiet concerts (and I'm sure for nature recordings) the upgraded pres make a huge difference, especially if you need to add a significant amount of gain in post.  Here's a 24-bit sample of Shawn Colvin with Emmylou Harris at the Orpheum in Boston last week, AT943 cards DINa > Oade Concert PMD620 from 20th row center.

http://tapers.org/kbergendorff/samples/pmd620oade_sample24.flac

I added 10dB of gain to the raw recording and did some limiting on the applause at the end.  There's still some audible noise, but with the stock unit you'd basically be listening to Shawn crooning through a sea of hiss with that much amplification.

I have no experience at all with the Tascam, the main selling point for the Marantz for me was its size.

The sound quality of the Shawn Colvin sample is very nice. I couldn't really hear any noise - but bear in mind that I have a hearing impairment (left ear gone, right ear aided by a high-quality digital aid) and can't hear really low-level subtle sounds like that. Which is to say I'd be unlikely to detect any appreciable noise floor even on a stock unit. But I do have enough hearing left to figure out what sounds good. 

As for Oade mods, they do look attractive. However, two things stand in my way in going that route. First, I live in Canada, and Oade Brothers will not ship outside the USA. Second, even if Oade would ship to Canada, the exchange rate, plus shipping and provincial/federal taxes applied at the border would make an Oade-modified PMD620 a fairly expensive proposition. This is a hobby for me, I'm just getting my feet wet and can't justify a large initial outlay.

When all is said and done, for about $100.00 more I could buy a Marantz PMD 661 in Canadian funds from a Canadian retailer, taxes and shipping in.

[refrain]

Hello all,

Does anyone on this forums had the chance to test the tascam DR100, and the marantz PMD 661, the factory originals, i mean?
Oade mods are really interesting only if you are american, the rest of the world has to deal with what comes on the box...

And what about the new contender, zoom H4n? on paper looks very promising (4 in's at the same time with a much lower price tag than the edirol R44, and smaller size), they all 3 are in the same league, built quality goes for marantz/tascam (long time in the bussiness)

anyone,
CS

[flintstone]

The DR-100 won't ship to the public until late March
or the first week of April.  Same story with the Zoom H4n.
It's due to ship in the next week or so.  I wouldn't trust
any reports based on "pre-production" gear. 

Just sit tight for a couple more weeks.

[refrain]

The DR-100 won't ship to the public until late March
or the first week of April.  Same story with the Zoom H4n.
It's due to ship in the next week or so.  I wouldn't trust
any reports based on "pre-production" gear. 

Just sit tight for a couple more weeks.

Thanks, I thought it could be something like that...
I've searching the internet for some hands on on both machines (DR100 and the H4n), but nothing....

Waiting, waiting, it's time to end my relation with the faithful but old microtrack, the battery is very short,
and I would like to have a one piece recorder (but small), can take xlr 48v and with a decent pair of onboard mics...
without have to carry the rycote/mics plus preamp plus recorder...

Something like the old DAP1 but smaller and less expensive than the new solid state version of it...

CS

[nak700s]

So far everything I've seen on the DR-100 gets my vote, but only time will tell.  It's got it all!  If it sounds and performs anything like it looks and reads like, I want one!!  Patience is a virtue

[flintstone]

It's got it all, with the exception of a digital input!

[refrain]

... And the DR100 is limited to 48/24... 

CS

[nak700s]

Now there's some info I couldn't seem to find.  Are you certain about the digital inputs?  I, for some reason, thought it had digital in/out.  48/24, really?  Oops, maybe I need to reconsider.