Topic: Marantz PMD 671 announced (on Oade)

[twoodruff]

I also run a "stock" 671 and can confirm that it will record 24/96 through the spdif input, as I personally have done it coming out of a V3.  Now with that being said, until 8 gig cards drop way down in price, I'll mostly be recording at 24/48..... which still sounds pretty frickin nice.

RD

i feel the same, just really wanted to see if it *could* record at 24/96, most of what I do will be at 24/48 for the time being, where are people finding 4 gb cards? And I believe I read that Kingston cards are recommended, experience?

[Ed.]

check out the retail section for 4gb cards, i'm pretty sure they go on sale quite often for around $165-$190 if you're patient.

[sygdwm]

http://cgi.ebay.com/High-Speed-Elite-4GB-Kingston-Compact-Flash-4-GB-CF_W0QQitemZ7552385606QQcategoryZ48526QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem


http://www.mwave.com/mwave/shoppingcart.asp?CartID=MWV@RWXWZGLPBKJUWYSBLG4ST8RU42QZHHZ6FXCXEQ8QYU6VBZ&scriteria=BA20999&UpDepts=FLASHMEDIA-CF&DName=Flash%20Media%20-%20Compact%20Flash&Back=FLASHMEDIA-CF-KINGSTON&Bname=KINGSTON&recal=1


http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820160034

[RDunn]

I also run a "stock" 671 and can confirm that it will record 24/96 through the spdif input, as I personally have done it coming out of a V3.  Now with that being said, until 8 gig cards drop way down in price, I'll mostly be recording at 24/48..... which still sounds pretty frickin nice.

RD

How's the metering on the 671?

The metering is fine..... although it doesn't have as many segments as my Sony PCM-R500 home deck or an HHb PDR1000, particularly between -6 and 0.... but then again the metering is much better than what you get with a Sony D8.  It does have a hanging peak hold though and a numeric readout of the loudest peak (which can be reset).  And with the back lighting on, the display is easily viewable.

[sygdwm]

good info. thanks. would it be too much to ask to see pictures of it in action? the ones on the oade site dont show the front clearly. +t

[Chuck]

Yeah, thanks for the info...
It's that type of info that really helps.
 +T

[RDunn]

good info. thanks. would it be too much to ask to see pictures of it in action? the ones on the oade site dont show the front clearly. +t

Here's a couple I just took while cloning a DAT.  The levels are peaking pretty low at the time, but it should give you an idea of what they look like.....

[sygdwm]

 Sorry, you can't repeat a karma action without waiting 12 hours.

[F.O.Bean]

sorry to take ya from 69 to 70 BUT ..............

thanks alot man!

[RDunn]

It seems like a number of other recorders require a stopping/restarting to create a new file.  One cool thing about the Marantz is that all you have to do is slide the record switch to the right and it immediately starts recording a new file.

A couple other things regarding powering the 671.  It uses a battery holder that holds 8 AA batteries.  You can use different types of batteries including rechargeables and get between 4-7 hours per "sled".  Rather than dealing with pulling out the holder and changing 8 batteries, you can purchase an extra battery holder from Marantz.  They run $22 plus shipping and I also believe Doug Oade has ordered them to offer for folks buying a 671.  If you're looking at the internal battery packs that Marantz has available, make sure to get the RB1651 and NOT the RB1650.  The RB1651 is the newer battery that will charge inside the 671 recorder, while the RB1650 requires an expensive outboard charger.  Both will power the 671, but only the RB1651 will charge inside the recorder.

[Nick's Picks]

i'm coming late w/my comments...

R4 meetering.
it doesn't suck.  It just not "great".  its better than a jb3, but not as good as nice segmented meeter displays.  You get used to it quickly.  Its just tight.  -12 to 0db is all in the last quarter inch of display.
they are touchy...and accurate.  once you use it a couple of times, you'll get to know them and like them.
the analog section sucks...its pure edirol ass cheese.  well, its their best ass cheese, but it still sucks.

there has been no talk of Oade mods to the R4 ...as of recent any way.  we'll see what comes of that in the future.  he's probably backlogged w/the Marantz mods at the moment.

[MattinSTL]

i think the only guy running it stock is MattinSTL on here. but he only uses it for voice or something. line in from the v3 or possibly the brick would be fine for the time being i reckon. until the mods are ready at least.

Sorry I haven't been on the forum much in the past week... I had a video project due and that got all my time. I just wanted to drop by and add my .02 to this discussion since my previous posts. (I can see that RDunn is really doing everybody a service with info and pics 

I happened to get one of the 671's that hasn't had the firmware update yet, but Marantz gave me an RA# to have it taken care of... I didn't send it back yet because it sounds so good at 16/48. Earlier in this thread I asked RDunn about hiss issues and he said he wasn't getting hardly any... which had me worried, but I was only trying 24/96. When I switched it to 16/48 the hiss virtually dissappeared. The easy way to know if you need the firmware update is when you go into the quality presets and switch from 16 to 24 it will give a second option of 24 shown as 24e... this is the updated 24 format that the windows programs recognize and I assume that my hiss issue will be fixed with that update as well. Like I said I'll have to post back for that... since my video project is done I'll send it out tomorrow.

Other then that I'd just like to say that I'm absolutely ELATED with this thing. It's everything I wanted and more... I'm running it stock with mic-in sometimes and FP-24 (mixpre) line-in others. I've used it with Oktava and AKG 480b so far... and it flat out rocks. Some things which won't be as useful to you guys that are killer for me is the ability to listen to any part of a recording WHILE you are still recording the current event! You can listen to the opener while it's recording the encore! Another cool trick is the silent start... again for many of you guys this will be worthless, but when you combine the fact that it records audio from 2 to 4 seconds BEFORE you push record... along with the silent start... this thing can be abandoned and it will just sit there and switch from record to record-pause so that it edits all the silence out of an interview... or some other special use where there could be long pauses that you don't want. You can even change the number of seconds of silence that it allows before pausing the record.

Sure that may not be of use recording music... but as RDunn also mentioned, the thing does everything seamlessly... you can split files any way you want or even split 'em on the fly or you can even tell the machine where to split them ahead of time... simply put, this thing rocks. I'm loving it. Running it stock it even sounds great! Popping the on the FP-24 makes it sound virtually transparent to my ears.

Is it an SD722? NO... would I trade my rig for the Sound Devices rig? Hell YES. But I do think this is a really pro answer for those that can deal with the size and plan to add a pre.

Obviously I'd predict that the ACM 671 will be damn near the ultimate all-in-one. I'd love to hear one... the only reason I chose the stock route is 'cause I wanted the mixpre in the chain... my normal use has the 671 and FP24 in a bag with a wireless transmitter also... then the soundguy ONLY runs the levels at the FP24... everything else is left to do it's job with no attention needed. No touching anything means no fudging anything up during a shoot. As long as he hears sound and I hear sound we both know everything's good.

If I got this thing for music I'd be hard-pressed to find a reason not to go with the ACM version and call it done. (although as you can tell I'm totally satisfied with the rig I've got set up too)

[Chuck]

Thanks for the update. +T
I'm on the ACM PMD 671 list. I can't wait to get it in my hands.

Do you find the meters to be accurate? How are you powering it?
What CF card are you using?

[MattinSTL]

The meters are okay for me... I have meters on the FP-24 and they're super-fast... they flicker and light so it's easy to assess averages between values (for each LED)... Anyway the 671 meters seem to mimic the FP-24 pretty well. Also the highest peak number (or margin, as they call it) is handy... so you can see if you're hitting a 0db or over (says "OV")... I'm running mine with 2500mAH Energizer NiMH rechargeables from Target ($10 per 4 pack)... and I'm using the Kingston Elite Pro 4 GB card that was $188 from Dell.

If I had one criticism I'd say that the meters on the 660 would be more handy. I guess Marantz figures the 660 meters are cheaper because they're LED and the 671 has the nice display... but I'd like to be able to glance down and see a row of green lights with a red at 0db. Like RDunn says, if the backlight is on then it's pretty easy to monitor levels, but I'd still rather have a row of LEDs.

The one good thing about running at 24bit is you can run your levels as low as -20db and you still have all the headroom in the world to get the levels where you want them (cleanly). So if you don't want to watch levels too carefully (or else give yourself a wide margin for error) then it's no big deal... 'cause unlike 16bit the 24bit can be brought WAY up without distorting the signal.

[nickgregory]

The one good thing about running at 24bit is you can run your levels as low as -20db and you still have all the headroom in the world to get the levels where you want them (cleanly). So if you don't want to watch levels too carefully (or else give yourself a wide margin for error) then it's no big deal... 'cause unlike 16bit the 24bit can be brought WAY up without distorting the signal.

you lose bits that way...you want to get as close to zero to get full resolution.