Topic: Marantz PMD 671 announced (on Oade)

[RDunn]

I've been using the Kingston 4 gb 45x elite pro with my 671 and and gotten great recordings so far (only done 2 shows though).  Picked them both up on Ebay for less than 180 each.  As for batteries...... I'm using Powerex 2500 mh NiMH batteries with a Lacrosse BC900 charger.  I've been getting 5+ hours on a set of batteries, but do carry along an extra "loaded" battery holder so I can replace them quickly if needed.  They seem to be the same size as the Duracell alkalines I have around the house.

Still haven't used anything but the digital input so far at shows...... hard to beat that V3 as a mic pre / a>d.....  I do expect to use the line in in the near future though and will report back my findings.

RD

[Chuck]

I've been using the Kingston 4 gb 45x elite pro with my 671 and and gotten great recordings so far (only done 2 shows though).  Picked them both up on Ebay for less than 180 each.  As for batteries...... I'm using Powerex 2500 mh NiMH batteries with a Lacrosse BC900 charger.  I've been getting 5+ hours on a set of batteries, but do carry along an extra "loaded" battery holder so I can replace them quickly if needed.  They seem to be the same size as the Duracell alkalines I have around the house.

Still haven't used anything but the digital input so far at shows...... hard to beat that V3 as a mic pre / a>d.....  I do expect to use the line in in the near future though and will report back my findings.

RD

So you haven't had an issue with the PowerEx 2500 mAh in the 671 battery holder? I'm probably going to get 16 of them to start with the La Crosse charger. Where did you get the spare batt holder? Now, I'm on the list for just a stock 671 from Doug until he gets the parts for the ACM mod. I may have to pick-up a UA-5 until the ACM parts come in. Good to hear that the Kingston card is working.

[esteyes]

the meters are not as nice as my ole HHB PDR1k. but that does not really bother me, what really bugs me is that the preamp issue clouds the usefulness of the meters. you can overload the input, ruin your recording,  and still have your recording showing that it never peaked higher than -6dB. i would also LOVE to have some sort of peak light for each channel. still i have the FP33 up front, so i have to use that now.
^^^
Could you elaborate on this? The meters on the 671 are not accurate?

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i do not think the meters are fast enuff to keep up with the input; ie the ballistics are slow. i doi not know where they derived the source for the meters. that would matter.
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yes the deck is STOCK.
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I'm using Powerex 2500 mh NiMH batteries with a <snip> They seem to be the same size as the Duracell alkalines I have around the house.

good to know. i have considered taking off the shrink label to thin them down. just makes keeping matched sets tougher.

neil in san marcos

[Nick's Picks]

no, they are accurate.   its just that the stock preamp brickwalls.

Latest word, btw...
is that the parts doug is waiting on have been bumped back to Dec.

so, the options are BC mod, which will probably sound stock, but will not brickwall.  Like the Omod for the FR2.
this is an assumption..btw.

or, just buy a stock one (he gives an excellent price to tapers, lower than i've seen anywhere) and run a preamp in front of it for a while.
thats my plan.  time to put that 248 back into deployment.

[timP]

just got an email saying the same about the parts...

I think I am going to get a stock one  and run cooker's  d-mod UA5 spidif into it and see how that sounds at 24bit......

[Nick's Picks]

d mod?
does it sound like this?
www.nickspicks.com/mp3/D.WAV

[timP]

harh harh harh...


usually it sounds a little bit better.. actually love the digi-mod with my MGs

I usually sound like that when I pull a bad tape   

[Nick's Picks]

[Chuck]

no, they are accurate.   its just that the stock preamp brickwalls.

Latest word, btw...
is that the parts doug is waiting on have been bumped back to Dec.

so, the options are BC mod, which will probably sound stock, but will not brickwall.  Like the Omod for the FR2.
this is an assumption..btw.

or, just buy a stock one (he gives an excellent price to tapers, lower than i've seen anywhere) and run a preamp in front of it for a while.
thats my plan.  time to put that 248 back into deployment.

That's my plan as well.

[twoodruff]

whats the stock one go for?

[Nick's Picks]

$850 shipped.
$100 more than the ACM 660, which made it an easier decision between the two.

the 660 sounds soooo good.  but i suppose 248>671 @ 24bit will sound nice too.

[Chuck]

I feel my enthusiasm for the PMD 671 waining a little bit as the news of the parts delay sinks in. I'm trying to keep my interest alive.
I downloaded the manual and have a few questions.

Does the PRE REC option work well? Is it useful? I see this as possibly a great feature of this recorder. I would have loved to have this for a few times when the band started playing 1 second before I got my DAT rolling.
After you set the unit up, it looks like you can put a cover over the Recording Set-Up Controls on the top of it. Is that accurate?
Also, once you have the Presets set, can you just basically turn it on and be ready to roll? Is there a lot of menu driven stuff to do to start recording?

I'm also still worried about the Media Cards. If re-formated every time you use them, will they work 100% of the time at say 24 bit, 48 kHz PCM WAV for 1-3 hours? I bought the Kingston PRO Elite 4 GB card, I just hope it will work well.

[Nick's Picks]

you think too much chuck.

- pre record works very well.
- not sure about the cover
- the presets are programable (on the 660,so i assume the same here) to whatever you want, so yea.  it'll boot up at the last used preset as well as being able to swap throught them easily.
- your kingston card will work fine. i hope so.  i just bought one too.  they should be robust as hell, and 2448 for just around 4 hours.

[Nick's Picks]

btw..
the 660 ACM uses a different cap that he has.  so those are not on the "off list".  and if your happy w/16 bit, then you'd be real happy with one of these.

Carl and I were listening on his system last weekend to that ratdog show I did w/one, and man...it was just as enjoyable as the 24bit stuff we were listening to.  the fidelity was aparrent. 
so fuck it.  save several hundred (for the eventual acm costs) and rock out w/that sweet little 660.
:-)
then again....its only $100 between the two.  and if you can borrow a v2 or something???

[d5]

btw..
the 660 ACM uses a different cap that he has.  so those are not on the "off list".  and if your happy w/16 bit, then you'd be real happy with one of these.

Carl and I were listening on his system last weekend to that ratdog show I did w/one, and man...it was just as enjoyable as the 24bit stuff we were listening to.  the fidelity was aparrent. 
so fuck it.  save several hundred (for the eventual acm costs) and rock out w/that sweet little 660.
:-)
then again....its only $100 between the two.  and if you can borrow a v2 or something???

I had that show on again tonight also.... it's just an awesome recording... really shows off the mod's sound stage nicely (+t Nick). have to believe the acm 671 is going to an incredible recorder.