Topic: Marantz PMD 671 announced (on Oade)

[Chuck]

Yeah... I'm over thinking it for sure. I definately want the 24 bit plus digital in outs on the 671. I feel like the 660 is limiting as is my DAT. Just drinking GIN and wishing I had something to tape with soon. WSP soon, Ratdog in Nov. ARU in January all being announced, is making me "tweaky."

I tried to talk Doug into leaving in the existing caps and do the rest of the mods until the new caps come in, but he didn't want to do that. I'm on the list to get the stock unit, so I'm sure I'll do that. But basically all I'll have until mid December is a 24 bit recorder with lousy mic preamps.

[sygdwm]

stay the course chuck. its not that long. im sure you could borrow a preamp seeing as how there are more tapers per capita where you are.

[RDunn]

The 671 does have 3 presets, but if you turn the deck off.... and then back on..... it always restarts with Preset 1.  With my unit, I set preset 1 as 16/44.1, preset 2 as 24/48 & preset 3 as 24/96.  If I record a show at 24/48 and then power the deck down at the break, it'll start back up as 16/44.1, but it's an easy change to another preset.... although you do have to access the menu to do it.  Guess I should just setup preset 1 as 24/48 to make it simpler in the field.

The plastic cover screws on to cover up most of the functions that you rarely use... but it still allows you to use the menu.  Personally I wish they had recessed those controls and put a clear plastic cover over them.....  I don't particularly like the idea of a screw on cover, but that's just me.

4 gb media cards will get you just over 4 hours at 24/48..... and the Kingston's work great.

One other feature of the 671 is that it allows you to monitor the actual recording (not just the signal going to the card)..... sort of like a 3 head cassette deck.  BUT this feature doesn't work at 24 bit.

[Chuck]

The 671 does have 3 presets, but if you turn the deck off.... and then back on..... it always restarts with Preset 1.  With my unit, I set preset 1 as 16/44.1, preset 2 as 24/48 & preset 3 as 24/96.  If I record a show at 24/48 and then power the deck down at the break, it'll start back up as 16/44.1, but it's an easy change to another preset.... although you do have to access the menu to do it.  Guess I should just setup preset 1 as 24/48 to make it simpler in the field.
Yeah, that just confirms what I thought and what Nick said. Cool.

The plastic cover screws on to cover up most of the functions that you rarely use... but it still allows you to use the menu.  Personally I wish they had recessed those controls and put a clear plastic cover over them.....  I don't particularly like the idea of a screw on cover, but that's just me.

4 gb media cards will get you just over 4 hours at 24/48..... and the Kingston's work great.
Thanks for the reassurance on the Kingston. Have you succesfully used it at 24/96?

One other feature of the 671 is that it allows you to monitor the actual recording (not just the signal going to the card)..... sort of like a 3 head cassette deck.  BUT this feature doesn't work at 24 bit.
Yeah, I read that. I probably wouldn't use that feature in the field.

[spyder9]

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 have Nick's recording and I have to say its just plain sick!  The 660 is a sweet sounding box.  I'd love to do an A/B between the 660 and my Denecke combo with my AT853RXs.  That setup gives me the cleanest, most transparent recordings.  If the 660 can come close to that transparency, I'll would be very happy.   Nick, do you think if I send me my mics to Doug, he could do the A/B for me?  I doubt he would send me a 660 for demo, like the chance you had.

[Nick's Picks]

Dougs pretty busy....
so probably he'd tell you he doesn't have the time for the test.

the Inbox is clean sounding.  and crispy..i'll give it that.
but it will not carve the same 3d soundstage that the ACM 660 does. 
in my mind, there is no comparrison between the two sounds.

[spyder9]

Dougs pretty busy....
so probably he'd tell you he doesn't have the time for the test.

the Inbox is clean sounding.  and crispy..i'll give it that.
but it will not carve the same 3d soundstage that the ACM 660 does. 
in my mind, there is no comparrison between the two sounds.

The comparison can't be said until the test is done.  Its not just the AD20, but the PS2 plays a roll as well.  That box improves the dynamic range because of the phantom power provided to the 853s.  If it was just battery box > AD20, that would be a different story.  Phantom > AD20 does give good soundstage, IMHO.  I have recordings to prove it.

I want the 660 for a All-In-One stealth box.  It would chop down my rig from 4 pieces to 2.

Anybody here with a 660?  If you can help me with an A/B, please PM me.   Thanks.

[MattinSTL]

Chuck and RDunn... On my unit it's INSTANTLY ready to record... and it's even got a Power-Up Pre-REC so that it starts recording a buffer the second you turn it on.

Then the normal Pre-REC works GREAT... it's just as if you had a time machine to go back a couple seconds (up to 5 seconds when recording 16/48).

RDunn... you gotta' check things out on your unit... I don't ever have to change any of my presets. It's always on Preset 3 and all my bit/sample rates are the same. On my unit it's always exactly like I left it and it's instantly ready to record from turn-on with NO other buttons pushed.

Chuck... the other thing that's nice about the 671 form-factor is the sliding red REC button instantly activates recording... you don't have to go into REC-PAUSE or anything like that... plus with the pre-rec function it's damn near impossible to miss something you want. This thing is Uber-userfriendly.

Since I'm not pushing my unit with detailed music recordings I can't comment on the pre "brick-walling" but I can tell you that everybody's been blown away hearing this thing... even running mic-in. The lower specs for mic-in just don't sound so low. I don't know if it matters but I'm running 480b with it. (ck63, 61, 69)

EDIT: Oh and I forgot... I actually like the plastic cover... it only conceals the buttons you're not likely to change once you set it up how you like it... and the bunch of buttons that it covers are part of the reason that the menu is so quick and clean. Much of the unit setup is determined by physical switches rather then software switches.

[Nick's Picks]

Dougs pretty busy....
so probably he'd tell you he doesn't have the time for the test.

the Inbox is clean sounding.  and crispy..i'll give it that.
but it will not carve the same 3d soundstage that the ACM 660 does. 
in my mind, there is no comparrison between the two sounds.

The comparison can't be said until the test is done.  Its not just the AD20, but the PS2 plays a roll as well.  That box improves the dynamic range because of the phantom power provided to the 853s.  If it was just battery box > AD20, that would be a different story.  Phantom > AD20 does give good soundstage, IMHO.  I have recordings to prove it.

I want the 660 for a All-In-One stealth box.  It would chop down my rig from 4 pieces to 2.

Anybody here with a 660?  If you can help me with an A/B, please PM me.   Thanks.

I know the ps2>inbox sound very well.  ran it with 853s, mbho's, akgs...
i like it ...its just not the same as the acm marantz.
buy one...you'll see.

plus, its overall far better to use.  nice meeters.  "one box" vs. 3.

[Chuck]

Thanks for the comments MattinSTL. Those features are very benificial, I think.

Has anyone tried using the Hitachi 4 GB microdrive in the Marantz recorders? The MicroTrack guys are reporting success using it in that device. Man, it would be sweet (and cheap) if that microdrive works in the 671.

[RDunn]

RDunn... you gotta' check things out on your unit... I don't ever have to change any of my presets. It's always on Preset 3 and all my bit/sample rates are the same. On my unit it's always exactly like I left it and it's instantly ready to record from turn-on with NO other buttons pushed.

Just did some checking on my unit and here's what I found.  Previously when selecting a preset, I've gone into the menu, switched the preset, hit enter and then stop/cancel.  Using this methold does switch the preset, but it doesn't store the settings when you cut the unit off and back on.  If you switch the preset in the menu, hit enter, and then hit the menu button again, it switches the preset AND stores it so when the unit is powered off and back on, it comes back to the last used setting.

As I expected it's a case of "user headspace".....

[Nick's Picks]

[spyder9]

Dougs pretty busy....
so probably he'd tell you he doesn't have the time for the test.

the Inbox is clean sounding.  and crispy..i'll give it that.
but it will not carve the same 3d soundstage that the ACM 660 does. 
in my mind, there is no comparrison between the two sounds.

The comparison can't be said until the test is done.  Its not just the AD20, but the PS2 plays a roll as well.  That box improves the dynamic range because of the phantom power provided to the 853s.  If it was just battery box > AD20, that would be a different story.  Phantom > AD20 does give good soundstage, IMHO.  I have recordings to prove it.

I want the 660 for a All-In-One stealth box.  It would chop down my rig from 4 pieces to 2.

Anybody here with a 660?  If you can help me with an A/B, please PM me.   Thanks.

I know the ps2>inbox sound very well.  ran it with 853s, mbho's, akgs...
i like it ...its just not the same as the acm marantz.
buy one...you'll see.

plus, its overall far better to use.  nice meeters.  "one box" vs. 3.

Agreed.  I think I'm gonna buy the 660 for my 480s.  I bet the 480s sound sweet with it.  Then I can do the test with the 853s on my own.   

[Chuck]

Dougs pretty busy....
so probably he'd tell you he doesn't have the time for the test.

the Inbox is clean sounding.  and crispy..i'll give it that.
but it will not carve the same 3d soundstage that the ACM 660 does. 
in my mind, there is no comparrison between the two sounds.

The comparison can't be said until the test is done.  Its not just the AD20, but the PS2 plays a roll as well.  That box improves the dynamic range because of the phantom power provided to the 853s.  If it was just battery box > AD20, that would be a different story.  Phantom > AD20 does give good soundstage, IMHO.  I have recordings to prove it.

I want the 660 for a All-In-One stealth box.  It would chop down my rig from 4 pieces to 2.

Anybody here with a 660?  If you can help me with an A/B, please PM me.   Thanks.

I know the ps2>inbox sound very well.  ran it with 853s, mbho's, akgs...
i like it ...its just not the same as the acm marantz.
buy one...you'll see.

plus, its overall far better to use.  nice meeters.  "one box" vs. 3.

Agreed.  I think I'm gonna buy the 660 for my 480s.  I bet the 480s sound sweet with it.  Then I can do the test with the 853s on my own.   

...and I'm hoping the ACM PMD 671 matches well with my 480's...

[F.O.Bean]

when tax time comes, I'm DEFINITELY getting one of these bad boys, seems too damn user friendly to pass up, even w/ the 12v batts

I plan on getting a handful of 12v NIMH batts to use seperatly from the vr box(jb3/16-bit backup w/ the v3>analog out>jb3 )

then again i may just get a bunch of those small 12v NIMH batt packs and wire them in parallel so i can power the v3/jb3 off of one 12v system

and the ACM mod may get done as well, just to have some diff pre/ad options

the rest of my tax return is going to fines