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Recorder choice

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deejayen:
I'm looking at buying a recorder to record myself singing and playing guitar.  I'd be using a good quality mic (either a dynamic, condenser or ribbon). 

I have the opportunity to buy either a Marantz PMD-661 (Mk1) or a Fostex FR2-LE. 

Both recorders are unmodified, and because I'm in the UK it's unlikely I'd be able to have one of the common mods installed.

Anyway, it would be helpful to know if one of these recorders is a clear winner over the other!

Fatah Ruark (aka MIKE B):
Both of those are fine recorders. I don't think you'll notice much of a difference in sound quality.

I did previously own the Fostex and it was a great little recorder.

Can't say much about the Marantz, but it was a popular recorder among concert tapers. I still see people using them occasionally.

Gutbucket:
Both are capable of doing the job you describe. 

Backing up a bit, first consider your use case. The decision of what recorder to use should start with how you intend to use it.  Neither of those recorders, nor most others used by concert tapers feature over-dubbing capability.  You will be able to record yourself playing and singing along, but that's pretty much it.  If you want to record those two parts separately, add additional parts, double-track things or whatever in combination with what you previously recorded, these recorders are not what you want.  Instead, seek out a multi-tracker machine that capable of over-dubbing.  They come in all sizes from smaller to larger than those two recorders.

The two recorders you mention are/were good 'prosumer' quality early-generation digital flash-memory stereo recorders featuring balanced XLR inputs.  Yet they are also rather dated at this point.  Generally, the cost-benefit ratio for digital recorders has improved dramatically since and unless you've found a particularly attractive deal on them, it may make more sense to look at something newer.

Some important practical aspects are things like what memory the recorder uses. FR2-LE uses Compact Flash as I recall, which is no longer used in new devices, so may be harder and more costly to source (or not, I've not looked).  PMD-661 uses SD cards (SDHC I think?), so easier to source, just wont be able to use larger capacity SD cards than it is capable of handling.  You can typically always use a smaller capacity card.

Pretty sure both supply 48V phantom power, which is generally required to power a condenser mic.  To use a condenser mic into a recorder that does not provide phantom power, you will need something else to supply that, such as a phantom power supply or external preamp that provides phantom, and additional patch cables to connect everything up.  It gets complicated.  Often best to keep it simple and easier to setup and manage with just microphones and recorder.

Dynamic mics, including ribbons, do not use phantom power (some ribbons will be damaged by it), but tend to be less sensitive than condenser mics, meaning they will require more gain to achieve the same recording level. In that case, some lesser quality preamps such as some of what are built in to recorders can get noisy when cranked up to compensate.  Not sure about the internal preamps of those two recorders as I've not used them myself, but most inexpensive modern recorders and multi-trackers will tend to have cleaner preamps and lower noise-floors than recorders produced 15 or more years ago.

deejayen:
Thanks very much!  That's very helpful and gives me a lot to consider...

I've been mulling over some options for a wee while, but it's hard to decide which way to go!

I do have a home PC with a quality interface and DAW software, but that's located in my small home office, and I would like to be able to record in different rooms or maybe in a different location.

Since buying an acoustic guitar last year I've been doing a bit of singing, and would really only be looking to record simply with a single mic (without overdubs).  I'd import the recording into my DAW to add any EQ or reverb etc.  However, I'd like the recordings to be as good a quality as possible.  I presume you have to go for something like a Nagra 7 for the equivalent quality in a field recorder, and I'm not ready to splurge that much!

I just quite like the idea of being able to set levels, hit the record button and then play.  I've considerd a laptop with an audio interface, and I may end up going that route, but it gets more involved, and there's a bit more to do to (with a mouse and keyboard) to get things rolling.

I haven't made any enquiries, but I've seen a Marantz and Fostex advertised for around £200 and £300 respectively - both apparently un-used.  However, as you say they're both ancient models now (from around 2006 or so).  I think both might need some sort of inline level booster such as a FetHead or CloudLifter when used wth dynamic or ribbon mics.  Both recorders have phantom power (on or off on both inputs).

I had use of a Zoom H4n (not the Pro) but thought it was quite noisy, and it needed a bit of menu-hopping to configure it.

I've thought about a Sound Devices MixPre-3 or 6, possibly with the Musician plug-in, but am not sure about them for some reason.  Also, I'm still thinking that the immediacy of recording with a two-track or mono recorder might suit me.

I've also considered an old Sound Devices 744T, but they're more money, old, and expensive to service, plus the Firewire interface isn't a good option nowadays, and the internal hard drive spec and Compact Flash are also dated.

I've also considered a few options from the Centrance MixerFace R4R to the Zoom R12 touchscreen multi track recorder!

Gutbucket:
Sounds like you have it figured out.

The quality of recordings made using the current Sound Devices MixPre and Zoom F series recorders are very, very good (the F-series Zooms are much better than the H-series).  They both feature clean preamps low noise-floors and lots of gain, and can act as USB computer interfaces as well if you want to use them that way.  The sound quality difference between them and high end recorders such as Nagra will be very difficult for many folks to discern.  The more significant difference will be things like feature sets, build-quality, customer service.

Note that all of these machines will have "clean" style preamps.  If you want some euphonic color, get that via microphone choice and/or with processing after transferring the recording to the DAW.

The Musician plugin for the SoundDevices MixPre series recorders seems intended to sort of bridge the gap between these recorders and overdub multitrack machines, but I don't really know much about it.

I would recommend checking out the Zoom F3.  It's not much more than the price you mention at least here in the US (a quick search brings up listings for used at ~$280, new ~$350 USD).  It's small, simple, and features the same very good preamps as the rest of the F-series recorders.  Like the current SD MixPre's it features 32bit-float recording which may be attractive for you in that it eliminates the need to set gains - just plug in the mic, turn it on and roll.  Might be the right answer.  Can also record in traditional 16 and 24bit modes. It is one of the most popular models currently here at TS for concert tapers who need only a simple recorder with two channels.   

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