COMP: Oade Warm Mod Marantz PMD661 vs Zoom F3

[fanofjam]

Doug's a solid engineer, but the difference between different IC based preamps isn't gonna show up in a casual listening environment

Yet he's offered mods of different 'colors' that clearly have different sounds, so clearly his designs have differences that impact the sound of his mod products.  Is your point that listening through a shitty system is counterproductive?  If so, point taken and that's why I qualified my comment.  But since nearly two weeks later, only one person had offered their opinion on the sound results from the comp, I thought I'd give the OP some love and provide my thoughts on the actual sound of the recordings instead of critiquing his technique.

[datbrad]

The only 2 performance enhancements that introduce "color" are the two that use FET op amps, the warm mod for loud sources, and the FET mod for nature/Foley work. The concert mod and super mod both use bipolar op amps, and are extremely transparent. I have decks with both warm and concert mods and the FET op amps do add the characteristic sound of those chips, the rounded bass and  non-strident highs. The warm mod 661 takes the sizzle out of AKG 460s which is why I got it 15 years ago. When I tried using dynamic mics with the warm mod several years ago, I found the highs were not pushing through and the bass sounded a bit tubby. Doug sent me a concert mod to try out and the bass was tighter and the highs were more distinct. That is what I found to be the real world differences between the two preamp mods. (For the heck of it I ran the 460s into the concert mod and the bass was too crunchy and the highs were uncomfortably sharp.) What this comp helped me with is accepting the F3 as a viable alternative when the Marantz decks I have need to be retired. Thanks for the comp!

[fanofjam]

What this comp helped me with is accepting the F3 as a viable alternative when the Marantz decks I have need to be retired. Thanks for the comp!

That was my takeaway as well, at least in terms of F3 performance (my 661 is stock, not a warm mod).  I bought an F3 awhile back based on sound sampling I'd done.  It's a marvel how far audio recording has come since the days of analog cassette tape flips. 

[Billy Mumphrey]

I hear most of the difference in the high frequencies, basically the hihat/cymbals and the snare. In the words of someone who PM'd me: with the F3 source, the upper mids are clean and sharp and the high end is silky and extended.

The warm mod is just a little bit softer, the highs don't jump out at you like the F3 but still very pleasant. I've been on an analog kick lately, thanks to goodcookers cassette project as well as listening to a lot of Mike Millard recordings, and it makes me appreciate  what Doug tries to do with these mods.

I hesitated to put the "vs" in the title, as it's not a competition to me but a presentation of options. But I knew both would sound good and was hoping to open people to both: the Zoom F series recorders are not the junk/toy recorders of years ago but serious options. The Oade mods are not snake oil but still relevant, especially if you want different "flavors" for different scenarios.

I plan to keep my warm mod 661 primarily for outdoor recordings, particularly bluegrass. When I first got the 661 I ran it indoors for a jazz show where I was really close to the stage and it is such a wonderful recording with huge soundstage.

I did NOT start hearing these kinds of details until I upgraded my playback. I'm soooo fortunate to finally get out of apartments and now I have a dedicated listening room with sound treatment. In my not-so-humble opinion studio monitors are the best way to listen to audience recordings I've heard some awesome home theaters/playbacks but they tend to color the sound; I want to hear my gear transparently. For my living room I even picked up some used Presonus bluetooth 4.5 inch monitors to run from a phone or laptop and they're great. If you're still in apartments, start with a entry level DAC/headphone amp and some decent cans. You don't need to break the bank IMO. Look on Facebook Marketplace, the amount of people who tried (and failed) to start a podcast or home studio are endless these days.

[Billy Mumphrey]

Here is the entire show, both sources.

https://samply.app/p/fS8sU3RBaqSgawbUBm0T

The band's name is Daruma and this was at Commons Park, which is pretty close to downtown Denver. Parking and traffic was atrocious (by my standards) and thus I was a bit sloppy in my execution; I had to pull the mics down and adjust (after the first song I believe) and then the soundguy's buddy came over and started yapping, naturally So I shifted to the right about 4-5 feet after the 3rd or 4th song. I knew I just wanted to get enough for a proper comparison.

But the band is super chill about taping and worth a share.

[fanofjam]

I did NOT start hearing these kinds of details until I upgraded my playback.

All true of course, but one of the things I wish people would get away from is nit-piking on the methodology and/or technical discussion used in making the comps.  Tech info is relevant, of course, but most comps end up mostly being conversations about why the comp may not be a good comp, which IMHO kinda sucks because usually someone has to go to quite great lengths to set up a comp and then post it onto the site.  The last comp I did, literally the first comment asked was a very basic doubting of whether or not I'd set up the mics correctly.  That shifted the entire thread conversation immediately into a new direction rather than having the focus be the comp itself.  As if I'd go to the lengths to set-up, master, and then post a blind comp only to get something so fundamentally wrong with the comp.  I had to spend a page defending my comp methodology and there was literally not a single comment on the comp itself.  Totally wished I hadn't posted the comp at that point, got pissed off and took it down.  (I can't help it, I'm a sensitive guy LOL.)

If you're still in apartments, start with a entry level DAC/headphone amp and some decent cans. You don't need to break the bank IMO. Look on Facebook Marketplace, the amount of people who tried (and failed) to start a podcast or home studio are endless these days.

I wish I had a listening room.  But yes I agree with you for sure that the playback system is every bit as important as your recording system if you want to get the most out of your taping gear.  My preference is open-back cans, but my wife has great hearing while I wear hearing aids so even when listening through my Sennheiser 700's (without my hearing aids), she's constantly telling me to turn it down HAHA.   My most common listening scenario is either my closed-back cans or IEMs.  I have a decent quality DAC that I can't remember the name of, but I've come to the conclusion that the quality of the headphones is more important to my system than the DAC.  (Comments welcome.)

That said, for A vs B comping, I don't think it's quite as important to listen through a top-level sound system since you're listening for differences in the two samples.  Obviously subtle differences might not be obvious on lower quality systems, but basic impressions have always been what I'm after when I post a comp.  I mean, if two samples are really close, I can't tell a difference if you separate them by 5 minutes anyway, so I personally don't concern myself at that level since my audience recordings aren't perfect to begin with.

I'm not arguing, just offering some thoughts I've had over the years.

[Billy Mumphrey]

You bring up a good point about basic impressions, especially in regards to these being subtle differences. Not everyone wants to analyze these things to level that some of us here like to do, and I think it helps to remember that. Especially because that can be a huge turnoff for newbies. Everyone go out and tape bands, listen on your laptop speakers if you want and enjoy your recordings! If you want to start choosing your gear a little more carefully, these comps are a great starting point.

Shoutout unclehoolio, he's shared a number of his comps with me and his thoughts (and his ears) are always on point.