Topic: Marantz PMD 660

[dennisrtyler]

Has anyone used the line out for patching?  I'm wondering what kind of results one could get!

the line out is disabled on the acm660 but you may be able to patch out of the headphone jack.

Wait, I think you're talking line in is disabled. I've had people patch to my line out but I haven't heard their recordings. They do get levels. I know you have to have line out selected on your preset menu.



I actually recorded a show not to long ago where I had the speaker selected for output and I started hearing a noise and found that it was the speaker that was playing the recording.

you're right, my bad, line in is disabled. +T for correct info

[Corbin]

I have one Kington 4GB CF card for my 660 but it looks like I'm going to have to buy another one sooner that I thought.  I'm a Canadian living in Korea so my options are a bit more limited than most..I would prefer to get Kingston cards because after reading through all the 660 threads they seem to be the most problem-free.

Unfortunately, I don't think Kingston sells cards in Korea.  But I would be able to get (2) 2GB Sandisk cards here for a relatively good price.  I just remember a couple weeks or months ago, it seemed that more and more people were having some trouble with their Sandisk cards..So I'm just wondering, is it the consensus of most of the people in this thread that Sandisk cards are okay to use in a 660?
Thanks,
Adam

[tfs8271]

I have one Kington 4GB CF card for my 660 but it looks like I'm going to have to buy another one sooner that I thought.  I'm a Canadian living in Korea so my options are a bit more limited than most..I would prefer to get Kingston cards because after reading through all the 660 threads they seem to be the most problem-free.

Unfortunately, I don't think Kingston sells cards in Korea.  But I would be able to get (2) 2GB Sandisk cards here for a relatively good price.  I just remember a couple weeks or months ago, it seemed that more and more people were having some trouble with their Sandisk cards..So I'm just wondering, is it the consensus of most of the people in this thread that Sandisk cards are okay to use in a 660?
Thanks,
Adam

Buy a portable card reader with hard drive instead?

[dcaley]

I have one Kington 4GB CF card for my 660 but it looks like I'm going to have to buy another one sooner that I thought.  I'm a Canadian living in Korea so my options are a bit more limited than most..I would prefer to get Kingston cards because after reading through all the 660 threads they seem to be the most problem-free.

Unfortunately, I don't think Kingston sells cards in Korea.  But I would be able to get (2) 2GB Sandisk cards here for a relatively good price.  I just remember a couple weeks or months ago, it seemed that more and more people were having some trouble with their Sandisk cards..So I'm just wondering, is it the consensus of most of the people in this thread that Sandisk cards are okay to use in a 660?
Thanks,
Adam

Buy a portable card reader with hard drive instead?

i second that!

[RobertNC]

I recently switched from one 4 GB Sandisk card to two 2GB Lexar Platinum II 80X cards and I am a lot more confident in the Lexars than I was in the Sandisk. 

The Sandisk never let me down in the field but I saw a lotta card errors when I would power up.

Can you get Lexar there?

[agave]

did the van morrison @ the SF grand & my 660 was bad from the start of the show had wild level differences  r to l .. stopped the deck twice checked every thing started agin and still had a low drop on the right side .. adjusted the r to l level manully till they looked as if they were the same (at the end of the show they were a 1/4 turn difference )..  it was a Killer show one of those rare moments ... the Man Van was way on .. got home checked the card pull on the PC  all i got was static / some audio for the 1st 34 minutes then all is fine the rest of the show '' i think'' , couldn't T/S  much as i was flyin to VeGas in 6 hours .. get to VeGas check in to the room ,looking at 5 hours till the next show .. soo i do a full T /S of everything as best i can do in a hotel room .. power up the deck  hook the schoeps up side by side do the blow on the mic's thing ..right side low on levels ... do that with the tv on fully .. same thing right Right low .. adjust the r/l levels soo they look the same .. listen to the play back (had forgot to pack the head phones ) on the deck speaker .. hear a ticking /slight static .. think lets try another card than the one used the nite before .. do the T/ S all over agin . this time the static/ ticking is gone but still have a difference on the L / R  right still low but seems slight.I adjust to bring them together .. Not feeling very sure about tonites show but do the pull anyway   Another Killer Van show.. 2 in a row WoW ! ..listen to the pull after the show on the deck's speaker all seems fine .. but knowing i only have 1 card with Van on it I now have to pass on the Prince NYE show   (wasn't gonna take a taxi to the bestbuy to get one )as the tkts were 300$ to Prince & there was a dought about the deck anyway ... get home after the weekend check the VeGas Van pull slight differences on the right to left fix with software the pull is Sick it's soo good ... BUT one fuck*p got one loud pop/crackle for a second on the right side agin ... but that's was all ! the pull is stellar but that brief pop ... Soo here i am thinking WTF is up Deck,Mic's,actives .. Called Doug . He says send him everything & i do right down to both cards .. FedEx the next day .. he emails this morning saying it's the deck  but no details ,says he'll fix by the end of the day & wants to burn it in for a few days to make sure using my mic's ... will advise you'll what's up when i know more ...    the SF Grand show was static fully on right side for 34 minutes then DEAD !!  & a great sound on the left ... am soo lucky it worked the next night ...........

[tfs8271]

did the van morrison @ the SF grand & my 660 was bad from the start of the show had wild level differences  r to l .. stopped the deck twice checked every thing started agin and still had a low drop on the right side .. adjusted the r to l level manully till they looked as if they were the same (at the end of the show they were a 1/4 turn difference )..  it was a Killer show one of those rare moments ... the Man Van was way on .. got home checked the card pull on the PC  all i got was static / some audio for the 1st 34 minutes then all is fine the rest of the show '' i think'' , couldn't T/S  much as i was flyin to VeGas in 6 hours .. get to VeGas check in to the room ,looking at 5 hours till the next show .. soo i do a full T /S of everything as best i can do in a hotel room .. power up the deck  hook the schoeps up side by side do the blow on the mic's thing ..right side low on levels ... do that with the tv on fully .. same thing right Right low .. adjust the r/l levels soo they look the same .. listen to the play back (had forgot to pack the head phones ) on the deck speaker .. hear a ticking /slight static .. think lets try another card than the one used the nite before .. do the T/ S all over agin . this time the static/ ticking is gone but still have a difference on the L / R  right still low but seems slight.I adjust to bring them together .. Not feeling very sure about tonites show but do the pull anyway   Another Killer Van show.. 2 in a row WoW ! ..listen to the pull after the show on the deck's speaker all seems fine .. but knowing i only have 1 card with Van on it I now have to pass on the Prince NYE show   (wasn't gonna take a taxi to the bestbuy to get one )as the tkts were 300$ to Prince & there was a dought about the deck anyway ... get home after the weekend check the VeGas Van pull slight differences on the right to left fix with software the pull is Sick it's soo good ... BUT one fuck*p got one loud pop/crackle for a second on the right side agin ... but that's was all ! the pull is stellar but that brief pop ... Soo here i am thinking WTF is up Deck,Mic's,actives .. Called Doug . He says send him everything & i do right down to both cards .. FedEx the next day .. he emails this morning saying it's the deck  but no details ,says he'll fix by the end of the day & wants to burn it in for a few days to make sure using my mic's ... will advise you'll what's up when i know more ...    the SF Grand show was static fully on right side for 34 minutes then DEAD !!  & a great sound on the left ... am soo lucky it worked the next night ...........

OUCH sorry to hear about this. Would have loved to hear the Price show as well.

[Chanher]

I FINALLY got around to performing a meters test on my ACM 660. This was in response to the claim that the meters on the 660 were innacurate, especially with the pad off.

-I looped a chord on my guitar pedal. (I could have just used a pure tone, but that's no fun.) I ran XLR out of my amp head into the 660 (mono).

-I would start a new track then SLOWLY crank the gain until the next light on the meter came on. I was sure to carefully write down which tracks were associated with which reading on the meter. Repeat until I reached the "over" light.

-I opened the tracks in Cool Edit Pro and compared the 660 meter readings to what CEP was telling me.



CONCLUSION

First I ran the test with the pad off. The with the pad on. I am happy to say that the meters were very accurate using both settings.  The track where the 660 first showed clipping was the first track that CEP showed clipping.

[dennisrtyler]

I FINALLY got around to performing a meters test on my ACM 660. This was in response to the claim that the meters on the 660 were innacurate, especially with the pad off.

-I looped a chord on my guitar pedal. (I could have just used a pure tone, but that's no fun.) I ran XLR out of my amp head into the 660 (mono).

-I would start a new track then SLOWLY crank the gain until the next light on the meter came on. I was sure to carefully write down which tracks were associated with which reading on the meter. Repeat until I reached the "over" light.

-I opened the tracks in Cool Edit Pro and compared the 660 meter readings to what CEP was telling me.



CONCLUSION

First I ran the test with the pad off. The with the pad on. I am happy to say that the meters were very accurate using both settings.  The track where the 660 first showed clipping was the first track that CEP showed clipping.

cool, thanks!! +T

[agave]

I talked in length to Doug Oade about when to pad & when not to pad  ....as  he said if the crowds clapping & roar between songs  is louder than the music it's self is , then it's  NO pad on the recording of the show ,, if the music is loud ennuf that you really have to raise your voice to be heard by the person standing next to you then the pad  is to be ON recording of  that show .. he called it his basic rule of thumb ,,   

[nem]

just got a stock 660, will pop it's live cherry this weekend.

then in a year I'll probably go for the Oade Basic cause I like inputs, but wouldn't mind getting a mod that takes out internal mics and leaves the inputs. *note to self, ask DO about it*

[nem]

neato!

touchy as far as levels but this thing is a pleasure to roll with.

[paullySC]

Is anyone running Pelusos cemc6 or a SP lsd2 with there pmd660 ACM? Interested in hearing the results. Thanks.

[Corbin]

paullySC,

I'm returning to Canada from South Korea in one week..I have an LSD2 and an ACM 660 both waiting at my house for me.  I'll be taping 5-10 shows in March but I won't have high speed internet until May (only dialup).  If you want me to mail you a couple shows, PM me with your addy.  And the LSD2 I have is not the current updated model.

Adam

[musicsherlock]

Oade Bros. have some interesting Upgrade additions to this unit... http://www.oade.com/digital_recorders/hard_disc_recorders/PMD-660MODS.html

Performance Enhancements Available :

Comming Soon !

ENG 660 The Marantz PMD 660 optimized for Electronic News Gathering Applications. This MOD removes the internal mics and replaces the stock preamps with a low noise, high speed preamp for optimum voice intelligibility. It also upgrades the line in signal path.

Song Catcher 660 The Marantz PMD 660 optimized for field recordings of un amplified voice and music with condenser microphones. This MOD removes the internal mics and replaces the stock preamps with a low noise, high speed FET preamp selected by ear for musical properties. It also upgrades the line in signal path.

Ambient 660 The Marantz PMD 660 optimized for field recordings of natural sounds, in the wilderness or in the city ! This MOD removes the internal mics as well as the Mic PAD and replaces the stock preamps with an ultra low noise, high speed FET preamp selected by ear for accurate sampling of 3D space and high frequency detail. Ideal for ambient artists and birders. It also upgrades the line in signal path.

My needs would be a mix of sources...I would often tape a nice dynamic PA show such as Wilco; as well as small acoustic type shows with a minimal PA system (Pete Seeger, The Mammals)...I'm thinking something in between the Song Catcher MOD and the Advanced Concert MOD would be my best bet...