Marantz 671 in the field...

[spyder9]

one of these days, I'm going to sell a kidney, my mp-2, and r-1, and pick up the V3/MT combo. I don't think there's much out there that can top that in the price range... this of course is just from the tapes I've heard, etc etc.

Wait, you say you want to sell your kidney to buy a V3/MT combo. Lay off the booze and your kidney would be worth a portadrive.

All this talk about V3 vs. ACM 671....I say location location location.

I have recorded with my 660 vs V3, most of the time my friends V3 sounds slightly better but if I'm in the sweet spot he wants my recording. We usually matrix his stealth km54s>V3>D8 audience with my SBD>ACM 660 and it's all good.

I think the difference you're hearing between each others recordings is the microphones.  I don't think a good comparison of the 660 and V3 can be made until a test is done with the same or comparable mics.

AKG 31 (mini mic)  freq range 50-20,000

Neumann KM54 (tube mic) Freq range 20-20,000


EDIT: To add, even the 184s will sound different than the KM54s.  Tube mics are a different animal than what most are using here.

[Chuck]

I'll have an ACM PMD 671 soon. Maybe Todd R and I can do a comparison. I'll talk to him about it.
I run AKG C-480> ACM PMD 671
He runs AKG C-480> JKLabs> V3> MT

[Rick]

one of these days, I'm going to sell a kidney, my mp-2, and r-1, and pick up the V3/MT combo. I don't think there's much out there that can top that in the price range

Used V3 = $1000
MT = $299
4GB = $200
Total = $1500

That's if you get a used V3 too and you can get the MT for $299... Still $200 more then the ACM 671 and you can't do 24/96 (yet) and no auto track splitting ... not to mention you have to carry extra batteries for the V3 and MT... I'm not sold on the MT yet either. Otherwise I would have gone for the V3/MT combo. 

Actually it would be the same price, Rick.  You need the CF card for either the MT or the 671, so you're looking at $1,500 for either option after purchasing the CF card. 

FWIW, the MT is doing 24/96 via S/PDIF now.  Confirmation here.  There are two problems with doing this though 1) most people are recording on 4GB CF cards, which doesn't allow for much recording time at 24/96, and 2) M-Audio hasn't fixed the 2GB recording limit, so you're still messing with tape flips.

Oh yeah forgot about the CF thing 

Well that's good, I'm glad its working better.

[Ed.]

FWIW, Ed just had a major V3 > MT failure for his Moe show in chicago.

yep, it reset to factory default settings making my input change from spdif to 1/8" line in.  Didn't notice this until I was out taping the next night.  It also stopped recording with about 2.5gbs of free space still left on the card and wouldn't record anything no matter how many times I pressed the record button.  That could be the fault of the input changing though, I'm not for sure.  Still pissed me off, but not like it really mattered since I was recording silence anyway.

definitely a microcrapper.

[aberg]

Wow, so I guess in that sense the acm671 is the better choice due to its reliability.

[Chuck]

Wow, so I guess in that sense the acm671 is the better choice due to its reliability.

[twoodruff]

can someone tell me which cf cards this thing likes, I know the kingston, any others?

[Nick's Picks]

Doug has mentioned some failures w/kingston.  recomends sandisc and the other main brand I cant recall

[twoodruff]

http://taperssection.com/index.php?topic=58947.0
the one mentioned here okay?

[sygdwm]

when i was looking at first for cf media, sandisk was more than kingston. i would think either would work really, but IME the kingston is solid.

[Nick's Picks]

thats a great price trey

[OOK]

Doug has mentioned some failures w/kingston.  recomends sandisc and the other main brand I cant recall

Doug told me the same thing last week when I was inquiring about a 671BCM

[sygdwm]

again i have had ZERO problems w/ a 4gb kingston (40X). ymmv.

[Chuck]

I bought a 4GB Kingston based on a conversation I had with Doug. I haven't had any problems either.
That Amazon SanDisk price is very good... I may be getting one of those soon...

[aberg]

How are you guys powering this thing in the field and what sort of runtimes are you getting? I know it is rated for 15V DC external, but I heard someone say the standard 9V walmart battery would work.... any thoughts on this?