Marantz PMD670 Recorder User Reviews at zZounds

"A quantum leap for portable stereo recording!" submitted January 25, 2008

By a customer from mac.com

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Features

Ease of Use

Quality

Value

The Wow Factor

Musical Background: Play with friends. Have a real other job.

Music Style: Jazz

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Sound: The device reproduces sounds accurately with no noticable background noise if you record in PCM or MP2 mode. I can hear some noise artifact with MP3 compression. But with PCM it's awesome. Feature: It included wall plug and battery box. It burns through alkaline batteries pretty fase and it takes 8 AAs so I use NiMH rechargables. You can set the battery type in the menu list. There is a rechargable battery pack you can buy that gets charged by the recorder. I don't have that one. Ease of Use: It's quite simple right out of the box. Use the internal microphone, hit RECORD, then hit PLAY. But there are plenty of options beyond that. I use it to record from my mixers LINE-OUT and it sounds awesome. It is possible to configure it to sound bad, but if you take the time to set it up and read the manual you will be happy. Using the line inputs you will have S/N of 86dB as compared to 65dB with the MIC input. So have a brain and use the line input. Use a quiet preamp and enjoy the dynamic range you get. Quality: I would give it a 10 but I don't want to curse myself. I have had no problem si far. Value: If it continues to perform as it does it is worth it. Manufacturer Support: No need for support yet. But I believe the best support is to buy quality in the first place. This has it. The Wow Factor: It is not flashy but well thought out and functional. Sometimes the screen is hard to read on the front, but there is a nice backlight. But hey it's all about the sound. Overall: I'll use it untill it (or I) turn to dust. What a phenomenal way to record live music. I have a 2GB flash drive that will record 36 hours with MP2 compression. Files transfer quickly to your MAC or PC with a USB cable. All the files can be imported into iTunes. You can burn the MP3 and PCM files to a CD. (I don't know how to get the MP2 files to burn). Imagine burning a CD of your rehearsal session and giving it to the guys while they get their coats on. Pretty cool.

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"My Precious!" submitted March 27, 2004

By a customer from mac.com

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Sound

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The Wow Factor

Music Style: spoken voice

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Sound: I use it to capture sound at meetings and in interviews. The built in microphone is remarkably good for the human voice. I use a couple of Shure MX393 boundary mikes when I want to get mikes really close to people. They can be placed 12 feet away from the recording unit. It is very easy to record meetings with 8-12 people and two of these mikes. Feature: The PMD670 comes with an internal mike. It can use 8 AA batteries or a rechargeable battery (that does not come with it). I recommend only using a condensor microphone with it. There is a built in phantom power so your microphones can draw power from the recorder. Very nice. This allows you to use very compact microphones. Quality: Very rugged. Surprisingly light weight. I recommend getting the reporter carry case if you intend to lug it around with cables. The case is pricey ($200 street) but very well designed. Not necessary but very useful if you can live with the idea of forking out so much for a small case. Value: It's very expensive. But it's the cutting edge. I haven't come across any other professional level Flash RAM recorders. This may be the only one. I had a research grant pay for this. Hobbyists will find this unnecessarily expensive. But professionals will find it well worth the investment. No need to compress files later on your computer! Manufacturer Support: I cannot evaluate the support. I've only used the machine for 2 weeks and haven't had need to call them. The Wow Factor: A remarkably good, cutting edge techie toy with lots of use to those who need to record human voice. I suspect it also records musical instruments very well also. The XLR inputs allow you to use state of the art mikes. And since there are no moving parts, there is no noise from tape sliding across the recording heads. Overall: This should suit my needs for at least 3 years. (And I love upgrading.) I love the fact that it accepts Flash RAM. It also connects to my Mac via the USB port.

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"Beginners choice, Expert toy." submitted January 15, 2005

By a customer from hotmail.com

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The Wow Factor

Musical Background: Recording Engineer

Music Style: Trance

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SPOTLIGHT REVIEW

Sound: Noisy Mics Pre-Amp, don't use the pad if you do professional sound recording. Equipped with good quality mic(not dynamics) the sound coulb be rate at 8. All professional that are just curious about this machine, this machine worth its price. It is a great introducer into the world of professional recording. Feature: Great features : PCM *.Wav format, *.mp3 format even *.BWF files. Value: Great quality price. Manufacturer Support: Fast response by Marrantz staff. The Wow Factor: Look neutral, feature are great but the compagny have not a great background sound quality for cinema or studio need. Overall: Average sound, great build quality, great price.

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"A practical field recorder for interviews" submitted March 25, 2004

By a customer from paris.cc.tx.us

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The Wow Factor

Music Style: spoken word

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Sound: Needs a lower noise mic preamp. Otherwise, it sounds great. If used with dynamic mic's, the preamps have audible hiss. If used with condenser mics, noise is no problem, so long as you don't use the 20db input pad.. it's noisy. Best with condenser mics, no pad, manual gain control. The ALC circuit will bring up the hiss during pauses. Plenty of headroom on the mic preamps.. no sign of overload with unpadded very hot condenser mics (using manual gain). Feature: If it came with a rechargable battery, I'd rate it 8 or 9. As is, the powerpak is required to use it out of the box. Quality: Looks rugged, but I haven't had it long. Still, compared to consumer grade devices, this is a tank... in size too. If it had decent mic preamps, I'd give it a 9. It's supposed to be a pro product. Value: Maybe even 9 if you need the features it has, like XLR mic connectors, and single button record. Manufacturer Support: I haven't had contact with them. Their product literature is complete, though. The Wow Factor: Not sexy. But it is usefull. Overall: If you aren't expecting studio grade mic preamps, and you need something rugged enough for daily work, you have to rate this pretty high, because there really isn't much else out there. The one product I've seen with these features costs twice as much. I haven't used it, so I can't say it's any better, but I suspect it has quiet mic preamps.

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" Mechanically cumbersome, costly to fix after waranty. " submitted September 21, 2007

By a customer from aol.com

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The Wow Factor

Musical Background: active classical musician

Music Style: classical woodwind, acoustic, piano

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Sound: reasonable sound, Feature: not very intuitive, esp. when programming. Ease of Use: Would definitely benefit from a better interface. Quality: My Compact flash port malfunctioned, as did the phantom XLR jacks. It was off waranty, and Superscope charged $250 to fix it. It also needed a reprogramming of the software, and this was delayed on shipment from Japan. Value: In the interim, I got a Roland CD2, which is more user friendly, but not battery powered. And why cant they make these without wall warts? Manufacturer Support: My Compact flash port malfunctioned, as did the phantom XLR jacks. It was off waranty, and Superscope charged $250 to fix it. It also needed a reprogramming of the software, and this was delayed on shipment from Japan. Superscope was pleasant enough, but costly, and they took their time because of a delay from Japan. The Wow Factor: have it....not much else was suitable at the time. Now there is more to choose from. Overall: At this cost, and the cost of fixing it, it had best hold up a long time

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"Good solid state recorder" submitted July 22, 2006

Overall

Sound

Features

Ease of Use

Quality

Value

The Wow Factor

Musical Background: Hobbyist recording egineer

Music Style: Classical and jazz

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Sound: I used it to record a 5 piece jazz combo live in a bar, using a Audio Techica stereo microphone quite close to the two horns. The musicians were very please with the quality of the sound. Feature: Only accesory was a mains transformer, wall wart Ease of Use: Manual is a bit difficult to get through, this recorder is so versatile, that you have to read and practice to learn to set it up how you needed it. Quality: Product seems solidly made Value: Good value for the money Manufacturer Support: Not applicable Overall: Till it breaks down and costs more to repair than buy a new machine

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"MY REPAIR EXPERIENCE" submitted April 22, 2009

By a customer from mac.com

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Manufacturer Support: I wanted to update my comments having had this product for over a year and a half now. One day it just stopped working, wouldn't turn on with fresh batteries or power. It was out of warranty so I opened it up to look around. I have a masters in engineering and have been paid good money to troubleshoot equipment far more mission critical and expensive than this. I was looking for obvious signs of excessive heat (not likely) or corrosion. In my experience, problems often arise with corroded connectors or cold solder joints or perhaps a broken wire, rather than the board or integrated circuits. I didn't see anything obvious so I called Marantz and was quickly referred to their repair center. I got a real person right away, no muzak, phone button menu maze, hour wait on hold. None of that. I returned the recorder to the repair facility and received it back in good working order in about 3 weeks. The cost was 230. Thats a lot of money but I think the device is worth it. They indicated that it was a problem with one of the connectors which as I recall required cleaning. Really, I blame myself for the recorders failure. Although it is billed as a field recorder, I don't think it is prudent to expose it to the environmental extremes that I did. I never used a case; that would have helped. I left it in the cold car for extended periods (northern US January cold) alternating with frequent trips into warm humid indoor spaces. I dropped it, I banged it, I used it constantly. I left it sitting in the hot sun in the car in July. My advise - don't do that. Be nice. Pretend it's your puppy. Then it will last for years. Overall: After using this recorder for 18 months, I have found nothing not to like. Sound - great. PCM 16 bit is all I would ever need. 2 Channels - plenty. Condenser mike-- to XLR input - Phantom power on - Pad on for loud live recording (thats me) - record to 2GB compact flash - trans file to Computer - burn to CD - (or to iPod) - get in car (plane, bus, bike, trail) Listen. AWESOME. Give copies to bandmates after practice or gig, so that they can pick up their game. I would buy one again today if I had to. You should too.

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Marantz PMD670 Professional Solid-State Recorder

User Ratings

"A quantum leap for portable stereo recording!" submitted January 25, 2008

"My Precious!" submitted March 27, 2004

"Beginners choice, Expert toy." submitted January 15, 2005

"A practical field recorder for interviews" submitted March 25, 2004

" Mechanically cumbersome, costly to fix after waranty. " submitted September 21, 2007

"Good solid state recorder" submitted July 22, 2006

"MY REPAIR EXPERIENCE" submitted April 22, 2009