Thread: Marantz PMD-671
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Scott Chapin
 
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"Segensreich Maschinerich" wrote in message
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Scott Chapin in :

Anyone used one of these yet?


Yes. I bought a PMD671 in April this year. I returned it meanwhile.

I was going to use it for video work and I
heard the preamps on the PMD-670 had a lot to be desired. They say the

new
preampss are nice, but are they?


The data sheet tells you it's 65 dB Signal-to-Noise Ratio, which
translates to a *really really* audible noise floor in real life.

For comparison, I have a DAW with two 10,000 rpm SCSI disks, a 120mm
fan, a CPU fan, a fan for the graphics card, and two fans in the power
supply. When I sat directly in front of *that thing* and recorded my
voice through a Mackie 1202 into my computer, I got actually *less*
background noise than with the PMD671 recording in a quiet room.

Other observations:

24 bit recording didn't work due to a firmware bug causing a wrong byte
order in the generated files. Marantz's email support didn't reply at
all to various emails, notwithstanding their promise to reply within 48
hours. The tech support guy on the phone kept asking whether the power
supply was plugged in properly. He couldn't answer the question whether
the firmware can be updated via the USB port, or whether I must send it
physically to Marantz to have it fixed. He had not heard of any problems
with the unit's 24 bit recording mode either.

Precisely matching the levels of the left vs. the right channel is
something I found impossible due to the less-than-perfectly-smooth
operation of the associated knobs. The VU meter was pessimistic BTW,
signalling overload even when the peaks were some 6dB below 0.

My unit's quarz frequencies seemed a little off, so that simultaneous
recordings through other digital devices (i.e., RME ADI-8 AE) drifted
apart audibly after a couple minutes. [Subsequent investigation revealed
that it was indeed the PMD671 which was to blame.] I guess you'll have
to expect the same from your video camera.

My item was, let's say: fastidious when it comes to CF cards. It
wouldn't work with a 45x Transcend card (which works perfectly with my
digital cameras), causing the recorder to hang on bootup after
transferring the files to the computer.

BTW, there were reports of corrupted recordings with the PMD670 (this
item's predecessor), which is apparently why Marantz introduced a
read-after-write "Virtual Third Head" for confidence monitoring.
I understand this feature wouldn't prevent corrupted recordings, it's
only that you realize it faster. Hence, if you can repeat the take, it's
fine, but if you, say, record live music, you're screwed.

It is perfectly possible that some of the above issues were solved in
the meantime. However, nonetheless I cannot recommend this item (nor the
company that makes it) in good conscience, not least because of what
I experienced with what Marantz chose to call "customer support".

SM
--
reply-to works, even if it doesn't look as if it did.


Wow...bummer. What a glowing review! Thanks for the heads up. Guess I need
to deal with broadcast wave files.


Vielen Dank!

Scott Chapin