New tiny recorder

[Eric Leonard]

Hello all.

I've shaken out one of the new Marantz PMD-620 recorders for the last week and it's an interesting little device. It's very, very small - about the size of a deck of cards - and runs for five hours or more on a pair of AA batteries.

Records 16/24 bit mono or stereo bwfs or MP3s at three bitrates, takes SD cards, and mounts as an external disk via USB 2.0. Audio connectors are all 3.5mm.

This would make an outstanding transcription recorder, though I have not played with the stereo separation for TC bleed. It comes with a funny plastic thingy with a belt clip that would make it easy to attach to your ENG bag.

It has built-in electret mics that sound surprisingly good (in still air...no windscreen) and a mic pre that's significantly cleaner than other micro-recorders I've tried (Marantz 'recommends' not using dynamic mics as there is not much gain - maybe 40 or 50 db to mic level - and there is hiss wide-open).

Manual level control via two pushbuttons on the right side of the case (convenient if you're holding it in your right hand) that automatically switch the display to a level-meter for adjustments, then return the display to its record-time counter. Or, if you prefer, toggle the display switch for full-time metering. Marantz added two idiot-lights on the case - a user selected "LEVEL" and "OVER" that light with the appropriate or inappropriate signal levels. I thought this was silly but it's actually useful.

Separate line in, line out, plus headphone jack. Line-in recordings are very clean (as one would expect) but there is some built-in very high and very low frequency roll-off. It's not mentioned in the manual, but I can hear it. Perhaps it's because this is designed for speech intelligibility, not maximum fidelity.

Headphone out is weak, even wide-open. There is also A to D delay in the headphone circuit that will make your head spin if you try to monitor and record your own voice. The headphone out switches to the smallest-loudspeaker-known-to-man installed on the rear of the unit when no headphones are connected. It only mutes when using the built-in mics.

The cellphone-like OLED display is crisp and easy to read indoors and at night. It has variable brightness but I still struggled to read it in bright sunlight.

It has a built-in copy function that allows marking of in-and-out points - then the recorder creates a new audio file bearing the original's file name plus "_1," etc. for the copies. The user can choose to list files by date/time recorded or by file name.

Also -- a utility menu allows you to rename the files on the recorder. Very helpful if you're ever forced to record an endless line of self-important politicians at a press conference congratulating each other on jobs well done. Not that this ever happens.

Construction is sturdy plastic, though the button pressing experience is more Festiva than 911, and this machine needs lots of button-pressing in regular operation.

Made in Japan, says the tag -- and about $400. It seems a cut better than the competition at the price.

- Eric

[joecan]

Hi , can you say if the pre-amps are quieter than the previous Marantz model......?

I've been waiting for some comments about this model from users.

I also have an eye out for the new Sony PCM D50.

Would be great if someone has tried out the two and post their comments here.

Thanks.

[Eric Leonard]

Re: PMD-620 preamp: it is noisier than the PMD-660 and has less gain (plus no 48v phantom). However, there have been several PMD-660 firmware updates that have dramatically improved the audio performance. The units had to be shipped to Marantz for the update, but when ours returned they sounded like entirely different recorders.

The 660, with the latest software, is fine for most radio newsgathering. The preamps are fairly clean and they don't clip as easily (like with the initial firmware). NPR has bought a bunch. It still doesn't hold a candle to any piece of professional gear with top-notch analog circuitry, like a SD702 or even one of their dedicated preamps.

Interestingly, the 660's line-in is easily overdriven, requiring attenuation even out of a -10 source. The PMD-620 seemed to have no problem with a +4 source (and sounded great).

I have the Sony PCM-D1 as well and the preamps and overall audio performance are truly top notch. I understand the D50 has similar specs but less sophisticated preamps, for whatever that's worth. I haven't tried one out yet and don't plan to buy one (assuming the D1 can be repaired...again). The D1 would be terrific if it weren't for the 3.5mm input jacks. Mine have failed several times already with gentle regular use, and at least one other user I know has had similar trouble.

If I have time Monday I'll make some comparison recordings.

-EL