Martyn Stewart wrote:
> OK Walt, its http://www.jardiniereco.com/sounds.htm
> The Mics used were for the Corncrake an AT4071A
> For the Tree Frog was a K6 & ME66
> And the Lapwings were a Telinga Science, No I don't think that Marantz
> were recycling the units but I share your skepticism :-)
I was sitting here with the owner's manuals for the PMD-650, PMD-690 and
the HHb Portadisc. It's interesting to compare some of the specs.
Dynamic Range:
HHb Portadisc - 96dB
PMD-650 - 85dB
PMD-690 - 85dB
The higher dynamic range of the Portadisc vs the PMD's is that ATRAC 4.5
is effectively processing like a 24 bit machine. ATRAC 4.0 is like a 20
bit machine.
Signal to noise ratio:
HHb Portadisc - 89dB
PMD-650 - 90dB
PMD-690 - 80dB
Wonder what went funny with the PMD-690, that says it's a fair amount
noisier.
Frequency Response:
HHb Portadisc - 10hz - 20khz
PMD-650 - 20hz - 20khz
PMD-690 - not specified - 22khz
The 10hz available with the Portadisc will not matter with most mics,
but with the SASS/MKH-110 recording "frogs in a thunderstorm" it will
make a difference. I'm hoping to get some of those recordings this year.
Of course only a few headphones will really do such a recording right.
Power consumption on record:
HHb Portadisc - 4.5w
PMD-650 - 5.5w
PMD-690 - 5.2w (and note when turned off it's still consuming power)
This, I think, explains the reputation of the marantz of being a power
hog. Playback the three machines were much closer together.
Phantom power:
HHb Portadisc - 48v 7ma
PMD-650 - 48v 5ma
PMD-690 - 48v 5ma
The Portadisc can support heavier current draw for phantom power. It
would be interesting to analyze the quietness of the phantom on the
PMD's when under full load. It's a question of how clean their power
stays like that. The DA-P1 has been reported as going noisy sometimes
under those conditions, apparently differs from machine to machine. I
did that sort of check of the Portadisc when I first got mine, and it
was very clean.
Note, from the owner's manual, a 128meg memory is only going to give you
11 minutes, I'd not accounted for the 48khz sampling rate. So, going
that way will mean lots of memory changing. Sounds like only the HD
route is really viable. It's 800megs a hour for uncompressed 48khz.
The Green Treefrog does not sound like the one in Georgia, which is Hyla
cinerea. I assume this is a different species? You can hear the Hyla
cinerea call here:
http://wwknapp.home.mindspring.com/docs/green.tfrog.html
I'll take more look at the samples, just took a quick listen so far, but
want to do a sonogram. With different mics and subjects for each
recorder it's much harder to do much comparison. What we need is same
mic, same subjects with all three recorders. Preferably a really quiet
mic like one of the MKH.
The owner's manual on the PMD-690 only talks of using alkaline AA's.
Have you tried it with NIMH AA's? That would eat a pile of alkalines in
a hurry. And I refuse to buy anthing more in Nicad.
Note that the fast transfer time would actually be wasted time for me. I
use the transfer recording direct into my sound editor to make my first
audition of my recordings and then immediately to the initial cutting
down to what I'm going to save. So, I'd have the time to do the
transfer, then time to open the file in my editor, then I'd have to
spend the same time as transferring to do that first edit. It would take
me longer overall. I could see where those who are not as organized, or
who don't audition their recordings would save some time.
Walt
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>From Tue Mar 8 18:23:25 2005
Message: 7
Date: Sun, 09 Mar 2003 16:15:25 -0000
From: "acontrol2002" <>
Subject: Going digital.
I have decided to take the leap to digital. Am still considering if
mini-disc or PC card is where I will land.
Question 1. With respect to minidiscs, what is the real difference
between the HHB: MDP-500 Portadisc and the Marantz PMD-650 other than
about $500 (using list prices)? Has anyone had field experience with
the Marantz? Do both brands use the same ATRAC compression?
Question 2. Has anyone had significant field experience with the
Marantz PMD-690? Is it a bother to use the flash memory cards in
transfering the material to a laptop in the field (ie--the motel or
camp where you are staying in the evening.)
Richard
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