Some details of the new flash memory recorder from Marantz are now
online. See
http://www.marantz.com/p_product.cfm?id=2418&cont=e&line=prd&cat=pro
The product was announced at this week's AES meeting in Europe. The
web page is not yet complete, and there's no information online about
price or availability.
The PMD670 is described as a second generation product (a follow-on
to the PMD 680 and 690), and as such it's evolutionary rather than
revolutionary. Changes were made in ergonomics and field-worthiness,
based on feedback from recordists.
On the technical side, the 670 now has a USB port to up or download
files from a computer. (The online docs don't specify, so I'd guess
USB 1.1) S/PDIF digital input as well as output is now supported,
and the 670 now can record in MP3 as well as MP2 and uncompressed WAV
formats. I think 16/48 WAV remains the highest recording rate.
Specs indicate that CompactFlash memory and Microdrive hard discs are
the supported media. Reading between the lines, I'd guess this means
that the 670 has a CompactFlash Type 2 memory slot, rather than the
larger Type 3/pcmcia slot in the 680/690.
CompactFlash capacities have risen sharply in the last few months,
and prices have fallen. A 1GB Type 1 card now costs about $250,
about 25% of the price a year ago. A 1GB card will hold about 1.5
hours of CD-quality 16/44.1 uncompressed stereo WAV files; 3 to 5
times longer (4.5 to 7.5 hours) using MPEG 1 Level 2 compression
(MP2); and 10 times longer (15 hours) using lossy MP3 compression.
That distant rumbling I hear must be the defenders of all things
minidisc clearing their throats. So let me add for the record that,
yes, a $1 minidisc also holds 80 minutes of ATRAC-compressed stereo
audio. And, yes, the original minidisc recording will serve as the
archival copy, while the CompactFlash recording will have to be
copied to a computer so the expensive CompactFlash can be re-used.
The process is just like transferring photos from a digital camera to
computer.
So what advantage does a CompactFlash recorder like the Marantz
PMD670 have over a pro-quality minidisc recorder like the HHB
Portadisc? The two were developed for the same market, and have very
similar features. We don't have a price for the PMD670 yet, but I'll
guess it will be similar to the price of an HHB Portadisc, around
$1,500 MSRP, $1,250 street price.
The 670 is probably lighter than the Portadisc (the similar PMD690 is
1/3 lighter (1.5 lb less)). And the 670 is arguably more rugged--
equipped with CompactFlash memory, it has no moving parts.
The 670 offers more flexibility in recording, from uncompressed DAT
quality WAV to very compressed MP3, versus minidisc's ATRAC only. If
you're happy with the way your minidisc recordings sound, then no
worries here.
And the 670 transfers its recorded files to and from a computer
faster (5 minutes vs 60 minutes for a 1 hour recording using
Portadisc), which is good since you'll be doing it regularly with the
PMD670.
My suspicion is that if you're coming to the world of digital
recording from a computer background, you'll like the PMD670. And if
you're from the world of analog recording and DAT, you'll like the
minidisc approach since you handle and catalog minidiscs just like
tapes.
I'm looking forward to getting my hands on the PMD670 to see if it
performs as well as it looks on paper.
--oryoki
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