I spoke with Marantz Pro today. Suggested retail of the PMD670 will
be less than the PMD690 and is expected to be $849.00. Hopeful date
available is 90 to 180 days future.
Rich Peet
--- In "oryoki2000" <>
wrote:
> 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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