I've been using one of these for almost a year. It has worked flawlessly.
The preamp works fine for my purposes. I don't know how the preamp
compares with other pro recorders. Given that the PMD670 can be had
for $600 it would not surprise me if other pro recorders that usually
cost at least twice as much have a better quality preamp.
I don't run mine for long periods of time (several hours) but users
have reported getting 10+ hours on a set of standard AA alkalines.
There have been numerous user reviews and reports that suggest that it
can take a lot of abuse in the field. Several examples:
Someone on rec.audio.pro writes:
"We had been using the Marantz 670 for the past 3 months or so. It
ended up taking quite a beating before it eventually gave out. Now,
before you say that 3 months is ridiculous, here's the lowdown.
first month: 200 feet from hand grenades, high explosive rounds, 50
cal. second month: fell in 6 inches of water mudd, submerged.
third month: 5 feet from at4s. Loudest thing you'll ever put in your
shoulder, thats for sure. They tell you to keep your mouth open so you
don't blow your eardrums out. Tow missle - eventually gave out"
A radio reporter who used one to cover LA forest fires reports:
"The PMD670 was exposed to smoke and ash, splashed with water and
sticky orange fire retardant and dragged down dusty roads. The next
week I had it in freezing temps and it still delivered."
I wouldn't touch any of the other flash memory or HD-based recorders
costing less or maybe anything under $1000. For the money, the Marantz
is a steal.
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