The new Marantz PMD 660 appears to be a repackaged version of the PMD
670. The 660 is 60% smaller and 40% lighter than the 670: (113 x 47 x
184 mm) vs (264 x 55 x 185 mm), and 700g vs 1300g. The 660 is more
power efficient, using 4.0W instead of the 670's 5.2 W.
So the 660 can use 4 AA batteries instead of 8 and still record 2-3
hours on a charge.
To reduce the size, the 660 gives up some features found in the 670:
-- no optical input or output
-- line in/out via 3.5mm miniplug instead of RCA cinch
-- 3.5mm jack for headphones instead of the more reliable .25 inch
-- leds act as meters instead of bars on lcd screen
The 660's smaller size makes its controls less convenient to use than
the 670's.
The 660 offers two XLR mic inputs, and 48 volt phantom power is available.
Like the 670, the 660 records to compactflash or microdrive in MP3 or
WAV format. WAV files are created using 16 bit, 44.1/48KHz sampling,
that is, CD or DAT quality. I can't tell if the 660 has the pre-record
cache feature that is so useful in the 670.
The 660 specs show the same relatively poor signal-to-noise ratio as
the 670(-60dB in Mic circuitry). This means that the 660 and 670 are
best paired with less expensive microphones. (Doug Oade modifies the
670 input circuitry so the S/N improves to about -80dB. See
www.oade.com for details.)
The 660's MSRP is about 25% less than 670, or about $675US. Street
prices are usually about 75% of MSRP, so I'd expect the 660 to cost
less than $500US.
If the PMD 660 is made available for $475, it will be difficult to
justify the purchase of a high quality Marantz or Sony cassette
machine for field recording. The 660 is smaller, lighter, more
durable (no moving parts), and provides a higher quality recording
than any cassette machine.
To see photos and read specs see
http://www.easternelectronics.co.uk/pmd660.htm
--oryoki
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