I'm glad I waited a bit before ordering a modified Marantz PMD660 from
Doug Oade for the $1000 challenge*. Oade has created a new version of
his mod called the Ambient 660, designed just for nature recordists.
Here's what the Oade web page says:
"Ambient 660: The Marantz PMD 660 optimized for field recordings of
natural sounds, in the wilderness or in the city! This MOD removes the
internal mics as well as the Mic PAD and replaces the stock preamps
with an ultra low noise, high speed FET preamp selected by ear for
accurate sampling of 3D space and high frequency detail. Ideal for
ambient artists and birders. It also upgrades the line in signal path."
Assuming the price stays below $1K, this is the model I'll send to Rob
D. for his evaluation.
--oryoki
* Last Fall I remarked that the Oade-modified Marantz PMD660 is the
best-sounding recorder that's available for less than $1000. This was
greeted by several skeptical replies. So I volunteered to purchase
one and send it to Rob D. for comparison with other recorders.
To date, only one other recorder combination has been nominated as the
best for less than $1000. The Core Sound Mic2496 preamp and analog to
digital converter ($550), feeding a digital signal to the M-Audio
MicroTrack 2496 ($350) is the second candidate.
I had hoped that the new one-bit recorder from Korg (MR-1, ~$800)
would provide some competition, but the initial report from Gianni
Pavan was discouraging (see group message 26515).
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