SOUND ON SOUND

[Mike Stranks]

Hmmm... Zoom, Sound Devices and Tascam aren't having things all their own way in the multi-channel recorder market...

Marantz have just announced the PMD706... 6 mic inputs into a package that's reminiscent of the Zoom Fs and the Sound Devices Mix Pres... a bit smaller than the Tascam DR680...

... and yours for £279... :o

It'll stand or fall by the quality of its pres... I await field-tests with interest....

Details: http://marantzpro.com/products/view/pmd-706

[Hugh Robjohns]

It seems they are all chasing the Vlogging market.

One thing I find perplexing, though, is the duplicate track feature whereby an input signal is duplicated to two recording tracks with a level offset in the hope of avoiding overload. I'd have thought that completely unnecessary with decent low-noise preamps, 24-bit converters, and appropriate metering to encourage sensible headroom margins...

H

[blinddrew]

That is a very interesting device for the price.

[Bob Bickerton]

Ah ha! One more for the collection Mike ;)

Bob

[The Elf]

Wow! That is aggressive pricing!

I like to keep an eye on this type of device, since they are often useful to hang off the mixer to record gigs. It's surprising how often that -12dB safety recording can save the day... ;)

[Sam Spoons]

I still have, and use, my old Marantz PMD-620. It's a perfectly decent bit of kit but it did cost nearly as much as the new one (£229 IIRC) and is resolutely stereo and two inputs............

[IronFilm]

Tascam DR70D has easily been my favorite sub US$300 recorder to recommend. Worked on a feature film a couple of years back with one of them.

However, now in 2018 I'd probably be recommending a Marantz PMD-706 instead. I look forward with interest to more user reviews from this!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNXvJd9p3Xc

And I agree, on fast moving shoots with low budgets, then indeed that safety track feature can often come in handy on these lower end recorders! As often you have no time for a second take, and no spare hands to adjust gain during a take either!

[forumuser915213]

I have a rather newbie question to ask please!

I'm considering on of these or the DR-70D. I'm a photographer as well as muso, so I can see uses both with and without a camera attached. Can these machines be used without the camera please?

Thanks! Gavin

[Wonks]

Hi Gavin. Yes, they certainly can. They are certainly designed for field recordings, but they can be used equally happily with or without a camera.

[Mike Stranks]

I have a rather newbie question to ask please!

I'm considering on of these or the DR-70D. I'm a photographer as well as muso, so I can see uses both with and without a camera attached. Can these machines be used without the camera please?

Thanks! Gavin

What's your budget? Subsequent reviews of this machine suggest that its mic preamps aren't that good. I s'pose they had to cut corners somewhere to get it at the price.

[forumuser915213]

Peanuts! In the circumstances, broadly I'm keen to pay off the mortgage rather than buy gear.

So I'm looking for more usable channels at the least possible cost.

From the specs noise seems about on a par with my DR100 mk2, and I haven't had cause to complain too much about that machine.

I've looked around (as you do) but I'm not clear what the complaint about the DR-70D is except that later and more expensive machines are better and that you can't use it for foley without a pretty. Well, I don't really do foley...

I did look at the new Marantz machine's specs and they seem comparable, apart from having two more very desirable channels.

However there seem to be complaints that it doesn’t record very long before shutting down. I can't work out whether that's true, or not. It's surely the sort if thing that would get fixed?

Gavin

[forumuser915213]

Hi Gavin. Yes, they certainly can. They are certainly designed for field recordings, but they can be used equally happily with or without a camera.

Thanks Mike. That's great to know.

Gavin

[ConcertinaChap]

Don't forget second hand if you want to get more recording channels at a reasonable price. For instance I use a Tascam DR680 for field recording, it's a decent bit of kit and gives me up to 6 channels at once. A quick check on ebay shows me they go for £2-300 there "preloved".

CC

[Mike Stranks]

Don't forget second hand if you want to get more recording channels at a reasonable price. For instance I use a Tascam DR680 for field recording, it's a decent bit of kit and gives me up to 6 channels at once. A quick check on ebay shows me they go for £2-300 there "preloved".

CC

Yup! I used to have one... good machine; recommended.

OP: for reviews of many of these type of recorders - including (I think) the DR70 - check out the Youtube audio techniques channel of Curtis Judd. A man who works in the AV industry, knows his stuff, does quality reviews and whose standards are way above the typical "unboxing" dross that litters Youtube.

[forumuser915213]

Don't forget second hand if you want to get more recording channels at a reasonable price. For instance I use a Tascam DR680 for field recording, it's a decent bit of kit and gives me up to 6 channels at once. A quick check on ebay shows me they go for £2-300 there "preloved".

CC

CC: Is this the 680 or 680mkII you're recommending please?

Thanks, Gavin

[forumuser915213]

Just to be sure...

[ConcertinaChap]

I have the DR680. The MKII is supposed to have better preamps but the original's preamps I can say from my own experience are fine and I'v never felt the need to upgrade. So get either if the chance comes up.

CC

[forumuser915213]

I've found a mkII and hopefully it will arrive in a few days.

I failed to notice that the DR-680 isn't USB powered, doubtless because USB wouldn't provide enough power for the machine running, say, six condensers.

So if I acquire a stash of rechargeables, how many would I expect to need to power the 680 and say four condensers for 2-2.5 hours please?

Thanks, Gavin

[ConcertinaChap]

I don't think you're going to regret having this. It's very straightforward in use as well. You are spot on with the power demands of a fistful of mics on phantom power. I never use mine on battery power as such but I always have a set of rechargeables on board. The reason for that is if some clot trips over the power lead and unplugs it then the DR680 will switch to battery power and carry on its way, like having a built in UPS.

CC

[Mike Stranks]

Yup! It's a good machine... I'm sure you'll get on well with it.

Couple of 'gotchas' to look out for:

1) Mics 5 & 6 are on balanced jack connectors. Phantom power is available. Be careful to switch off phantom if you're connecting unbalanced jack line inputs at any time. Caught me out once... no damage done, but weird audio artefacts.

2) You can configure how the recorder stores it's tracks. Mine came as a default with them stored in 1 combined file of tracks rather than 6 separate mono tracks. Some DAWS don't support the 1 combined file approach. However, should you get caught on this - I did - then Sound Devices offer a free 'unpack' utility - available on their website. But better to set the machine to the format that's best for you!

HTH