More on Marantz Portable Recorder

Marantz is releasing more details about its PMD660 hand-held digital recorder. RW Online first reported on the coming model earlier this month; it’s expected to be of particular interest to people doing radio field work.
The solid-state recorder can record uncompressed WAV files at 44.1 or 48 kHz, and MP3 files in mono (at 64 kbps) or in stereo (at 128 kbps). Using a 1 GB Compact Flash card, the company said, the PMD660 records more than one hour of stereo and three hours mono of uncompressed audio, more than 17 hours of stereo MP3 and nearly 36 hours of monaural MP3 audio.
In addition to two stereo condenser mics with Automatic Level Control, the unit has two XLR mic connections with 48-volt phantom power, stereo line I/O and can operate for up to four hours on four AA batteries.
Editing capabilities include two modes: Copy Segment, which uses cut-and-paste-style editing to create a sound file, which can be up/downloaded via the PMD660’s USB port; and Virtual Track mode, which allows the user to make an internal edit list enabling nonlinear playback of file segments, without using card memory to create a new file.
Up to 99 virtual tracks can be created to compare edits, set up multiple sound bites or provide interview segments of varying durations.
Other aspects include an optional RC600 wired remote control, which attaches to a microphone and supplies Record/Pause control, track marking and peak metering from the microphone position.
For more information, contact Marantz at (630) 741-0330 or visit www.d-mpro.com.