Marantz PMD660

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Field recording means more than just "battery-operated." It takes ruggedness, flexibility, specialized features, and the highest audio quality. It also takes experience to really understand what happens in the field, and to design the right tools for the job. Marantz Professional has that experience. For more than 20 years, Marantz Professional has designed and built field recorders that are up to the challenge, and the PMD660 is no exception. Critical field applications like electronic journalism, technical investigation, and documenting legal proceedings have been waiting for a high-powered, high-quality, high-reliability solid-state recorder in a compact package. Now Marantz Professional has answered-with the PMD660.

Our newest PMD recorder is small enough to fit in the palm of your hand, but it has features that make more expensive, full-sized field recorders green with envy. It can run for hours on just four AA batteries. It records on Compact Flash media cards which you can find in any discount store, and will store more than 36 hours of mono on a single card. If audio quality is your key requirement, you get over an hour of pristine, uncompressed, 16-bit .wav files. Editing can be achieved right there in the field using either of two editing modes, or you can use your favorite audio editing application by transferring files to your PC-the PMD660 even has its own USB port. XLR inputs, phantom power, built-in mics and more-it's all there in the PMD660. One last thing. Because the PMD660 is a solid-state recorder, it has no moving parts to break or service. There-it just paid for itself. And it's only from Marantz Professional.

Key Features

Smallest PMD yet-fits in your hand
Records uncompressed 16-bit PCM .wav files at 44.1 kHz or 48 kHz.
Records mono .mp3 files at 64 kbps
Records stereo .mp3 files at 128 kbps
Uses inexpensive, widely available Compact Flash media (CF)
1 GB CF card can hold over 1 hour of uncompressed stereo
1 GB CF card can hold over 17 hours (stereo) or 36 hours (mono) .mp3
Operates for four hours on four AA batteries
Two XLR mic connections with +48v phantom power
Two built-in condenser mics for easy, true stereo recordings
Stereo line I/O
Solid State Design
No moving parts-no maintenance
"Copy Segment" cut-and-paste editing to a new sound file
99 "Virtual Tracks" for EDL-style editing
Built-in USB port for easy file transfer
Optional wired remote control with peak indicator

Solid State Technology
The PMD660 is the newest generation of "Flash Recorders". By storing audio data on Compact Flash (CF) media cards, all of the mechanical
hassles of tape recorders are gone forever-as are the costs of servicing and maintaining them. Solid State Technology makes the PMD660 less vulnerable to bumps, vibrations, and sonic deterioration over the long haul. Not only that, but CF storage allows you to choose from several recording formats, and makes transfer to computers a snap.

Long Battery Life
Tired of lugging around six extra D-Cells just so you can interrupt
your recording to change batteries half-way through an event? The PMD660 will run for four hours on four AA cells. You can carry an extra set around and not even notice they're there-not that you'll need them.

Long Record Times
No more flipping tapes! A single 1 GB flash card can hold up to 36 hours of uninterrupted audio (monaural .mp3 at 64 kbps). For music recording, the same size card can hold more than 17 hours highquality compressed stereo (.mp3 at 128 kbps). If you need the unmatched quality of uncompressed audio, you can get about one and-
a-half CDs worth of 16-bit linear PCM audio at 44.1 kHz or 48 kHz on the same 1 GB card.

Professional I/O
Let's face it. Plugging professional-grade microphones into an 1/8" jack is asking for trouble. The PMD660 offers two balanced XLR mic inputs with +48v phantom power. And just in case you don't have the time, space or budget to use external microphones, the PMD660 includes a stereo pair of condenser mics built right in.

Editing and File Transfer
In the end, you'll probably want your audio to be used for broadcast, or burned to a CD for evidence, documentation, or just for convenient playback. You'll want to edit out dead air and irrelevant information. You can do this right on the PMD660 with cut-and-paste simplicity using the "Copy Segment" mode. You don't need to worry about mistakes, because the PMD never erases your original recording. Once you have it the way you like it (or if you prefer to edit on your computer or DAW), you can transfer your audio files to a PC for broadcast or CD burning through the PMD660's built-in USB Port.

Exclusive-"Virtual Track" Mode
For more sophisticated editing jobs, the PMD660 features Marantz Professional's exclusive "Virtual Track" mode. In this mode, you can create up to 99 virtual tracks-internal playlists of audio segments. You simply tell the PMD660 what segments of a file to play, and in what order, and it does it-without altering the original file in any way, and without using up more card memory. Need 5 and 10-second sound bites and a two-minute interview segment, all from the same file? It's easy with virtual tracks.

Optional Wired Remote
It would be great if every recording situation had a field engineer running everything behind the scenes. Unfortunately, all to often it's just you, wishing you had more hands. The RC600 wired remote control enables you to start and stop recording, and to mark new track-starts on the fly. It even has a peak meter right on the remote, so you can keep an eye on your recording, without taking your eye off the ball.

Click here for PDF version of features and specifications

Click here to read the article, "Marantz PMD660– Igniting the Podcasting Community" by Peter Pagageorge.

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