The two-minute reviewer
The death knell for pro cassette decks has rung; you’ll NEVER use a cassette again
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The Good Stuff
Lightweight, compact, smart new Minidisc recorder/player from Marantz. Using Sony’s current version of good-sounding ATRAC, it includes features reporters have been hollering for since the tiny Sony RZ55 MD was forced on them and their beloved cassette decks were forever taken away.
With more features than you could have thought of yourself, the PMD650 absolutely handles every situation you will encounter. Built in mic and speaker, XLR analog mic/line inputs, defeatable automatic level control, stereo/mono switch, pads, bandpass filters, titleing, random access, change the order of cuts, one-touch recording, digital in and out, phantom on board for condenser mics, YEOW! They threw the book at this one. Here are the highlights:
PHYSICAL
* digital I/O (RCA in, XLR out)
* on-board 48-volt phantom
* XLR analog inputs
* -10 (RCA) analog outputs
* automatic shut-off after 5 minutes
* audible battery alarm! it beeps when the battery is low! Imagine that. also has visual
low battery alarm
* very easy battery exchange. Uses (8) AA cells
* tiny feet grip well
* backlight is either momentary or constant
* buttons are recessed and protected so inadvertant status changes are less likely to
happen
* built in sample rate converters – when input is digital the device changes 32k and
48k fs to 44.1k
OPERATIONAL
* 3 hours recording time on (8) AA cells
* when external mono mic is used, unit records left channel full level and right channel
-15db down
* has A-B repeat capability
* separate L/R record controls
* one-touch finds "end track" (end of last audio) and puts device into
record
* if turned off (intentionally or inadvertantly) during recording, unit
automatically writes TOC (!) if batteries fail, UTOC is updated before unit shuts off (!)
* Automatic Level Control (ALC) works well, in a crisis a reporter could use the onboard
mic to record
* wraps to cut 1 from last track recorded – you can get from cut 255 to cut with the
single push
* speaker is clear and goes loud
* my name (MARK) is featured prominently on the front of the device (grin)
PHYSICAL
* buttons are bladder-type and not particularly responsive. They
require visual confirmation that commands were performed.
* subject to condensation on lens (which prevents operation up to one hour) when device is
brought from a cold environment into a warm one
* automatic shut-off after 5 minutes. Yeah, I said this was a good feature, too. The
#$#%@! alarm beeps constantly for 30 (!) seconds after 4 minutes and 30 seconds
have elapsed after last command, warning that power will shut off at 5 minutes. You WILL
find this annoying. It is NOT defeatable.
* no provision for telephone interviews
OPERATIONAL
* backlight eats batteries like mad. Expect 30 minutes record time
on a new set if backlight is used constantly
* extremely dangerous one-touch button called "backspace" on top of unit CANCELS
current recording - and does not write a UTOC. This button is unbelievably badly
placed and of dubious function. It's waaayyyy too easy to push. IT SHOULD BE
DISABLED!!! The only way to defeat it is to
"lock" unit in record (unacceptable).
This is a fine device for the technologically competent, but not for someone who wants a "grab ‘n’ go" recorder. Too easy to set incorrectly and too hard to find out what’s the matter. Of course, it’s nothing that a day studying the manual or a pro-mounted cover or a user-mounted swatch of duct tape wouldn’t fix . . . Oh, yeah, cruelly expensive at $1,400 (!).