PMD661 with Oade Brothers Super Mod
 

Annie,

I've been looking at recorders for a while. As an external recorder for my Video camera (just a Canon DV30 now, but I'm upgrading), I think the PMD661 with Oade Brothers Super Mod is the best option for me. Here's a link: Ordering for Oade Brothers Audio: Marantz PMD 661 Super.

From their description:

"The Marantz PMD 661 Super MOD upgrade rebuilds the XLR inputs using very high speed, very low noise and super low distortion op amps that dramatically improve low level detail and clarity. Components are selected by ear to optimize detail and low level resolution. Super low THD+N op amps allow for a very wide SFDR even with signal levels down 50dB. This preserves the signal quality of the highest grade microphones when recording soft signals, like voice, un amplified music, nature sounds and FX."

The cost of the recorder WITH the upgrade is $679.

FYI... I found this about the PMD661 prerecord feature:

"When using auto-record mode I set the Marantz up so that it hears a sound above a predetermined trigger level, meanwhile has buffered the 2 seconds of sound before the autorecord trigger level is reached, starts recording including the two second pre-recorded bit in the buffer and records until the sound stops for 3 seconds or longer. The recorder then automatically goes back into pause mode until it hears another sound above the auto-start preset trigger level which starts it recording again with another 2 second pre-recorded bit in the buffer."

Note that I found this comment on: Recorder advice - BirdForum.

I hope this helps.

Regards,

Dan.

Dan - that is a very interesting feature that I didn't know existed. And reading more of that comment - he goes on to say:

And Auto-track is a great and very useful feature. You set some convenient length in time you want files to be to make them a size that is easy to manage, say 30 minutes, and every time the record clock gets to 30 minutes, the recorder aromatically starts a new file... It is a vast improvement over dealing with files of several hours of recording time in one huge 2Gb lump. That's the equivalent (but more versatile) to recording video with the Sony MRC-1K which splits a couple of hours recording into 4GB (20minute) segments.

Richard - I thought you'd jump in about the Fostex. I agree the negative reviews seemed to by by people who didn't know what they were talking about. However, your comment about hissy sound through headphones has me worried, especially as I think you are the sort of person who would have tried different headphones to confirm that. I don't like wearing headphones, but I understand the value of them for the purposes of recording, so, yes, I do use them. But hisses or hums . . . . . . . . . .

Now I'm going to show my ignorance. I assume that a limiter cuts the signal when it gets too loud, but how important is it to have one?

Thanks

Maybe the word 'hissing' overstates it.
There is slight background noise which you might think came from the mic.
As long as you realise that it works fine for monitoring ie to check if it is distorting.

Hi Annie, the idea of limiters in a record circuit is to reduce loud peaks in the incoming audio to stop distortion but for wildlife recording work you don't need one, in fact a limiter could wreck your particular audio eg: by the time you establish the record level the loud bird might have flown. Just lower one of the record channels as fast as possible to cater for the peaks.

But it's necessary to have good audio limiters available in the gear and be able to recognise when you need them in the recording chain.

I agree with the others, the Sony D50 is a superb recorder for the price, it has a pre-record cache and its mics are hard to beat. One feature is it has very quickly adjustable 90 and 120 degree settings. 120 is wide stereo and after you get used to using that, you'd quickly get to recognise when to use 120 and it would greatly enhance some of your wildlife work. (and it has switchable on/off limiters)

The battery life is amazing and it's lightweight very compact and the windproofing accessory works as advertised. Most important .. as a solo shooter it's extremely easy to move around, quick to set up and start recording.

Cheers.

Has anyone mentioned the Edirol R-44? 4 channels. Pre-record. You can get a modified one for about the same price as a stock model. It's simple, and it's awesome.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/542280-REG/Edirol_Roland_R_44_R_44_Solid_State_Four_Channel_Portable.html

Oade Brothers R-44 Super Mod
 

I also looked at the R-44 (modded by Oade Brothers). Its' a nice unit, but I couldn't justify the extra bucks for two more channels. Here's the link:

Ordering for Oade Brothers Audio: Edirol R44 Super MOD- Ground Shipping

Regards,

Dan.

I suggested the R-44 because it's the best value, and has the cashe recording. Eventually everyone needs more than 2 channels. If you can do without cashe recording, and don't mind fiddling with menus, the H4N has XLR inputs, stereo recording, and is cheap. It's nowhere near the sound quality of the R-44, but it's cheap, and that's what people want first and foremost.

Chad,

I don't think cheap is what all people want. I can't speak for Annie, but I have NO interest in cheap and no interest in the H4n.

At $679, the Oade Bros modified PMD661 isn't cheap and the sound quality is supposed to be excellent. Not super expensive perhaps, but not cheap either.

IMO, both the R-44 and PMD-661 are very good quality recorders. Right now, I don't see the need for the R-44's extra channels. Perhaps in the future.

Regards,

Dan.

Chad I don't agree either .. what people want is value for money, they always have.

What ever it is, if they want it they'll pay a relatively expensive price if they recognise it's value. And not everybody will ever want more than 2 channels or 2 tracks either.

Cheers.

Fostex FR2-LE
 

Just stumbled upon this thread. If it helps Annie, here is my take on the Fostex FR2-LE. Sure it's not perfect and I wish it was smaller but I certainly get very acceptable audio from it for the (mostly corporate) work I do. I think it's a great step into the world of professional audio gear, even if it's on the bottom rung of that ladder. I can't comment on the other models mentioned in this thread as I don't own any of them (I own a Zoom H2.... which is best left out of this discussion!)

FOSTEX FR2-LE MINI REVIEW

Don and Alan - I hear you. And I hadn't considered the PMD661, which is actually only 600.00 if you don't go for the mod. That's a good middle between the H4N and the R-44. I am frustrated with the rather large number of people who have a number like 200.00 - 300.00 in their heads and do indeed go for the bare minimum gear, when if they just put a little more into their budget planning they could have a nice piece of gear that they won't need to replace. There was a guy who got his Rode Video mic stolen and wanted a replacement for 100.00 - 200.00 but was better than the Rode VM. Everyone was encouraging him to upgrade his budget just a little and wrote ling posts with dissertations on value, and not cheaping out etc, then he just went for the Rode VM again, or something cheaper. You try to help people... I should probably take a break from the audio forums, but I keep pulling myself back in when I read someone needing help, then not listening.

You guys are right, people do want value. But SOME people just want cheap too.

What quality of audio willl a H4N in a controlled environment with a decent mic provide?