The new M-Audio portable recording device last week, the new Marantz gear at the beginning of this week, it looks like somebody will do a lot of recording this Christmas, or is it just me? No matter what your X-Mas plans might be, here comes another great piece of audio technology, the PMD620 Professional Handheld Recorder.


This small gadget is no toy...of course you can use it to record the silly stuff you say when you're out with your buddies over some pints of beer, but this isn't by far what it has been designed for.

The PMD620 is the perfect solution for those who are looking for a portable way to do field recordings, even if we speak about interviews, podcasting, meetings or even live music.

No more bulky recording gear and large mics which by the way need wiring and so on: the Marantz PMD620 has everything you need to capture good-quality stereo audio in pretty much any place and any conditions.

From the super-handy one-touch recording to the flexible formats for a truly pro job and from the full in/out and USB 2.0 connectivity to the on-board editing and playback functions, the PMD620 is absolutely neat. Kudos! There are no inherent filesize limitations as you can record files as large as your SD memory can actually store, in WAV or directly to the MP3 compressed format. From 32 to 192 kbps and in either 44.1 or 48kHz, you should be able to record good audio material, suitable for pretty much any needs.

The dual electret condenser microphones will provide you with 68dB signal-to-noise ratio with only 0.06% total harmonic distortions, allowing you to do a great job even in noisy environments. Sporting 1/8" stereo jack inputs for both mic and line, the PMD620 can also output signal via mini jack, for line or headphone monitoring. The internal 150mW speaker will also provide you with a neat help for editing your notes while traveling. The approx. 5 hours working time on an alkaline power should cover for almost any needs; and if you buy some more batteries, you could record immense files - the Marantz PMD620 can handle SD cards up to 2GB (2048MB). Add in the OLED display and level/peak LED indicators and you'll end up with a very serious rival for Zoom and M-Audio.

The Marantz PMD620 is shipping and the expected price should be around the same $400 for this recorder class, making choices a bit harder.


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