The PMD661 is the latest addition to the Marantz Professional range of solidstate recorders, a product category in which the pro audio manufacturer leads the field. A robust and versatile professional handheld PCM / MP3 recorder, the PMD661 supersedes the popular PMD660, with an improved form factor, superior feature set, and use of SD flash media.

Film, Media & Journalism Studies at the University of Stirling is one of the oldest established degree courses of its kind in the UK. It includes practical modules in audio and radio production, for which portable recorders are required for use by students and tutors, both in the studio and in the field. The department has been seeking a replacement for its inventory of MiniDisc portable recorders for some time.

“We had no reservations about the suitability of the PDM661, as a well built solidstate recorder, capable of surviving the twin rigors of the road and student handling,” stated Scotaudio’s Andy Greig.

Film, Media & Journalism Studies Department technician, Michael McDonald, commented, “Most other solidstate units were either too flimsy or too fiddly, or both. Straight out of the box, however, the PMD661 impressed us with its good quality construction, neat design and good ergonomics. It has excellent sound quality and looks robust enough for prolonged student use.”

A third smaller than the PMD660 it replaces, the PMD661 has an improved top facia layout with fewer buttons and more highly developed use of multi-functional operation. A new feature set includes an integrated high quality stereo condenser microphone array for ‘point and shoot’ operation, and a highly visible 128 x 64 dots matrix OLED (organic LED) display. The PMD661 features both balanced mic and balanced line XLR inputs, as well as unbalanced line outs on RCA connectors. Also included for the first time at this price point in the range is a high resolution 24-bit / 96 kHz recording option (PCM). In another first, Marantz Professional has bundled it’s Mark Editor software which allows basic editing to be carried out on a handy PC or laptop, and files posted for immediate distribution. Drag and drop file transfer is supported via the USB 2.0 port. Power is via four AA batteries.