Marantz PMD620 Handheld SD MP3/WAV Recorder

• One Touch Stereo or Mono Recording
• Uses SD/SDHC Cards for Recording Uncompressed WAV or MP3 files
• 2 Condenser Microphones & Built-in Monitor Speaker
• 16-Bit or 24-Bit Linear PCM Recording at 44.1 or 48kHz Sample Rates for WAV Files
• Operates on 2-AA Alkaline or NiMH Batteries

There is so much good about the 620 that it's fatal flaws are heartbreaking. I really, really wish it worked.

Here's the problem: it fails to properly record once every 40 or 50 files. It doesn't record header info for the files which renders them useless.

I am a reporter for NPR and need to know that every file will be properly recorded every time. This failure rate--while small--renders the unit useless. I just lost a 40 minute interview with a prominent politician. I've lost other great interviews along the way.

Some other bugs: the mic jack is not standard. it works with Sony jacks but not off-the-shelf miniplugs. Regular miniplugs jangle a bit in the housing, which causes a constant lousy audio glitch.

The rubber housings on the bottom are cheaply made and break easily.

Also ridiculous: the volume and record level buttons have an audio click--meaning that you record the sound of adjusting your levels. Come on: that's basic. you should have a sound-free wheel, right? Obvious.

Otherwise, lots of positives: great small size, fits in a jacket pocket, good preamps, Nice features.

I would love it if I could trust it. But I can't. So, it goes in the drawer and won't be used anymore.

Buy Marantz PMD620 Handheld SD MP3/WAV Recorder Now

I recently purchased the Marantz PMD620 as a podcasting recorder as well as an accompany audio source for my camcorder recording. There are a fair number of reviews on portable recorders out there, each with significant bias towards one brand or another, and I researched all of these before deciding on the Marantz. The combination of sound quality and after rebate price (-$100, total price $205 delivered) made it the right recorder for me.

First off, the sound quality of the onboard condenser mics is superb, especially for voice. It was among the most uncolored I found while researching as well as when I tried it out for myself. The mics are 45 degrees off-axis, shielded in the perforated metal cage at the top of the unit, which translates into very low wind noise out in the field. If wind is a concern, there is a rather effective low-pass filter that you can employ from the menu options. I had read about a bit of a noise floor with the internal mics, but couldn't hear this when I listened to reviews on line and haven't discovered it in my quiet-room recordings either...so I don't think that's much of a problem.

The recorder maxes out at 24bit depth, 48Khz sampling, and 192kb/s for MP3s, which is a step lower than a number of comparable alternative players (which offer 96khz sampling and 320kb/s for MP3s) but if your primary use will be the condenser mics on board the higher offerings are entirely overkill and largely added file size. Bit depth is far more important when considering recorder fidelity, and all offer 24bits in this price range. If you are shopping for a recorder by specs alone, there's a good chance you will inflate the importance of 96khz sampling and 320kb/s MP3 focus on the 24bit depth instead.

There are a host of options to tweak the presets (3 available), which make the unit very easy to use. It is a bit of a hassle to engage these (about 4 button presses to do so) which takes a bit of time, so you run the risk of losing something at a moment's notice if you are recording on the fly. Marantz could have improved on this by having preset buttons on the face of the unit, but oh well. Alternatively, just record with the maximum resolution all the time and you can transcode to MP3 once downloaded to your computer. Note if recording with the onboard mics you will pick up 'clicking' sounds if you are adjusting the recording level from the side of the unit (shame on Marantz). This is probably the only time you'd press buttons while recording, and you'll probably only hear it if recording something very faint and hence need to crank up the recording level. Still, it's annoying.

For the sound quality, easily a five star rating. Here are the quirks that give it a four, and you can judge for yourself if you can live with them:

1) The headphone jack is on top of the recorder, right next to the internal mics. This will make noise every time the cord hits the unit. Marantz's argument is that this enables you to put the recorder in your pocket and be done with it...and if you're doing this, you probably have an external mic engaged anyhow so it isn't a problem. Alternatively, you can put the headphones in the line out (losing volume control) which is on the side of the unit. Note: no 48V phantom power or balanced inputs with this player, only 5V output for electret mics and they have to be 1/8" inputs. Not a problem for my uses (I also use a Rode SVM mic for an external mic), but it may be a dealbreaker for you.

2) Everybody's gripe about the very cheap USB and SD doors is warranted: looking at these, you'll feel truly robbed that you paid so much for something that looks as if it were peddled at a flea market. I don't use these often which is good, because they look as though they are on borrowed time before they break. I truly, really, honestly don't know what Marantz was thinking here. The rest of the unit is well built, however.

3) Transfer of files from the player is pretty slow with a USB connection. A better option is to remove the card and use a high-speed USB card reader. Again, not sure what Marantz was thinking.

4) There were a few glitches with the firmware installed with the player, so I recommend immediately updating with v2.27 (google it, it's an easy find). Installation is a snap just download the firmware to your SD card and turn on the player.

5) Some have complained about the inability of some SDHC cards to be read by the player I haven't experienced this yet but then again I went with Sandisk which is "strongly recommended" by marantz (as well as Lexar). They include a 512MB Sandisk card with the player, so this may be all you need anyway. Still, others have experienced problems with certain brands, so be aware.

All said, it's a phenomenal player with a quirky exterior. Furthermore, Marantz gives you quite a bit of extra gear with the player (cables, memory, and a holder with built in tripod mount). The Olympus LS10 seems to command the lion's share of the portable market, but I consistently found the onboard mics too bright for my personal tastes (and it was 50% more expensive if you factor in the Marantz rebate). The Sony PCM-D50 is a phenomenal player (but $450) really the standout of the bunch but it is extremely prone to wind noise and the NON-included windscreen is $50!!. That's absurd, especially considering that it is an absolute necessity for that player. M-Audio microtrack II looks like a pretty nice unit too, but the proprietary (and short-lived) battery is a bad option if you consider the possibility of your player dying when you need it most...and the T-mic is a forced plug-in. Korg 1bit recorder sounds phenomenal, but it records to a spinning drive (yikes if you drop it) and the battery lasts only 2.5 hours! I didn't look too much into the Edirol or the Tascam, so I don't have too much input some praise the Edirol quite a bit so it might be worth looking at as well. For me, the Marantz has clearly been the right choice.

Read Best Reviews of Marantz PMD620 Handheld SD MP3/WAV Recorder Here

I read a lot of good reviews on the Marantz PMD-620 and decided to buy it for my fieldwork research to record both voice interviews and musical performances.

The main reason I decided to purchase the Marantz PMD-620 was primarily because reviews on the internet claimed it was built well and rugged. I need rugged reliable equipment. Unfortunately, it proved to be neither rugged nor reliable.

My first impression when I picked up the 620 was one of disappointment -the body's plastic construction felt cheap and thin and the switches and pushbuttons felt weak and not did not provide a positive tactile feel. For the price, the unit should have a metal body. The battery door and the SD card door both feel quite fragile and feel like they could break at any time when changing batteries, especially if the temperature was below zero.

Why do manufacturers develop good products, then cheap-out on the construction and instead of spending $0.25 on a metal hatch or door, they spend $0.05 and make a bad plastic one.

But the read disappointment came when the unit stopped working after only 3 days of use. I had to ship it to the USA because it does not have an international warranty and Marantz China refused to honour the warranty.

The sound quality is good and the unit's menu interface is easy to use. But overall, Marantz really ought to rethink their design and build qualityit shouldn't be THAT hard to build a good player

Want Marantz PMD620 Handheld SD MP3/WAV Recorder Discount?

I've been using this recorder for 5 months now. I'll start with the good news.

The 620's audio quality is excellent. This recorder makes clean (if slighly hissy) recordings with an AT-822 or similar electret stereo mic. The higher the output of your mic(s), the quieter the recordings will be. The built-in mics are adequate for quick interviews and other voice recordings, but I don't recommend them for music. They sound a bit harsh. They're also omnis, and much too close together to produce an acceptable stereo image.

Battery life is excellent. I can record for 5-6 hours per charge, using a pair of AA Sanyo Eneloop NiMH cells. Having a field-replaceable battery makes this recorder much more useful than the M-Audio and others with fixed internal batteries.

I've made dozens of recordings and only one has had problems: an odd glitch in the middle where several seconds of the recording are literally missing.

If that sounds like faint praise, you're spot on. Though I won't dismiss the 620 as a previous reviwer, Mr Davidson, did, he does have a point.

This recorder claims to be a pro's tool. It even greets you with the claim "Marantz Professional" when you turn it on. And it has the right name. Broadcasters have used Marantz cassette recorders for years because you can grab one, throw it in a bag with a mic and a few spare batteries, and know you'll come back with a story.

In my experience, the 620 doesn't live up to this rep. It's a huge step up in reliability over my previous main flash recorder, an Edirol R-1, but that's not saying much.

In fairness, though, I have to say that I have yet to find a flash recorder that I'd count on for recording a once in a lifetime event, especially in this price range.

Flash recorders are computers. Computers have software bugs and compatibility problems. The designers can throw more development time at these problems, but then the price will go up -WAY up -and potential buyers will complain that it costs too much.

The PMD-620 is priced to compete with the Zoom H4, Edirol R-09HR, and M-Audio Microtrack -all of which have the price advantage of being made in China, by the way, while the Marantz is made in Japan. Despite its claims, I just don't think it's fair or accurate to compare the 620 with $1000 and up professional flash recorders -or with intrinsically more reliable analog recorders.

If you're making a recording that matters, you need a backup device regardless of what flash recorder you use. I use an Iriver IFP-899 or F700 with a pair of mini-electret mics, right next to the Marantz. The one time the Marantz failed me, I had a usable recording.

You can also improve the PMD-620's reliability by never erasing audio files from the card. When the card is full, reformat it. (My glitched recording was apparently caused by the processor's inability to write data to a fragmented card fast enough.)

As for Mr Davidson's comments on the mic jack, I haven't experienced those problems. The jack does feel a bit odd; I'd describe it as a bit of play, where the plug rocks a little as it's inserted. But once seated the plug stays in place and in contact, with no audio problems that I've noted. (Fingers crossed.)

The clicking level buttons ARE annoying. Where that might be a problem, I set the ALC so I don't have to trim levels, an acceptable if less than ideal solution. And while the battery door is substantial, the covers on the ports and jacks are pitifully flimsy, again not in keeping with an allegely professional machine. The cover for the USB connection on mine quit latching on the third use, and I don't treat my gear roughly.

The absence of any mpeg bit rate over 192kbps is puzzling -almost every other flash recorder goes to 320kbps -but since this machine can accept the largest SD card you can buy, that's not much of a fault; just record in uncompressed PCM (WAV).

The downside of using PCM is the time it takes to upload the recording to your workstation. Marantz claims the PMD-620's USB interface is USB 2.0, but it's agonizingly slow. Recordings transfer in about 1/6 to 1/7 real time. That's OK for a 10 minute recording, but painful for a 3 hour rehearsal or a 2 hour concert.

You can deal with this by using a separate high-speed USB 2.0 SD reader, which will transfer a 2+ hour recording in about 2 minutes. Of course you then have the risk of damaging the 620's feeble card slot cover every time you r&r the card, and an extra piece of gear to carry when you're in the field.

In summary, the PMD-620 makes excellent recordings. My ears are pleased. I think it's one of the best choices in its price range, though it does have limitations.

If you're a pro, don't expect this recorder to be as reliable as your Marantz portable cassette recorder was. Use a backup. For recording your band's rehearsals or your kids saying hi to Aunt Aggie, though, it's great.

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Recently I bought the PMD620 and it seems to me very easy to use and also very light, maybe too light because I had problems with the weight of the microphone and audiophone cables that is much more that the same recorder.

I like the 3 preset memories that can be preset very easy.

It seemed to me an excellent purchase, I recommend it very much.

Im using it to record birds songs, and is a very nice tool!