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More Marantz PMD620 details emerge

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When the Marantz PMD620 flash recorder was announced a few days ago we didn’t have too many details to share. That hasn’t stopped people from talking though. Boing Boing, Gizmodo, and other popular gadget blogs have weighed in on the compact prosumer device.

While Marantz still hasn’t posted any details about the PMD620 on its website, Podcasting News got their hands on some of the specs. So here’s what we know:

  • Records WAV audio in 44.1/48KHz at 16 or 24 bit resolutions
  • Records direct to MP3 at three different quality levels (no word on what that means in terms of kpbs yet)
  • Includes 2 internal condenser mics, a 1/8th inch external mic input, and a 1/8th inch line input
  • First Marantz recorder to use SD flash memory with support for cards up to 2 TB (that’s terabytes with a T)
  • You’ll get a nifty little red glow when you’re recording so you know you’re recording
  • OLED display for low power consumption
  • Powered by 2 AA batteries
  • Configurable screen with 2 font sizes
  • Do basic non-destructive copy and paste style editing directly on the device
  • Transfer audio to your PC via USB 2.0
  • “Skip back” feature lets transcribers review audio recorded from 1 to 60 seconds go (we assume this means while you’re still recording, which means this could be an ideal device for anyone who needs to transcribe audio in real-time, like courtroom reporters).
  • Level and Peak LEDs
  • Display can be set to show time remaining, elapsed time, or other important numbers.

Now if we could just get a picture of this thing in someone’s hand, or better yet, side by side with a Zoom H2. The Marantz PMD620 will be out in November, and will set you back about $400. That’s twice the price of the H2, but it looks like the Marantz has a few features the H2 doesn’t, like a better display, Skip Back, on-board editing, and support for massive SD cards.

Of course, the things that matter most to me are how noisy the preamps are, how clean the audio recorded with the internal mics sounds, and the ease of use. All the rest is gravy. And until we start to see some hands-on reviews, we won’t know how the PMD620 stacks up against the H2, the H4, or even the PMD660.

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