Marantz® Professional Showcases Its Full Line Of Recording Products At NAB

Marantz Professional highlights eight key products on display, offering a range of options for portable and installation recording and playback. These include the new PMD®580 Rackmount Solid State Recorder; PMD620 Hand-Held Digital Compact Recorder; CDR310 Portable Professional CD Recorder; award winning "hand-held" PMD660 Portable Solid State Recorder; PMD671 24-bit Portable Solid State Recorder; PMD570 and PMD560 Professional Installation Solid State Recorders; and CDR632 CD-R/RW Recorder.

The new PMD580 Rackmount Solid State Recorder brings many of the same features and high sonic quality found in the PMD Series of recorders, but adds a new dimension: network connectivity. Via its Ethernet port, the PMD580 can be positioned as a network device. The PMD580 schedules, records, and automatically archives, allowing users to upload files for storage, backup or distribution, or perform any number of other functions, all using a web-based GUI interface from any PC or Mac in the network.

The new PMD620 Hand-Held Digital Compact Recorder provides advanced functionality in a smaller, more convenient configuration. Marantz Professional's newest and smallest handheld portable recorder, the PMD620 fits easily in a hand or pocket but offers a variety of impressive features: direct-to-MP3 recording in three quality levels; uncompressed 44.1/48 kHz WAV format in 16- or 24-bit resolution; convenient SD flash memory card for data storage; intuitive, one-touch recording; thumb-operated scroll wheel; vivid, crisp, easy-to-read organic LED (OLED) screen; battery power (two AA batteries) with remarkably long life; non-destructive cut-and-paste-style editing; USB 2.0 port for easy transfer to a computer; built-in microphones; and much more.

The CDR310 Professional CD Recorder is capable of handling a project from beginning to end, with built-in microphone preamps with XLR connectors and 48V phantom power for use with external condenser microphones, a built-in high-quality microphone for maximum convenience and portability, and the ability to record for hours, then finish the final project to the built-in CD burner, all within one lightweight, battery operated compact unit. The burner can create both audio discs for instant playback on CD players, or data discs for transfer to a computer or for archiving purposes. Battery power capability — using the optional RB1651 battery &mdash allows for up to four hours of remote operation without an external power supply, while support for uncompressed WAV, CD-DA, AIFF audio and MP3 file formats provides flexibility and long record times. The CDR310's Background Record Mode enables recording to always be active, as an ongoing backup, even when the unit is in Pause Mode. Recording can also be active in Pre-Record Mode for up to 10 seconds with the recorder stopped. Easy One-Touch recording makes operation simple, even under challenging circumstances. Analog line-level inputs and outputs and S/PDIF-format digital inputs and outputs allow connection to a wide range of professional audio equipment.

The hand-held PMD660 Solid State Recorder features portable, battery-powered operation. It offers a choice of recording uncompressed WAV files at 44.1 or 48 kHz, as well as 64 kbps mono or 128 kbps stereo in MP3 format. An optional 1 GB flash card holds over an hour of stereo or 3 hours mono of uncompressed audio (recording at the rates specified above), while the unit itself can operate for 4 hours running on 4 standard AA batteries. Furthermore, the PMD660 has built-in stereo microphones and XLR connectors with +48V phantom power, and it is compatible with an optional RC600 wired remote (also available for the PMD570, PMD560,PMD620 and PMD671) that attaches to most any microphone to supply Record/Pause control, track marking and peak metering from the mic position.

The PMD671 Solid State Recorder offers multiple recording modes, long record times (up to 36 hours of stereo recording on a 1 GB Compact Flash card), and up to 6 hours of battery time with standard AA alkaline batteries. The unit is capable of 24-bit, 96 kHz PCM high-resolution recording for unrivaled audio quality; a 1 GB Compact Flash card can provide up to 30 minutes of record time at high resolutions. The PMD671 also offers a long list of professional features such as Virtual Third Head (VTH) confidence monitoring; Time-Shift Playback, which allows the user to back up and listen to passages while continuing to record an event; XLR microphone inputs with phantom power; built-in condenser microphone; RCA line inputs; USB 2.0 connectivity for ultra-fast audio transfer to a PC; and an optional wired remote.

The single-rackspace PMD570 Solid State Recorder unit records in mono or stereo directly to Compact Flash cards in MP3, MP2, WAV and Broadcast WAV formats. With over 40 quality settings, the PMD570 supports sample rates from 16 to 48 kHz, and bit rates from 32 to 384 kbps, as well as full-quality 16-bit PCM resolution. The PMD570 is able to create a new file (track increment) while recording and files can be created in intervals of 1, 5, 10, 15 and 30 minutes as well as 1-, 2-, 6-, 8-, 12- and 24-hour intervals for long-term, unattended audio recording. A comprehensive input and output complement on the PMD570 includes balanced XLR line inputs with trim, unbalanced RCA line in and out, and stereo S/PDIF input and output on coaxial RCA jacks. Remote control is provided via full two-way RS-232C interfacing; users can set up, change and replace all preset settings with a PC. In addition the PMD570 features USB connectivity for easy linking and file transfer to a PC or Mac. Audio files can be instantly dragged and dropped to the computer, eliminating wasted time doing transfers.

The new PMD560 offers the same recording quality and RS-232 system control with cost effective features. The PMD560 is a lower price alternative in the growing family of Marantz Professional solid state installation recorders.

The rackmountable CDR632 CD-R/RW Recorder hosts a long list of features most demanded by the professional installation market, including sync (level-dependent) recording; programmable auto fade-in and fade-out recording; optional remote control operation; Adjustable Marantz Minute Track Mode, used to set various Time- or Level-dependent Auto Track Increments; recording to virtually any CD-R or CD-RW disc media; playback of un-finalized CD-R and CD-RW discs; MP3 playback; CD text display; and much more. The CDR632 requires only two rackspaces.