Marantz PMD671

This week at my audio tech job, I got a new Marantz PMD671 digital recorder. I could have gone with the old PMD670 model, but I figured why not try the new improved product. Well as most things have been going for me lately, the PMD671 is missing one of my favorite features. The menu option to mute the internal speaker during recording with an external mic is gone!

What this little setting did was prevent feedback if you accidentally left the volume to high before hitting record. They decided to replace this important feature with the ability to time shift and listen to previously recorded audio while you are still recording. I can't imagine many people who actually need a feature like that. So once again, I am stuck with a product that does not meet all of my needs. Normally I would send it back, but other than the missing speaker mute, I need the equipment for our busy recording schedule. Before letting other people use the equipment, I had to add a label which says "lower the volume before you record". How lame.