I own a 744T, and there has been a large amount of discussion of all these options recently (and ongoing) at several nature sound sites. There is a company callled Oade Brothers that modifies the PMD series with better preamps and input stages. There is also the new M-audio Micro-2496, which is a bit flimsier but cheaper too. Lou Lou Judson � Intuitive Audio 415-883-2689 On Sep 28, 2005, at 7:04 AM, Dave Nolan wrote: > About portable digital recorders: > > There is a new machine out there that I would encourage anyone with the > budget to check out - the Sound Devices 722 and 744 portable recorders. > > http://www.sounddevices.com/products/7.htm > > These are more serious recording devices, with price tags to match - > the > 722 lists for $2650, the 744 for $4250 (street prices slightly lower) > - but > remember, when portable DAT recording first became available, the Sony > D10 > cost about $2500 in 1989 dollars... Sound Devices has been known for > years > for their high-quality portable mic pre's, field mixers, and the > like... > > Also (FWIW) at a recent AES meeting in NYC, a couple of elder audio > gurus > were discussing the Marantz PMD660 ($450), and seemed to think that the > built-in mic pre's were noticably substandard. Not sure if Marantz has > improved this with the PMD 670 ($700) or 671 ($1000). > > http://www.d-mpro.com/users/folder.asp? > FolderID=3629&CatID=19&SubCatID=180 > > http://www.d-mpro.com/users/folder.asp? > FolderID=1582&CatID=19&SubCatID=180 > > http://www.d-mpro.com/users/folder.asp? > FolderID=3689&CatID=19&SubCatID=180 > > dave nolan > nyc >