[youthradioleaders] equipment question

[Noah Miller]

We took the plunge and bought a couple of Marantz PMD-660s a couple  
months ago. LOVE them. Although I get nervous about sending our 14- 
year-olds out with such expensive gadgets (as much as I trust them),  
the advantages of working with flash recorders are so clear. No  
moving parts to fall apart or gum up. No keeping track of a million  
minidiscs. And best of all, the near-instantaneous transfer of  
recordings over to the computer. This has allowed us to keep working  
with some of our Youth Producers who have moved far away -- they just  
send us the sound files over the internet.

Another thing I like is that they've got pretty big buttons compared  
to the minidisc recorders, and a nice big recording-level dial. The  
tinyness of the MD recorders seems cool at first, and then (in my  
experience) becomes an impediment. And of course we always had  
problems with those 1/8 inch jacks -- lots of static.

No problems with batteries yet -- we bought rechargeables in bulk,  
and send the youth out with extras.

Noah Miller
Director
outLoud Radio
(510) 548-4866
noah at outloudradio.org