Solid state recorders

Thanks for the observations. The technology looks like it has promise but maybe not there yet.

The better flash-based audio recorders, which certainly include many at that price level (and less), are wonderful performers. They also represent mature technology, having been introduced about 6 or 7 years ago, when flash storage was vastly more expensive than it is now.

However, the question is whether or not they will be useful in a home audio system, and in many or most cases, the answer will be no. Their main target application is professional or semi-pro sound recording, with the captured material subsequently being digitally transferred to a computer (via ethernet, usb, or firewire) for editing, post-processing, and/or for assembly with other material into compilations, which then may be burned to cd.

The flash cards themselves are typically not used for large-scale storage, although they can be, within their size limitations. The computer to which the files are transferred does that, in typical applications.

Probably the majority of these kinds of devices are made in compact, portable form, which makes them ideal choices for on-location sound recording. Many have high quality built in mic amplifiers.

That said, whether or not they represent a good choice for use in your system is your call. Along the lines of Sfar's second comment, note that with the unit you have linked to there is no hand-held remote control (and that is the case with most comparable recorders). There is remote control capability via a connected computer, for what that may be worth.

And keep in mind that this device could most likely be connected to a computer wirelessly, via an inexpensive external wifi bridge. And while I haven't looked at the description of this unit in detail, it could very well be that audio files can be transferred both to and from a computer via that link.

I would think twice about getting this particular model, though, if you decide to get such a device, because while it can provide 24 bit resolution, its maximum sample rate is only 48kHz. The better units these days can do 24/192.

If you still want to consider such a unit, I suggest browsing through the listings at B&H Photo Video, which is an excellent dealer in terms of price, selection, and customer service:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/browse/Recorders-Players-Accessories/ci/15063/N/4294550625

Among professionals, I think that the most highly regarded units at prices which are half-way sensible are those made by Sound Devices. Although most or all of them are made in portable form, and part of their price goes toward very high quality mic preamplifiers which you may not need, and their connectivity is typically via firewire, not ethernet. Their model 702, at $1875, I know to be an excellent performer, which is capable of 24/192.

My own experience has been with one of the earlier Marantz portable models, the PMD-670, which I've used extensively over the past 6 years to record spoken voice (not music). It has performed very well in that capacity, even though it was their earliest model. It is limited to 16/48, though, and its mic preamps are less than the best (which doesn't matter to me because I feed its line level inputs with the output of a high quality mixer).

Hope that helps,
-- Al

Yes, flash memory storage is being used more and more widely and has big advantages over hard drives. It's silent, uses much less power and is less prone to mechanical failure. For now, though, it's a lot more expensive per megabyte and uncompressed music takes up a lot of space.

In the iPod line, all the units up to 64 Gb have flash memory but the biggest one, the 120 Gb Classic, still uses a hard drive.

I spoke with Marantz and they now have an R-C 600 remote control for their PMD560/570/580. Also you can put in track markers and be able to skip from track to track.
They rate their 2 gig flash (not SD) at 3 hours for standard 16 bit CD quality.
Wonder when the audiophile industry will take hold of this. Sounds like the way of the future IMHO.

Marantz's top of the line, $1,500 PMD 580 has pretty poor signal / noise ratio and dynamic range. Much worse than an average CDP.

# Recording MP3 Bit-rate (Selectable)
# Mono: 160, 128, 96, 64, 32 kbps
# Stereo: 320, 256, 192, 128, 64 kbps
# Sampling Frequency: 44.1/48 kHz
# Number of Channels: 2 (Stereo), 1 (Mono)
# Audio Frequency Response: 10 to 20,000 Hz ñ 1.0 dB
# Signal-to-noise Ratio, IEC-A Weighted: 91 dB
# Total Harmonic Distortion at 0 VU: 0.01%
# Dynamic Range; 94 dB

PMD 580