Field Recorder with 4+ Tracks?

[ppc_michael]

Currently I have (and love) my Marantz PMD-671 field recorder. It does everything I want, BUT it only records two channels at a time. Is there anything with a feature set similar to the PMD-671 (24/96 PCM recording, clean preamps, etc), but which records more tracks?

The Tascam DR-680 LOOKED like it would be great, but from what I can tell from the online manual, it doesn't seem to recharge batteries when plugged in to AC. That seems like it would be a huge inconvenience.

 

[SchwartzSound]

Hadn't come across the Tascam DR-680, looks like it has mixed reviews.

The only other two I'm aware of are Roland's R-44 and Sound Devices 744 (or 844), but they come with a higher price tag. The Zoom records 4 channels simultaneously, but 2 of those must be the built-in mics.

http://www.roland.com/products/en/R-44/
http://www.sounddevices.com/products/744t.htm

 

[ppc_michael]

Hmmmm. Alright, thanks!

Yeah, I have a Tascam version of a Zoom that does the two balanced inputs + two built-in mics, but I'm looking for more balanced inputs for recording sound for film.

Right now what I've been doing is either recording on both the Zoom and the PMD-671 simultaneously for four XLR inputs at once, which works okay but is kind of a hassle and sometimes I still need more inputs. I also sometimes use a mixer for many XLR inputs and feed that line-in to the PMD-671, but that still obviously only results in a stereo mixdown.

Too bad there aren't more options in the sub-million-dollars category, but I guess that's the way audio is.

 

[Macman45]

I can vouch for the Rolands, I have a couple...But as posted, they are a little higher in price...The Tascam is not as good as ut used to be.

 

[zimv20]

sounddevices is the standard, if that's important.