I have been the happy owner of a Marantz PMD430 for around a year now. It has a few minor issues that sometimes add to its character and sometimes become a nuisance.
A minor annoyance is that there is a wide difference in gain between channel one and channel two when recording in stereo. One channel needs to be turned down to around 7 while the other needs to be turned up to 10.
Another minor issue is that the motor is loud. I expect this somewhat, but with certain tapes there is a consistent repeating plasticky rubbing sound that occurs regularly at around 60bpm.
The only major issue is that sometimes the stereo image goes wild while recording. A signal in one channel (left or right) will jump to the other, or jump to center, or wander all over the place. I think this happens more often when I drive a loud signal into the deck. I like the effect for some uses, but when I am trying to hit the limiters hard with the full mix, I am often left with a wonderful warm result that would be perfectly usable/releasable if it wasn’t for the nauseating rapid panning.
If anyone can shed some light on these issues, explain what may be causing them, recommend self-service solutions/techniques, or even recommend a good tape tech in the greater New York (for when after quarantine is over) I would greatly appreciate the assistance. Thank you!
