Marantz 2-Channel DSLR Audio Interface PMD-602A

Been using this pre-amp almost a year with my Lumix FX300 (which has 1/8 audio in for direct audio recording). Regardless of hand-held, lav or overhead condenser, this little box is blowing my mind. 😁👈 Low noise, quality sound, good battery life. For the money, it was the smartest move I ever made with my humble kit. I don't claim to be a pro. I was honored to win Best Music Video Grand Jury Award at the 2014 Indi Cina Film Festival and have been in the industry for awhile with a brawd range of quality equipment products. I recommend adding this piece to your collection.

Big, heavy, chunky metal box (like having another DSLR bolted to the bottom of your DSLR) with lots of amplification and a clear control layout. Noise floor isn't bad at the low amplification level, though I think my re-jiggered iRig is cleaner. At high amplification, noise is noticeable. And almost everything works - except the monitor switch and headphone jack. For whatever reason, it allows you to listen to the signal from the amp, or from the camera - but only when the camera is in playback mode, not while recording. There is no live monitoring from the camera. WTF? I wrote to Marantz for clarification (Is this a wiring problem or just dopey design?) and got no response. When I asked the seller, they told me to contact Marantz. Bupkis feedback loop. So it works okay if you don't mind a heavy design and a fairly pointless headphone amp. Mine is going back.

This little mixer is built really well and sounds good. The knobs and switches have a nice feel to them. All in all this a great piece of gear. It is not ideal for run and gun work as the case weighs as much as a camera body.

Arrived quickly and was packaged well. Bigger than most and built like a tank it is also a bit heavy. That being said you get used to it and even like the substantial feel. Solid metal tripod mounts (female on bottom and male on top) allow a firm and secure attachment to your camera. If you remove the top tripod mount there is even a cold shoe attachment. One issue I found was that the top tripod mount has a very thin foam pad to buffer the PMD-602a and keep it firm from rotation once mounted. The pad is too thin and doesn't work as designed. I added a thicker rubber pad to it and all is fine. You can see it in the pics I've uploaded. In addition to that I might add that the battery compartment is clunky but solid. You must place a ribbon under the batteries to remove them or you will have a devil of a time getting them out. Features of the PMD-602a are many. While it has the ability to add multiple plug types such as XLR, 1/4" mono or TRS. 1/8" isn't one of them as far as input goes. If you have a mic that requires 1/8" then look elsewhere. For me the XLR was most important as it allows professional choices for mics and other equipment. On the control panel are left/right volume, line or mic or phantom level switch. Output gain Hi/Lo switch. Phantom power with dual voltages (12v or 48v) and a very nice to have a input limiter for when you have a spike in levels. In addition there is a headphone amp and volume control for it. The ladder LED display allows you to visually monitor the gain as well. Batteries (4) last about 6 hours with phantom power on. Not bad but you might keep an extra set with you. The most important part, the SOUND of the PMD-602a is very good. Very little if any self noise provided it is set up right. A word of warning though is the output is LINE LEVEL. If your camera can't handle the hot output you have pick up an attenuating cable of approx 20db. Mine as well as most other newer Canon's handle this fine. Another tip for good sound is turn the AGC on the camera off and set the level manually. I use large diaphragm studio mics and am impressed with the uncolored flat sound this provides. I don't have to use any EQ as the sound of this is transparent to what the mic puts out. Good mic=good sound. The monitor amp (headphones) leaves a lot to be desired though. I found it a bit noisy in a self noise way but this noise isn't present on the recordings. I have no test equipment other than my ears so take that with a grain of salt. So... Pros- Great build quality and sound. Price, as this is on the less expensive side of pro equipment. Cons- Output Line Level only, battery compartment, no 1/8" input. Too thin a rubber mount pad. Monitor amp is noisy.

First of all, it is a brand-name product, and it is best to have a reliable appearance and a crisp feel just by touching it. I bought a lot of Chinese brand products, but even just looking at them, they are cheap and fragile, and I don't like them because they are awkward.

I used this product for videocamera and it worked fine until it broke down After 1 year and 3 months - totally dead and can't find warranty info

Big improvement over using an external microphone plugged directly into the camera -- Huge reduction in noise.

I've got this hooked up to my Canon 80D, and just about everything works...almost. First, the 80D does have an attenuator, and that's a must if you're getting this guy because it only sends a LINE level to the camera. You could also send it out of the headphone output if you don't have a LINE level feature on your camera, but you lose the convenience of the headphone jack for monitoring. Now for my cons... • The Monitor In connection does not work at all with my DSLR. When I plug into it, my camera gives a nasty feedback sound instead of the audio from the connected mics. So basically, I can monitor what's coming out of the device, but if I want to confirm that the audio is still clean coming out of my camera, I'd have to unplug my headphones from the device, and plug it into my camera directly. • The screw mount on top for my camera is very flimsy. It won't screw all the way tight, so I have to be careful about panning from the camera, and that small plate it sits on feels a little cheap because I can definitely rock my camera on top of it. I might have to unscrew that plate and mount the device with a hotshoe on top of my camera, which is less than ideal for me. Other than that, this little guy is pretty nice! It felt a bit bulky at first, but I like it's size now that I've gotten to test it out, and there isn't any annoying noise coming from it, so all sound that's recorded will be as clean as possible! The battery life is actually pretty good, too! Don't listen to the others that say it sucks on AA's. They're probably using cheap or rechargeable batteries that don't last very long. I'm using Energizer EN91 batteries, if you're looking for something affordable and long lasting. 4 fresh ones are lasting about 4+ hours right now (I walked away from it while testing, so not sure how long exactly) with 48V phantom power on. So if you've ever used any kind of wireless mic system, you'd be ready to replace batteries then anyway. So the reason for 2 stars is for the 2 cons. I would've gone to 1 star because those two things have the potential of interfering with my shoots, but it still works for what I need it for. I just have to jerry-rig it a little bit.