17 of the PMD660 field recorders have been supplied so far by Niehoff High Tech Sound & Light, chosen by the Police because of three primary factors. The PMD660 offers exceptional recording time, three hours of mono recording on a 1GB card, but, by switching between different presets, over 17 hours of stereo MP3 and almost 36 hours of monaural MP3 audio is available. The unit will operate for up to four hours on four standard AA batteries. Due to its solid-state design, the unit has virtually no moving parts is therefore dramatically more reliable than cassette, DAT, or other tape/disc formats.
And it is simple to use. According to a police spokesman, "our experiences are very positive. The recorder is very user friendly, and this is necessary when many different people work with it. Even people who are not technical can instantly start to work with the PMD660."
(Lee Baldock)
