I think any MD system will do, just make sure it has a mic-input (a friend of me last bought a recordable MD-player with only a line-input, so he was unable to record with a microphone (or had to use a pre-amp).
Headphones, well, any headphone will do I guess, if it is good quality.
Microphone: be sure to get a good quality stereo mic, it is useless to record digital quality with an inferior mic
If you want to attach to your HIFI-system: a stereo-mini-jack (MD-output) - double cinch (HIFI-input)
If you want to play through the car-tape-system: there exist tape-cases that function as an adapter to connect portable CD (or MD) players to that system.
Hope this helps you a bit.
I use a Sharp MD-DR7-A (Japanese version), and a Microphone Madness "Super T" microphone.
Looking at the Microphone Madness web page (http://www.microphonemadness.com), I see that they have the Sharp MD-DR480 (which I think is the next iteration of the DR7) for sale at a reasonable price.
I believe that the DR7 is available in a European version as well (since that is the English language manual I downloaded to use), so you may be able to pick it up in Ireland just fine.
Instead of a car kit ( tape adapter) I use a device I got at Radio Shack ( but have seen elsewhere)- its called "I Rock" I think. It plugs into the headphone jack on MD player or Cd player and interupts your radio's signal to play your cd's or md's. It cost about $30.00. If you decide to get one, be sure you get one that plugs into the cigarette lighter as the others absolutely eat AAA batteries. It also works on a boom box or other radio . There is some advantage of fewer cords and more reliability than with a car kit. I had to get one because I got a (free!) olf car with no tape deck- but with the help of a speeding 20 year old , that car seems to be totalled.
I wouldn't do without my MD player - I would do some research however- for a while people were saying Sharps were easier to download to computers ( instead of record from the inline) . Also , I would see an advantage to a device which you could play back without headphones in some situations even if not with good quality. I have a Sony- it developed a problem after about 4 months- won't stay closed. You'll know me when you see someone with a MD which is held closed by a pony tail holder!
I have that iRock that only uses AAAs. I use NiMH batteries with it, and keep a charger in the car. Yes, it eats batteries fast, but being cordless is nice - I was able to use it indoors as well, playing my MD over someone's boombox.
i just got a sharp MD-DR480 & i *really* like it. the controls are bigger and easier to use than the sharp MT-877 that i had previously. the recording quality is at least as good, and the playback is far better.
outward sound (http://www.outwardsound.com/) in berkeley has the MD-DR480 for 20 bucks cheaper than microphone madness.
I would consider waiting until April. Sony is going to release new HiMD recorders that support much longer times and the ability to digitally upload tunes from the player to the PC if they are recorded via the microphone or line-in.
Ditto that, except the HiMDs will only be available in the US in April. I think they'll be released in Europe closer to June, if you can wait that long, or you don't mind ordering from the US.
I started with a wait-and-see approach to MD, but I'm getting a HiMD asap. I have three portables (MZR50, MZN10, MZR70, oh, and my data drive MDH10 but I seldom use it for music), a multitracker (MDM-X4), home deck (JB920) and car deck (JVC KDMX3000). I hope Sony doesn't drop the ball on this; I can see HiMD fulfilling all of these uses, and I'll be first in line when the analagous products become available.
Has anyone had experience with this Sony bookshelf unit? Or can you recommend a comparable unit for using with a lap top?
What's the difference between netMD and HiMD?
I have a Sony MD Walkman MZ-R700, which is pretty frumpy already. But it's great for recording music and interviews on the fly. I use a big Sony ECM-MS957 microphone, but will look into the mics mentioned above.
That LAM-Z10 looks cool, but aside from the high speed CD to MD dubbing (which you can also do via NetMD protocol) I don't see that it's any better suited to a laptop than any other NetMD portable. Or are you just keen on having a bookshelf system?
Oh btw, my binaural mics are from www.soundprofessionals.com; as I recall they use AudioTechnica mic capsules. These guys aren't the cheapest on the web, but they stand behind their product. My first mics eventually developed a loose connection (after 3+ years of use), I emailed them, they said "send it in and we'll repair it for you" and they sent me a *new* set a couple days later.
re: the difference between NetMD and HiMD - I'll summarize here, check out www.minidisc.org for the nitty-gritty.
NetMD uses the same old MD disc technology, supports MDLP, and adds a USB connection that lets you transfer music from the PC to an MD at high speed, using LP2 or LP4 compression modes. Note that NetMD does *not* let you transfer music *from* an MD *to* a PC over USB. Also, the Sony software doesn't send real SP-mode to the NetMD device, it always encodes in LP2 first. So if you love the high quality of regular ATRAC SP recordings, this will be a disappointment. (The hardware protocol does support high quality transfers, but Sony's software doesn't allow it. Hacking around this is an interesting challenge...)
HiMD introduces a new disc that holds 1GB of data vs the original disc's 140MB. So now you've got discs with nearly 8x the capacity of the original MD, 50% more than a standard CD. Also, the HiMD device is supposed to allow high speed transfer of music both to and from MD/PC. These are the two major reasons I'm looking forward to using it. They also add a couple new compression modes (Hi-SP and Hi-LP) and drop the original SP mode. (You can still play it back, but it *seems* that it's no longer supported for recording. Not absolutely sure.) Btw, original MD discs can be reformatted in a HiMD unit, and get nearly double their capacity, so you don't have to immediately go out and buy a bunch of the new HiMD discs.
The reason i have not bought a mini disc at all is the lack of ability to upload to PC. I dont want to rerecord via analog input. But this new HiMD sounds interesting.
If you are will to spend a tad more you may want to check out the iRiver players. www.iRiver.com Basically a portable hard drive that allows to record in a number for formats, mp3, wav etc. All the inputs you could need, including USB, line and mic in, and optical. Plug it into a USB port and computer reads it just like an external hard drive. You can drag and drop your recorded mp3 direct to PC, plus the iRiver will store other file types besides audio, making it possible to transport all types of data.
Right, your current MDs are still restricted as before.
Btw, the HiMD also supports generic USB Mass Storage spec, so you can use it as an external hard drive as well, if that's important to you. You can store arbitrary files on it (but it won't play anything besides ATRAC...)
Have they said clearly anywhere that they will allow uploading music recorded live with the HiMD unit to be uploaded digitally (as an ATRAC format file, maybe) to the PC? I've read a lot of media hype, but haven't seen this said clearly anywhere yet. Considering Sony's track record, i'll believe it when i see it.
Yes, they've stated that recordings from the analog input (Mic or Line In) can be uploaded digitally at high speed. I don't think recordings from the optical input can be uploaded though.
Analog recording can be done in 3 formats - uncompressed PCM, Hi-SP (256kbps ATRAC3plus) and Hi-LP (64kbps ATRAC3plus). Uploading must be done using Sony's SonicStage 2.0, and the data is stored as OpenMG (encrypted, .OMG) files. If you want to burn that to CD, I think you'll need to use SonicStage. So far, SonicStage has only supported CD burning when running on a Sony VAIO PC; I dunno if that will change in the future.
Oh, scratch that - I've been playing around with SonicStage 2.0 a little bit; the .OMG files can also be played by Windows Media Player, and WMP will also let you copy the tracks to a CD.
Mini Disc Advice Sought
Re: Mini Disc Advice Sought
I think any MD system will do, just make sure it has a mic-input (a friend of me last bought a recordable MD-player with only a line-input, so he was unable to record with a microphone (or had to use a pre-amp).
Headphones, well, any headphone will do I guess, if it is good quality.
Microphone: be sure to get a good quality stereo mic, it is useless to record digital quality with an inferior mic
If you want to attach to your HIFI-system: a stereo-mini-jack (MD-output) - double cinch (HIFI-input)
If you want to play through the car-tape-system: there exist tape-cases that function as an adapter to connect portable CD (or MD) players to that system.
Hope this helps you a bit.
maarten
# Posted on February 18th 2004 by MM
Re: Mini Disc Advice Sought
I use a Sharp MD-DR7-A (Japanese version), and a Microphone Madness "Super T" microphone.
Looking at the Microphone Madness web page (http://www.microphonemadness.com), I see that they have the Sharp MD-DR480 (which I think is the next iteration of the DR7) for sale at a reasonable price.
I believe that the DR7 is available in a European version as well (since that is the English language manual I downloaded to use), so you may be able to pick it up in Ireland just fine.
# Posted on February 18th 2004 by Dave Weinstein
Re: Mini Disc Advice Sought
If you've got a CD with digital out, the optical digital connection makes for excellent CD->MD recording (and it's cheap).
# Posted on February 18th 2004 by rog
Re: Mini Disc Advice Sought
Instead of a car kit ( tape adapter) I use a device I got at Radio Shack ( but have seen elsewhere)- its called "I Rock" I think. It plugs into the headphone jack on MD player or Cd player and interupts your radio's signal to play your cd's or md's. It cost about $30.00. If you decide to get one, be sure you get one that plugs into the cigarette lighter as the others absolutely eat AAA batteries. It also works on a boom box or other radio . There is some advantage of fewer cords and more reliability than with a car kit. I had to get one because I got a (free!) olf car with no tape deck- but with the help of a speeding 20 year old , that car seems to be totalled.
I wouldn't do without my MD player - I would do some research however- for a while people were saying Sharps were easier to download to computers ( instead of record from the inline) . Also , I would see an advantage to a device which you could play back without headphones in some situations even if not with good quality. I have a Sony- it developed a problem after about 4 months- won't stay closed. You'll know me when you see someone with a MD which is held closed by a pony tail holder!
Jennifer
# Posted on February 18th 2004 by Jenthur
Re: Mini Disc Advice Sought
I have that iRock that only uses AAAs. I use NiMH batteries with it, and keep a charger in the car. Yes, it eats batteries fast, but being cordless is nice - I was able to use it indoors as well, playing my MD over someone's boombox.
# Posted on February 18th 2004 by HighlandSun
Re: Mini Disc Advice Sought
i just got a sharp MD-DR480 & i *really* like it. the controls are bigger and easier to use than the sharp MT-877 that i had previously. the recording quality is at least as good, and the playback is far better.
outward sound (http://www.outwardsound.com/) in berkeley has the MD-DR480 for 20 bucks cheaper than microphone madness.
sarah
# Posted on February 18th 2004 by sarahc
Re: Mini Disc Advice Sought
I would consider waiting until April. Sony is going to release new HiMD recorders that support much longer times and the ability to digitally upload tunes from the player to the PC if they are recorded via the microphone or line-in.
# Posted on February 18th 2004 by beowulf573
Re: Mini Disc Advice Sought
Ditto that, except the HiMDs will only be available in the US in April. I think they'll be released in Europe closer to June, if you can wait that long, or you don't mind ordering from the US.
I started with a wait-and-see approach to MD, but I'm getting a HiMD asap. I have three portables (MZR50, MZN10, MZR70, oh, and my data drive MDH10 but I seldom use it for music), a multitracker (MDM-X4), home deck (JB920) and car deck (JVC KDMX3000). I hope Sony doesn't drop the ball on this; I can see HiMD fulfilling all of these uses, and I'll be first in line when the analagous products become available.
# Posted on February 18th 2004 by HighlandSun
Re: Mini Disc Advice Sought
(oops, too slow. "Ditto" beowulf573.)
# Posted on February 18th 2004 by HighlandSun
Re: Mini Disc Advice Sought
Has anyone had experience with this Sony bookshelf unit? Or can you recommend a comparable unit for using with a lap top?
What's the difference between netMD and HiMD?
I have a Sony MD Walkman MZ-R700, which is pretty frumpy already. But it's great for recording music and interviews on the fly. I use a big Sony ECM-MS957 microphone, but will look into the mics mentioned above.
# Posted on February 19th 2004 by bellows boy
Re: Mini Disc Advice Sought
Oops, sorry...forgot to post the link to the bookshelf unit:
http://www.minidisco.com/lam-z10silver.html
# Posted on February 19th 2004 by bellows boy
Re: Mini Disc Advice Sought
That LAM-Z10 looks cool, but aside from the high speed CD to MD dubbing (which you can also do via NetMD protocol) I don't see that it's any better suited to a laptop than any other NetMD portable. Or are you just keen on having a bookshelf system?
Oh btw, my binaural mics are from www.soundprofessionals.com; as I recall they use AudioTechnica mic capsules. These guys aren't the cheapest on the web, but they stand behind their product. My first mics eventually developed a loose connection (after 3+ years of use), I emailed them, they said "send it in and we'll repair it for you" and they sent me a *new* set a couple days later.
re: the difference between NetMD and HiMD - I'll summarize here, check out www.minidisc.org for the nitty-gritty.
NetMD uses the same old MD disc technology, supports MDLP, and adds a USB connection that lets you transfer music from the PC to an MD at high speed, using LP2 or LP4 compression modes. Note that NetMD does *not* let you transfer music *from* an MD *to* a PC over USB. Also, the Sony software doesn't send real SP-mode to the NetMD device, it always encodes in LP2 first. So if you love the high quality of regular ATRAC SP recordings, this will be a disappointment. (The hardware protocol does support high quality transfers, but Sony's software doesn't allow it. Hacking around this is an interesting challenge...)
HiMD introduces a new disc that holds 1GB of data vs the original disc's 140MB. So now you've got discs with nearly 8x the capacity of the original MD, 50% more than a standard CD. Also, the HiMD device is supposed to allow high speed transfer of music both to and from MD/PC. These are the two major reasons I'm looking forward to using it. They also add a couple new compression modes (Hi-SP and Hi-LP) and drop the original SP mode. (You can still play it back, but it *seems* that it's no longer supported for recording. Not absolutely sure.) Btw, original MD discs can be reformatted in a HiMD unit, and get nearly double their capacity, so you don't have to immediately go out and buy a bunch of the new HiMD discs.
I hope that was helpful...
# Posted on February 19th 2004 by HighlandSun
Re: Mini Disc Advice Sought
Thanks, HighlandSun.
Is it true that I won't be able to upload my current MDs unless I do it realtime?
# Posted on February 20th 2004 by bellows boy
Re: Mini Disc Advice Sought
The reason i have not bought a mini disc at all is the lack of ability to upload to PC. I dont want to rerecord via analog input. But this new HiMD sounds interesting.
If you are will to spend a tad more you may want to check out the iRiver players. www.iRiver.com Basically a portable hard drive that allows to record in a number for formats, mp3, wav etc. All the inputs you could need, including USB, line and mic in, and optical. Plug it into a USB port and computer reads it just like an external hard drive. You can drag and drop your recorded mp3 direct to PC, plus the iRiver will store other file types besides audio, making it possible to transport all types of data.
anton
# Posted on February 20th 2004 by tones
Re: Mini Disc Advice Sought
Right, your current MDs are still restricted as before.
Btw, the HiMD also supports generic USB Mass Storage spec, so you can use it as an external hard drive as well, if that's important to you. You can store arbitrary files on it (but it won't play anything besides ATRAC...)
# Posted on February 20th 2004 by HighlandSun
Re: Mini Disc Advice Sought
Have they said clearly anywhere that they will allow uploading music recorded live with the HiMD unit to be uploaded digitally (as an ATRAC format file, maybe) to the PC? I've read a lot of media hype, but haven't seen this said clearly anywhere yet. Considering Sony's track
record, i'll believe it when i see it.
# Posted on February 21st 2004 by glauber
"Digitally" above means losslessly and without any kind of conversion. Just give me the bleeding file so i can burn it into a CD.
# Posted on February 21st 2004 by glauber
Re: Mini Disc Advice Sought
Yes, they've stated that recordings from the analog input (Mic or Line In) can be uploaded digitally at high speed. I don't think recordings from the optical input can be uploaded though.
Analog recording can be done in 3 formats - uncompressed PCM, Hi-SP (256kbps ATRAC3plus) and Hi-LP (64kbps ATRAC3plus). Uploading must be done using Sony's SonicStage 2.0, and the data is stored as OpenMG (encrypted, .OMG) files. If you want to burn that to CD, I think you'll need to use SonicStage. So far, SonicStage has only supported CD burning when running on a Sony VAIO PC; I dunno if that will change in the future.
Oh, scratch that - I've been playing around with SonicStage 2.0 a little bit; the .OMG files can also be played by Windows Media Player, and WMP will also let you copy the tracks to a CD.
# Posted on February 21st 2004 by HighlandSun