but my transferring process takes so goddamned motherfucking long to complete that spending $420 on a dying, troublesome format (the D8 I have on the way) is worth it.
I have to do so much to get a MD digital transfer to work that I don't even want to transfer any more. It's not worth my 4-5 hours per disc.
So DAT it is, for now. HD in the future.
Um, don't DAT transfers occur in realtime as well? (if you're getting a DDS drive, I guess this is a moot point). That's why I got out of the DAT game as soon as I could.
Now WHERE'S MY 722!?!?!
Lee, my friend, allow me to explain. Transferring in realtime is my friend. I dream of transferring in realtime and being done with it. That's the EASY part of my transferring process. I'm SO looking forward to having one sole realtime transfer, then tracking, then that's it. I go through so much shit to get a MD onto CD the way it should be:
Optical transfer MD from MDS-JE520 home deck:
length of discScrolling through Sound Forge to find millisecond-long dropouts that result from the deck playing back spots during which the recorder was moved in the field. These dropouts are not present when played back through the MZ-R700 portable recorder, just the deck with digital out. And all Sony decks are finicky like this. I have to be so, so careful not to move the MZ-R700 faster than less than 1/2" per second while recording, because I know that during playback through the deck, I'll have dropouts. This inhibits my ability to check levels, settings, recording time, etc in the field:
20 minutes+Load the MD into the MZ-R700 and play back those spots that I've located by zooming in a scrutinizing the waveform, 1/8" stereo mini out of the MZ-R700 to line in on my sound card, some of which are located in clusters, others by themselves (and these clusters can number anywhere between 3 and 20 per disc), then organize the separate recorded files:
20 minutes+***NOW IT GETS FUN***
Adjust the volume of the portable's analog-recorded spots to match those of the digital raw file. Sometimes EQ is necessary, too, and you'd better hope that you had your analog input levels adjusted right during portable playback. Plus, the two transfers sound significantly different to begin with:
10-30 minutesBy identifying peak structures that look alike on the portable's healthy transfer spots and the digital complete transfer, go crazy adding markers and adjusting them TO THE PIXEL at maximum zoom settings on each, and hope they match up PERFECTLY when you copy the analog transfer spots into the digital transfer dropouts, deleting, cutting, pasting, waiting for Sound Forge to deal with a 1GB+ file... also known as the "Splicing Process," along with bullshitting bad connecting points on the wav with the pencil tool and EQing/adjusting volume/wishing to God that you hadn't checked your levels or rec time during a song/wondering why you ever bother taping in the first place: at least
1-4 hours+ (sadly, I've gotten pretty talented at this)
Burn a CD with this one long wav file. Listen to it critically all the way through, pausing if you leave the room, and hoping that if you rewind a second the button doesn't slip and sned you back to the beginning of the track. Locate and identify dropouts that you could not see during the initial transfer in Sound Forge:
length of discRepeat the Splicing Process for those spots you couldn't see the first time:
15 minutes-2 hours+ (depending on the amount and severity)
Track it out in CD Wave:
15 minutesBurn and listen critically one final time for dropout errors:
length of discAll of my masters are done this way. This is why I don't evem bother mastering most of my MDs. It's just not worth it.
Schwilly continues to advise me to give up the digital transfer and just do it analog out of the recorder, but I just don't feel right about it. I can hear the the sonic differences.
And at least I don't get dropouts on my masters, unless I'm walking. Schwilly does even when playing out of his portable sometimes.
I realized that I just couldn't fucking stand it any longer, so last week I bought a D8. End of MD and all this cockshit for me, as good a trustworthy friend as my MZ-R700 has been...
Armen
P.S. EDIT: em
boldenedified the "times" involved