Topic: Best Mini Disc recorder???

[dunebug81]

I read somewhere in the forums that another problem with MD/HIMD is that they can SKIP while recording (there is no buffer for recording like they have in playback).

If true, that's a fairly large negative IMHO. 

No its not true.

[knoxmallette]

I have a MZ-M100 and I like it -however, I have had two bad experiences moving music through sonic stage onto my computer- one I could recover from and the other I could not. During the conversion to WAV from the M100 to my computer I received an error and the conversion/transfer stopped. I figured the size of the file was too big and cut the show in half using the track mark- this solved the problem and everything worked like it should. The next time, (DMB 8/13/06) I decided to put track marks using the minidisc after each song. During the conversion/transfer I received the same error but this time my minidisc media was corrupted and I could not recover the last dozen songs. I placed calls to Sony and they had me try some stuff that I had already tried and they decided it had something to do with my desktop- sorry. The problem is that the minidisc writes a flag to the media that indicates that the music has been transferred once- their system for stopping music swapping. This pisses me off since it is not copyright protected music- it was mine (and Dave's).
Since then I have purchase an H120 and installed rockbox- and I could not be happier. A recorder mounting as an external hard drive with drag and drop- what a concept! The M100 will serve as back-up from now on.

[ilduclo]

I have an MDMT770 Sharp, bulletproof, nice recordings and real easy on batteries ( 3  hours on the internal ,6+ hrs on one AA). IMHO, it's the mics and the room. If you have decent mics, the MD does just as well as my DAT (TCDD100). I usta use Coresound mics, but now have DPA 4061's. I'd compare my MD rec's with these to a lot of higher priced gear. 200 for the MD new (which was from Minidisc HK, which I think is now out of business) and 500 complete for the DPA's including conversion from Lemo to 1/8" mini and a Bat Box from Sound Pros)......just my 2 cents.....

[dunebug81]

I have a MZ-M100 and I like it -however, I have had two bad experiences moving music through sonic stage onto my computer- one I could recover from and the other I could not. During the conversion to WAV from the M100 to my computer I received an error and the conversion/transfer stopped. I figured the size of the file was too big and cut the show in half using the track mark- this solved the problem and everything worked like it should. The next time, (DMB 8/13/06) I decided to put track marks using the minidisc after each song. During the conversion/transfer I received the same error but this time my minidisc media was corrupted and I could not recover the last dozen songs. I placed calls to Sony and they had me try some stuff that I had already tried and they decided it had something to do with my desktop- sorry. The problem is that the minidisc writes a flag to the media that indicates that the music has been transferred once- their system for stopping music swapping. This pisses me off since it is not copyright protected music- it was mine (and Dave's).
Since then I have purchase an H120 and installed rockbox- and I could not be happier. A recorder mounting as an external hard drive with drag and drop- what a concept! The M100 will serve as back-up from now on.

You must using an old version of Sonic Stage.  Upgrade to 4.0 and you will no longer have that issue.  I upgraded to the new version and have had no problems since.  Sonic Stage also seems to like SP2 for XP so if you havnt upgraded to SP2 Id suggest that as well.  How many shows have you taped with no problems with your MD?  I taped ~100 shows and Sonic Stage killed 2 of them.  One I cared about....the other I didnt.  How many people have had issue after issue with the MT?

IMHO, it's the mics and the room. If you have decent mics, the MD does just as well as my DAT (TCDD100).

While Ive never used a DAT the mics make a way bigger difference in sound.  i used CSBs with my Sharp MT90 and RH10 and didnt really notice any difference in my recordings.  When I stepped up to the DPAs w/mma6000 it was like night vs day.  Its hard to enjoy just an OK recording that was done with the CSBs where as an OK recording w/ DPAs is still better then at steller tape with the CSBs. 

[knoxmallette]

dunebug, I am at the office and will check which version of SS I use but I am almost positive that it is 4.0. I bought the M100 in January and loaded the software that arrived with it- but I'll check. I have used the MD for 7 shows and used a box of 10 discs. The results were great but the transfer through SS is a drag-- problems with two of the discs. The DMB show hurt since I had seats directly behind the sunken soundboard @ West Palm and the 5 songs I was able to transfer sounded great.

[dunebug81]

dunebug, I am at the office and will check which version of SS I use but I am almost positive that it is 4.0. I bought the M100 in January and loaded the software that arrived with it- but I'll check. I have used the MD for 7 shows and used a box of 10 discs. The results were great but the transfer through SS is a drag-- problems with two of the discs. The DMB show hurt since I had seats directly behind the sunken soundboard @ West Palm and the 5 songs I was able to transfer sounded great.

if you installed it off the CD you dont have 4.0.  I have the RH1 which came out a few months ago and dont believe it shipped with 4.0 either.  Check out minidisc.org for links and such to download 4.0.  You will occasionaly run across a bad disc and there isnt anything you can do about that.  Ive got thru about 100 1gb discs and have only had 2-3 be defective.  Usually Sonic Stage will hang up when trying to upload them but if you play them and hook up your MD via the phone out to your computer you can salvage it that way.  I had a Breaking Benjamin tape just not want to do anything and I got so pissed that I also broke the disc in half the my brother (the most untechinical person in US) suggested I just play it like normal and see if that will work and sure enough it did.

I will say that the transfer is a little slow but I start uploading it when i get home and go off and do the dishes and such and its done when i get back.  If you can get a good deal on the RH1 the transfer speed is almost 3x as fast as the RH10/M100. 

[taper420]

yes i believe 4.0 did address the copy flag issues, as all uploads are free now and no flag is written....unfortunatly if you tried to upload to a version previously, the flag has already been written and can't be undone.....

I really think what makes a pull good or not are the mics, placement, and room.....a bit buckets a bit bucket....preamp accounts for some but not as much as the mics unless its a REALLY crappy preamp like the one in minidisc recorders (and that just depends on the mics your using i think...for instance my sennheisers run way too hot to plug direct to the minidisc mic-in) ... as I've said before though... my biggest headache with minidisc is changing discs.....
that said.... with my senn's, and a samson mixpad, I've made some SICK pulls with a minidisc recorder.

[nameloc01]

i love my MDrs,no complaints at all

[dunebug81]

I really think what makes a pull good or not are the mics, placement, and room.....a bit buckets a bit bucket....preamp accounts for some but not as much as the mics unless its a REALLY crappy preamp like the one in minidisc recorders (and that just depends on the mics your using i think...for instance my sennheisers run way too hot to plug direct to the minidisc mic-in) ... as I've said before though... my biggest headache with minidisc is changing discs.....
that said.... with my senn's, and a samson mixpad, I've made some SICK pulls with a minidisc recorder.

Thats why you run line-in with the MD.  I could never get enough signal out of my 4060s to run linein but when I got the 4061s w/mma6000 theres plenty of signal with out having to add any additional gain from my pre. 

i love my MDrs,no complaints at all

Been using MD for 5 years now and its pretty much bulletproof...no complaints here either.

[nameloc01]

I really think what makes a pull good or not are the mics, placement, and room.....a bit buckets a bit bucket....preamp accounts for some but not as much as the mics unless its a REALLY crappy preamp like the one in minidisc recorders (and that just depends on the mics your using i think...for instance my sennheisers run way too hot to plug direct to the minidisc mic-in) ... as I've said before though... my biggest headache with minidisc is changing discs.....
that said.... with my senn's, and a samson mixpad, I've made some SICK pulls with a minidisc recorder.

Thats why you run line-in with the MD.  I could never get enough signal out of my 4060s to run linein but when I got the 4061s w/mma6000 theres plenty of signal with out having to add any additional gain from my pre. 

i love my MDrs,no complaints at all

Been using MD for 5 years now and its pretty much bulletproof...no complaints here either.

thats right.always use line in,only use mic in when doing acoustic music.

[King Ghidora]

The source for inexpensive Hi-MD recorders in Norco, CA is Shewas Inc.
http://www.shewasinc.com/minidisc.html

Shewas price for a new (not refurbished) MZ-NH700 is $125.  The NH700
operates on a single AA battery and accepts mic, line and digital optical inputs.

The price they get at auction is always a little under the prices they list on their site.  I think they are buying back their own stuff at auction once in a while but I see these MD's sell for well under $100 at times. 

[knoxmallette]

Dunebug, you're right, I upgraded to 4.0 last night. Glad to hear that the flag is no longer written to the minidisc- I wished I upgraded prior to transferring the shows but....
Taper420, I started out using PCM but found that HI-SP sounded plenty fine to me & eliminated the need to swap out discs.
Thanks guys for your help- SS 4.0 should make my M100 more better.

[dunebug81]

Dunebug, you're right, I upgraded to 4.0 last night. Glad to hear that the flag is no longer written to the minidisc- I wished I upgraded prior to transferring the shows but....
Taper420, I started out using PCM but found that HI-SP sounded plenty fine to me & eliminated the need to swap out discs.
Thanks guys for your help- SS 4.0 should make my M100 more better.

Glad it worked out for you.  You should find that 4.0 is much more stable then the previous versions.

[Scuba Jeremy]

I read somewhere in the forums that another problem with MD/HIMD is that they can SKIP while recording (there is no buffer for recording like they have in playback).

If true, that's a fairly large negative IMHO. 

No its not true.

It's a spinning magneto-optical disc. There is far more room for error with an MD that with a solid state or even HD recorder. You can't beat the performance for the money, but I would rather not sacrifice quality just to make sure shows fit on a single disc. It's why I switched from MD to DAT, and then from DAT to SD.

Does anyone here actually enjoy mid show disc flips? And how hard is it to convince yourself that "SP1" really doesn't sound all that different from true lossless? Personally, I would never trade a show recorded at anything other than true lossless, and I know I'm not the only one. Yeah, location has a lot to do with the quality of a recording, but that's no reason to skimp on other factors, particularly recording media. But like it's been said, MD is the cheap way to get started in recording. And MD has come a long, long way from where it was just five years ago, but it's far from the end-all-be-all of field recording.

[beefstew]

yeah i forsee all MD field recording to be almost non-existent within the next 5 years - if not earlier