Topic: Sony MZ-S1 can you get a decent recording with one?

[huskerbrewdad]

I recently found my old minidisc player/recorder and was wondering if it would actually pull a listenable recording with a pair of 61A's and a battery box. (This is just until i can get my DR-07)

And if it will, does anyone know of a way to transfer files from MD to PC?  Crappy included software won't let you.

[bonzo71]

I've recorded with the exact set up..  Panasonic wm61>battery box>mz-s1 and had nice results.    For an old school minidisc, the mz-s1 is a tank with its turtle like shell and that nice orange backlit lcd.    For best results, stay away from the LP modes.    There is no way to digitally transfer to pc using the mz-s1....so you'll either have to do an headphone out to pc transfer or better yet find someone with a full size deck with a digi-out who can do a true digital transfer.   

[earmonger]

Yes, record in SP or feel regret later. Mics-->battery box-->Line-in. Level 15-20 out of 30 (or just under 2/3 if it's one of those bar-graph displays). Under 15 if it's super-loud. And if the concert is a bass blaster, the mics themselves may overload before the signal gets into the recorder, but it's still worth a try.

The MZ-RH1  (also called the M200) will upload that recording as a file using the accursed SonicStage (4.x, the version you need, is less awful than previous ones). That's  as opposed to doing a realtime recording either out of the headphone jack (analog) or through an old deck's digi-out. Only the MZ-RH1/MZ-M200  will do that, as a matter of hardware not software. The trick is to find someone who has one.

[nameloc01]

www.minidisc.org

[earmonger]

www.minidisc.org

Minidisc.org went to:

http://forums.sonyinsider.com/index.php?showforum=15

[huskerbrewdad]

So I'm getting a pair of CA-14 Cards, a pair of CA-14 Omnis and a 9100.  This will be my first recording, wondering how I should set up. 
A. Its a bass-heavy electronica band

B. Its an outdoor venue in an area where there could be traffic noises from a nearby main highway through downtown.

So.

1. What settings am I probly going to want the MD recorder set to? 1-30 I believe.

How about for the 9100?

What mics am I going to want to run?  My thoughts have been, "Omnis good since its an outdoor event." Or "Omnis bad since they would pick up way more ambient traffic and vendor noise."  "Cards good since they'd pick up a narrower band of noise" or "Cards bad since its outdoors and every day in this state is windy."

Or just make some dead rats for the cards and run both?

[Church-Audio]

So I'm getting a pair of CA-14 Cards, a pair of CA-14 Omnis and a 9100.  This will be my first recording, wondering how I should set up. 
A. Its a bass-heavy electronica band

B. Its an outdoor venue in an area where there could be traffic noises from a nearby main highway through downtown.

So.

1. What settings am I probly going to want the MD recorder set to? 1-30 I believe.

How about for the 9100?


Run the 9100 at full to 90% and run it into the line input of the MZ then turn up the MZ input as needed.. Do NOT shoot for 0 db instead leave your self some headroom electronic music is pretty easy because its pretty flat not a huge amount of dynamics.. So try to aim for -6 to -10 you can always "shoot" for 0 db in post when you dump it to your computer.

Chris

What mics am I going to want to run?  My thoughts have been, "Omnis good since its an outdoor event." Or "Omnis bad since they would pick up way more ambient traffic and vendor noise."  "Cards good since they'd pick up a narrower band of noise" or "Cards bad since its outdoors and every day in this state is windy."

Or just make some dead rats for the cards and run both?

[huskerbrewdad]

Thanks Chris.

This recorder doesnt actually show levels other than one bar that extends across the display (which I assume means it records in mono?) so basically just adjust so the bar never hits the end(peaks)?

And with mics. Make some windscreens for the cards, run them DIN and omnis on either side pointed forward?

[fmaderjr]

This recorder doesnt actually show levels other than one bar that extends across the display (which I assume means it records in mono?) so basically just adjust so the bar never hits the end(peaks)?

Of course it can record in stereo. It just doesn't show levels of the 2 channels independently.

Chris Church's advice is worth it's weight in gold. Here however, I think that once you start recording with this deck you can't change the levels on the fly. You must put it in record pause first, something you would not want to do when making a live recording. For this recorder, once a recording has started, you will need to change levels with the ST-9100 rather than the recorder. You will need to learn good initial settings depending on how loud the band will be. If you start with the ST-9100 at 90% and have the recorder record level set too low, you won't be able to raise the level much with the ST-9100 and will have to put the recorder in record pause to raise its level. Therefor you should practice with a few bar bands you don't care about to get an idea of what level to set the recorder to.

If it were me & I didn't want to do much testing, for a loud band I would start with the Sony at 18/30 (unity gain for many Sony's) and the ST-9100 at 90%. If the show is extremely loud, either start twith the ST-9100 set lower or carefully watch its clip indicator light to make sure the ST-9100 itself isn't overloading. I set my ST-9100 lower in this case so I don't need to watch the clip light, even though this isn't what Chris recommends. Still sounds great.

[huskerbrewdad]

Managed to get my first pull with this on Saturday.  Sounds awesome.  Had a minor issue changing disks, as one song flowed into another for 45 minutes, but only missed like 10 seconds...

Now to try to upload to Audacity.  So apparently if I just run headphone to line in it will record in analog.  Is that going to be bad? Right now I really have no other option as I am planning to buy a digital recorder soon and really dont want to buy any more MD equipment...

[Darren]

The best way to transfer your MDs is to get a MD deck, the type that plugs into your stereo system.  Most of the higher price Sonys have optical or coaxial output.  Connect that to a lossless digital soundcard, shut off all programs running in the background then record a WAV file in real time.

These MD decks usually sell on eBay cheap these days.  Finding one that actually works is a bonus.

[earmonger]

Now to try to upload to Audacity.  So apparently if I just run headphone to line in it will record in analog.  Is that going to be bad?

Does your soundcard have line-in? Because a mic-in jack might be mono, which would be a shame. The Griffin iMic, which you can find for under $30 on Ebay, isn't a microphone or a Mac-only gadget despite the stupid name. It's  an external USB input/output with stereo mic-in and line-in jacks.

You could also wait till you get your digital recorder and go from S1 headphone to line-in on that. Might be better than the soundcard connection.

[huskerbrewdad]

Actually I ran line-in on the soundcard and I think it turned out pretty decent.  Its a little bassy and some hiss, but thats cuz i had to amplify it a bit.  Anybody care to take a listen and tell me what I can do better? (Step one I know is to use the stand.  I just clipped em to my bag and recorded from my seat about 10 rows back.  Lot of crowd noise the first half)

http://www.archive.org/details/Somasphere2010-06-19