Taperssection.com

Gear / Technical Help => Ask The Tapers => Topic started by: 612 on April 18, 2009, 01:38:22 PM

Title: MD > h120 ?
Post by: 612 on April 18, 2009, 01:38:22 PM
I was going to go through a friend's minidisc stash and transfer some things.

I think I remember hearing about people doing DAT > NBJ3 or Vinyl > etc. but would taking the digital out on a MD deck (a model that has one) into the digi-in on a h120 produce a good transfer? I want to try and stay away from using the Line-In on the h120 but if that's the last resort does that method work out pretty decent?

Last I knew he had a couple of different MD decks and a standalone MD > CDR burner that would likely have some sort of digi-out.

TIA.

John
Title: Re: MD > h120 ?
Post by: boojum on April 18, 2009, 02:34:44 PM
Digital out from a deck with it is a way to do it which is very good.  The best is to kiss up to someone with an RH1.  This MD player can xfer any non-DRM MD as an upload, even legacy.  The xfer is done digitally and way faster than real-time, and that's what is sweet: it is so much faster.

Minidisco.org is where the MD heads hang out.  Try there.

How many MD's are you talking about?
Title: Re: MD > h120 ?
Post by: yug du nord on April 18, 2009, 04:09:50 PM
empty...  let me know if you need any help regarding MD stuff....  I'm pretty familiar with it all....
Title: Re: MD > h120 ?
Post by: page on April 19, 2009, 04:49:24 AM
Digital out from a deck with it is a way to do it which is very good.  The best is to kiss up to someone with an RH1.  This MD player can xfer any non-DRM MD as an upload, even legacy.  The xfer is done digitally and way faster than real-time, and that's what is sweet: it is so much faster.

Minidisco.org is where the MD heads hang out.  Try there.

How many MD's are you talking about?

Another option as a fall back is using a stand-alone MD player with optical out as you noted. I picked up a Sony MDS-JE500 off of ebay for ~$50 so I could transfer all of my old junk off of MD. I figured once I was done, I could either sell it or junk it for as little as I've put in. Check over at minidisco to see what models have optical out, then hunt around on ebay. If I remember correctly, there seem to be 3 or 4 that are somewhat cheap and frequent the bay.
Title: Re: MD > h120 ?
Post by: mikesalvo on April 19, 2009, 12:10:55 PM
I recently transferedd a bunch of MD's, and I just went Analog out of the MD>Ua-5>iriver. I liked it better than a MD>iRiver transfer cause it gave easier control over the L and R channels.
Title: Re: MD > h120 ?
Post by: 612 on April 19, 2009, 03:50:45 PM
Thanks for the replies everyone. They're appreciated.

Turns out he has a Sony MDS-JE470 which only has RCA outs unfortunately. I think he has a Sony MZ-R91 (he mistakenly called it a MR-91?) which also only has line-out. He also has a Sony MR-55 but I cannot find any info on it's outputs. I believe it's the older of the two portable decks so I'm sure there's no optical out on that deck either.

I think it's analog transfers unless someone else had a MD deck w/ optical out locally.  :-\
Title: Re: MD > h120 ?
Post by: bonzo71 on April 19, 2009, 04:25:02 PM
Here is a link to all md equipment..you can use it to tell if it has digi out..most don't.  I know an mz-hr1 can do it direct to a PC, but I recall discussion about it not being the same..something about an additional level of atrac encoding and the end result being different than a digi out transfer.   

http://www.minidisc.org/equipment_browser.html
Title: Re: MD > h120 ?
Post by: dunebug81 on April 19, 2009, 04:33:27 PM
I've got an RH1 is you need some digital transfers done. 
Title: Re: MD > h120 ?
Post by: EYES on April 19, 2009, 10:19:17 PM
like to pull out old md recorded for my ca mics>ca9100>md for low profile set up, ? is will this work using line in. thanks
Title: Re: MD > h120 ?
Post by: nameloc01 on April 19, 2009, 10:50:48 PM
Yup.
Title: Re: MD > h120 ?
Post by: EYES on April 20, 2009, 12:29:51 PM
great looks like my best way to go, thanks for reassurance. always greatful eyes
Title: Re: MD > h120 ?
Post by: 612 on April 29, 2009, 02:37:22 PM
Digital out from a deck with it is a way to do it which is very good.  The best is to kiss up to someone with an RH1.  This MD player can xfer any non-DRM MD as an upload, even legacy.  The xfer is done digitally and way faster than real-time, and that's what is sweet: it is so much faster.

Minidisco.org is where the MD heads hang out.  Try there.

How many MD's are you talking about?

Another option as a fall back is using a stand-alone MD player with optical out as you noted. I picked up a Sony MDS-JE500 off of ebay for ~$50 so I could transfer all of my old junk off of MD. I figured once I was done, I could either sell it or junk it for as little as I've put in. Check over at minidisco to see what models have optical out, then hunt around on ebay. If I remember correctly, there seem to be 3 or 4 that are somewhat cheap and frequent the bay.

There is a Sony MDS-JE500 on ebay for $1.25 with 2 bids and 9 days to go. Hmm...

But I've been talking with a friend locally and it sounds like I'm going to borrow his Sony MDS-JE520. Woot. I was wondering, when transfering digitally with these units in real time where does the Rec Level come in? Perhaps just leave that at 0 and add gain in post if need be? I just want to get the cleanest possible transfer. I do plan on downloading the user manual.
Title: Re: MD > h120 ?
Post by: dunebug81 on April 29, 2009, 02:49:04 PM
Digital out from a deck with it is a way to do it which is very good.  The best is to kiss up to someone with an RH1.  This MD player can xfer any non-DRM MD as an upload, even legacy.  The xfer is done digitally and way faster than real-time, and that's what is sweet: it is so much faster.

Minidisco.org is where the MD heads hang out.  Try there.

How many MD's are you talking about?

Another option as a fall back is using a stand-alone MD player with optical out as you noted. I picked up a Sony MDS-JE500 off of ebay for ~$50 so I could transfer all of my old junk off of MD. I figured once I was done, I could either sell it or junk it for as little as I've put in. Check over at minidisco to see what models have optical out, then hunt around on ebay. If I remember correctly, there seem to be 3 or 4 that are somewhat cheap and frequent the bay.

There is a Sony MDS-JE500 on ebay for $1.25 with 2 bids and 9 days to go. Hmm...

But I've been talking with a friend locally and it sounds like I'm going to borrow his Sony MDS-JE520. Woot. I was wondering, when transfering digitally with these units in real time where does the Rec Level come in? Perhaps just leave that at 0 and add gain in post if need be? I just want to get the cleanest possible transfer. I do plan on downloading the user manual.

if anyone is looking for a stand alone deck w/ optical out I'll sell mine for $50 delivered.  I have the JE510 (i think, i can double check if you're really intersted)...I know it has optical out because thats the main reason I bought it.  It works/plays discs fine but won't read HIMD or NetMD formats (just SP/LP).  Since I've got my RH1 I have no need for the deck and it sits in my closet collecting dust. 
Title: Re: MD > h120 ?
Post by: page on April 29, 2009, 09:15:24 PM
There is a Sony MDS-JE500 on ebay for $1.25 with 2 bids and 9 days to go. Hmm...

But I've been talking with a friend locally and it sounds like I'm going to borrow his Sony MDS-JE520. Woot. I was wondering, when transfering digitally with these units in real time where does the Rec Level come in? Perhaps just leave that at 0 and add gain in post if need be? I just want to get the cleanest possible transfer. I do plan on downloading the user manual.

I think I paid like $40 for mine on ebay about 12 months ago.

If your transfering digitally, I'm trying to remember if you get *real* gain controls as opposed to just a setting which isn't active on the H120s (rockbox'ed that is). Either way, just fiddle with the gain in post.
Title: Re: MD > h120 ?
Post by: 612 on April 29, 2009, 11:57:49 PM
Thank you.
Title: Re: MD > h120 ?
Post by: sunjan on April 30, 2009, 04:08:57 AM
There is a Sony MDS-JE500 on ebay for $1.25 with 2 bids and 9 days to go. Hmm...

But I've been talking with a friend locally and it sounds like I'm going to borrow his Sony MDS-JE520. Woot. I was wondering, when transfering digitally with these units in real time where does the Rec Level come in? Perhaps just leave that at 0 and add gain in post if need be? I just want to get the cleanest possible transfer.

If you want the best transfer quality, you should only go for the decks with ATRAC Type-R or Type-S. JE500/520 have older ATRAC versions with inferior DSP.

Read all about it here:
http://taperssection.com/index.php/topic,106908.msg1443430.html#msg1443430
http://taperssection.com/index.php/topic,97042.msg1292667.html#msg1292667

To be safe, check the model here before you buy it. If the deck has Type-R or Type-S (and digi-out of course), you're good to go:
http://www.minidisc.org/part_Decks_Sony.html
Title: Re: MD > h120 ?
Post by: 612 on May 17, 2009, 10:56:29 AM
Sony MDS-JE520 (optical out) > iRiver h120 (optical in)

Not a high speed USB transfer but that is what I'm working with. Say I'm transferring a recording that is pretty much clipped throughout but still very listenable (if that makes sense). It's also a recording I know a good number of people will want to hear.

Would anyone be tempted to turn the h120's Safety Clip setting ON to, for lack of a better word, "mellow" the recording out a bit? Or would you just do a straight digital transfer as is to keep it in it's pure form? I'm a purist at heart.
Title: Re: MD > h120 ?
Post by: sunjan on May 19, 2009, 05:46:52 AM
Would anyone be tempted to turn the h120's Safety Clip setting ON to, for lack of a better word, "mellow" the recording out a bit? Or would you just do a straight digital transfer as is to keep it in it's pure form? I'm a purist at heart.

The Safety Clip only works when you set the H120 to analog source. So if you feed the Iriver a digital signal, safety clip is disabled.
Just go pure digital transfer, going analog out from the JE520 defeats the purpose of getting an MD deck in the first place, right?

If you want to edit you have much more control in post.
Title: Re: MD > h120 ?
Post by: 612 on May 19, 2009, 05:10:25 PM
Would anyone be tempted to turn the h120's Safety Clip setting ON to, for lack of a better word, "mellow" the recording out a bit? Or would you just do a straight digital transfer as is to keep it in it's pure form? I'm a purist at heart.

The Safety Clip only works when you set the H120 to analog source. So if you feed the Iriver a digital signal, safety clip is disabled.
Just go pure digital transfer, going analog out from the JE520 defeats the purpose of getting an MD deck in the first place, right?

If you want to edit you have much more control in post.


Oh that's right. I completely forgot that sending the Iriver a digital signal disables the safety clip feature. I have it enabled on my 2nd h120, the one I use for soundboards, which is always line-in. Thank you for making that clear sunjan. Pure digital it is! That's what I was hoping for too.