Topic: MZ-R500, MZ-N505, or MZ-R70?

[kylemcm]

What's the best Sony Mini Disc recorder from these? I know almost nothing about taping so could someone help me?

Kyle

I'd be running CA 11's and a Battery Box or something. It's for taping a Rush 2008 show.

[darktrain]

Answer: iHP120 or H320 of course, all those decks will really do about the same, record in lossy format equally well  , you have some decent mics, you should just spend a little extra to get a good wave recorder, trust me on this, i started the same way and wasn't satisfied till my current predicament, i mean gear

[kylemcm]

Cept I don't have that kind of money to spend at the moment.

[flintstone]

A quick trip to the minidisc.org equipment page at  http://www.minidisc.org/equipment_browser.html  shows that the R500 and N505 don't have microphone inputs.  In addition, the R500 is a member of the NetMD generation of Sony products, which introduced pretty strong digital rights management controls.  So that leaves the R70, which does have mic input.

If you don't need mic input, check out the HiMD N600 machine. Shewas Inc in Norco, CA sells new units for $99.  Web site is http://www.shewasinc.com/minidisc.html   Shewas Inc also do business on eBay with vendor name "digitallimits2003."  I have no connection with Shewas Inc other than as a satisfied customer.

Flintstone

[Javier Cinakowski]

Answer: iHP120 or H320 of course, all those decks will really do about the same, record in lossy format equally well  , you have some decent mics, you should just spend a little extra to get a good wave recorder, trust me on this, i started the same way and wasn't satisfied till my current predicament, i mean gear

The MD format is a pain in the ass.  I use the iRiver H320 for stealth recording and it is a great and convienient solution.  That being said, The MD(atrac) recorder and esspecially the HiMD format, both smoke the iRiver's analog inputs.  The quality of the MD preamp outwieghs the loss from the codec IMO.  Sure, there are better solutions, but the MD is a fine recorder for a beginer on a budget....

[illconditioned]

Answer: iHP120 or H320 of course, all those decks will really do about the same, record in lossy format equally well  , you have some decent mics, you should just spend a little extra to get a good wave recorder, trust me on this, i started the same way and wasn't satisfied till my current predicament, i mean gear

The MD format is a pain in the ass.  I use the iRiver H320 for stealth recording and it is a great and convienient solution.  That being said, The MD(atrac) recorder and esspecially the HiMD format, both smoke the iRiver's analog inputs.  The quality of the MD preamp outwieghs the loss from the codec IMO.  Sure, there are better solutions, but the MD is a fine recorder for a beginer on a budget....

I agree, MD analog input, especially mic input, is excellent.  Too bad (most of) the flash recorders are not as good.

I recommend the newer HiMD units (with mic input).  You can record PCM (94mins) or HiSP (compressed, 7h30), and you can transfer digitally (slow, digital format) to your PC over USB.

  Richard

[sunjan]

A quick trip to the minidisc.org equipment page at  http://www.minidisc.org/equipment_browser.html  shows that the R500 and N505 don't have microphone inputs.  In addition, the R500 is a member of the NetMD generation of Sony products, which introduced pretty strong digital rights management controls.  So that leaves the R70, which does have mic input.

...but doesn't allow changing levels on the fly, which is a pain.
If you're on a zero budget, much better to pick up an old Sharp MD recorder, which always supported manual levels on the fly... Can be had for $30 on ebay. Or a later Sony recorder (AFAIK they gave in and added on-the-fly levels around 2001, check the minidisc.org link for details).

But for your next salary, make yourself a favour and go lossless!