A440

Regarding cardioids and wind noise, I quote the Sound Professionals FAQ: "Omni mics also are more forgiving of handling noise and wind noise, so are a good choice if you can't secure your mics firmly or have to record in windy situations and don't want to use large windscreens." Here's the URL for Sound Pros' omni-vs-cardioid FAQ: http://www.soundprofessionals.com/cgi-bin/...ry=binvscardfaq Wind noise in microphones isn't a separate sound in the 360-degree soundscape that would be rejected by a directional mic. It's the wind affecting the mic element itself. Other places also say that cardioids suffer more from wind noise, like the Microphones section on this page: http://www.jeffreypfisher.addr.com/field.html

I haven't used those BMC-12's, but using the basic BMC-2's has given me a lot of faith in SP, and the BMC-12 mics start with much better basic capsules. SP says they'll handle some serious volume levels--110 db without extra power--so they should do your job. Core Sounds has a very good reputation for quality, too, but they tend to be more expensive overall. Omnis are also better than cardioids at rejecting wind noise. I suggest you start with just the RS attenuator and see how it works for you. If it's not good enough--and I think it's very likely that it will be--then you could get a battery box and go through line-in, but that recording will be quieter. As I've posted before, I'm skeptical about bass roll-off. I would rather have the whole frequency spectrum on the recording (as long as it's not distorting), then do any filtering later rather than eliminate it as it goes in. Manual, not automatic, volume is going to be essential for you. But I can virtually guarantee you will be pleased with the quality of MD recording. When you make some of those track recordings, please post some vroom-vroom to the livefrommd mailbox at yahoo.com (password 1minidisc1).

The lowest-priced Sonys with mic-in are the 700 series: MZ-R700 (which is not NetMD, so no high-speed download of tracks FROM computer to MD) and MZ-N707 (which is NetMD). I have used both as recorders and I was very happy with them until Hi-MD spoiled me. Sharp's numbering system is more confusing--take a look in the equipment browser on the minidisc.org homepage. Any recorder (or player) can be recorded in realtime to your computer from the headphone jack, and if your connections are good you'll get perfectly usable results. To get the recording to the computer, you connect headphone-out to line in on your computer and use a recording program like (free) Audacity. You'll get good results IF your soundcard inputs are good, which isn't always the case. But if all you have is a mic-in on your soundcard (like many laptops), you can get a USB line-in connector like the Griffin iMic for about $40. Audacity's default is to save recordings in its own format, but you can also have it save to .wav ("Export to .wav"), which doesn't need any further conversion. With dbpoweramp, which is free at www.dbpoweramp.com, you can convert any file from format to format: mp3, etc. For economy, your best move is to look at Ebay for a used MD. You want to look closely at the picture (see if there's a lot of wear around the buttons, for instance) and read the seller feedback to be careful. But a lot of people got MDs and didn't really use them.

Keep trying that site, sometimes you can get in. You could also upload a song to the Yahoo mailbox livefrommd (at) yahoo.com, password 1minidisc1 . And I just listened to it, that is a smokin' recording.

More questions: How are MP3s transferred? Drag-and-drop or via SonicStage or....? How do you start Record? It looks like you have to press something else with the red Record button, where is it and can you do it one-handed? Is the display the same as the NHF-800? And comment: the thing looks huge with the AA add-on. I'd prefer a bulgy back anytime.

Nope, the D is just a downloader. The NH600 should have the line-in.

Open your equalizer in Winamp and you'll see sliders that go up and down. Move one, and you'll see the flat line above it change. That flat line is a frequency-response curve. Ideally, your mics should pick up and your headphones/speakers should play back every frequency as it sounded. (In reality, every mic and speaker has its own idiosyncrasies.) Using the bass roll-off is like pulling down the slider for the bass. It tapers off how much bass goes into the MD below the frequency that you choose. Frequency, or pitch, is expressed in Hz. The higher the note, the higher the number. Every doubling of Hz is another octave. The bottom note of a piano (A two octaves below the bottom space on the bass clef) is 27.5 Hz, the next A is 55 Hz, etc. Your ears, and your MD, and I hope your mics, pick up 20-20,000 Hz. So if you're rolling off your bass at 16.5 Hz, you're only limiting sub-sonics, the kind of notes that rumble the floor, and in essence you're probably not rolling off any bass at all. You can try rolling off at a higher frequency. Just remember that each doubling is a whole octave. Don't go to too high a frequency, though, or you could end up sounding like the samples here: http://www.giant-squid-audio-lab.com/gs/gs...redbattery1.htm which have rolled off so much bass they sound like a clock radio, in my opinion. If the bass isn't overloading your recording, you can also equalize (EQ) the playback rather than limiting the bass as you record. In the equalizer--even Winamp's little equalizer--you can lower the bass and boost the mids or highs as you please. Cool Edit probably has a far more sophisticated equalizer than the one in Winamp, and it's likely you can save your EQ'd versions of the songs. Another thing to think about is mic placement when you record. Is the mic close to the bass amp? Is the room very bass-y? Even a small room can have lots of different kinds of acoustics in various spots. If you can, walk around and listen in various places in the room (close your eyes) and see if there's a more balanced-sounding place than where you had your mics before. The spectrometer view should show you the frequency spectrum, from low to high. Decibels measure volume: every 10 decibels doubles the volume. Don't worry too much about what the levels look like, but what the recording sounds like. Is it loyal to what you heard when you were there? That's the crucial thing.

Fine-tuning is appreciated--the idea of these FAQs is to be as correct and helpful as possible. All of your points are well taken. I was thinking about Sync Rec vis-a-vis live recording, not the optical-in function. Definitely add a sentence about: (This function is useful when recording a CD through Line-in, to put track marks in spaces between songs.) Ozpeter, did Time Mark not defeat Sync Rec for you on the NH900? Some posts say that it does override. If that's not a consistent result, then please remove it from the FAQ, Kurisu. The upward menu click to Rec-Set is a good thing to mention as an alternate, so please add it, Kurisu--I can definitely count to 2. Regarding the bass observation, though, going all the way back to my R700 and N707 I've had trouble recording just about anything bass-y, including, with my NHF-800, a Norah Jones concert that was quieter than nearby conversation. The bass drum still overloaded with AGC on Loud Music. If you want to edit in "can't handle much bass with sensitive mics," that's fine with me. Even with a symphony, I wouldn't record the 1812 Overture or "Pictures at an Exhibition" without some attenuation. I tried to find specs on the ECM-979, with no luck. I wonder if it's either less sensitive or rolls off the bass. But I'm happy to hear that it worked so well.

How about making a lapel clip+extension cable version of that Delta mic to blow the Sony ECM-DS70P out of the water?

The Delta is bound to be more sensitive than your current mic--you will hear that motor. Definitely get an extension cable, it's only a few bucks and a world of difference.

Cut and pasted from the Giant Squid Audio Labs FAQ ( http://www.giant-squid-audio-lab.com/gs/gs-faq.htm ) is the following equation for bass roll-off: Here is a mathematical formula for figuring out what kind of roll you will get with different capacitors. 1/(6.28318 x Farad of the capacitor x Ohm of the recorder's input) = starting point of roll off. The capacitors we use are .068 micorfarad. Maybe you know what it means.....

I pretty much agree with mrsoul, but you don't even need to get something as expensive as the NH-900. The NHF-800 I (if you are in the US) or the NH-700 (if you are outside the US) are the same unit except that the NHF-800 has a radio in the remote control, and it will serve your purposes nicely. I prefer it because it runs on a simple AA battery: not a little gumstick that has to be recharged or an outboard battery pack that can get lost. Line-out, which is not available on the 700 or 800, is nice but not essential since you can upload the recordings to your PC anyway. The bottom of the line Sound Professionals mics--BMC-2, often as low as $29 at the Sound Pros site or from Sound Pros itself on Ebay--are ideal for stealthy recording and sensitive enough for ambient/babytalk recording. I have used them for concerts and speech with excellent results. Get clips with them so you can use them anywhere. And if you use the RS attenuator to record concerts you won't need a battery box. Prices are going to drop shortly on the 1st-generation units, so wait a few weeks until Sony brings out the second generation and grab a bargain.

If you're recording a band, a bottom Frequency Response number of 100 MHz is too high. The bottom note (low low A) on a piano is 27.5 hz, the next octave up is 55, the next is 110, etc., doubling with each octave. Be nice to your bass player and drummer and get a mic that will hear them.

Removing track marks is easy--just PAUSE after the track mark, step backward (|<<) and you'll see MARK001 (or whatever). Push the Track button and the track mark will be erased.

Sonic Stage allows you to upload only once from Hi-MD to PC. But once it is on your computer--and since SS 2.3 there have been hardly any reports of uploads getting trashed on the way to the computer--you can do what you want with it. Wav Converter is built into SS 3.0, so you can convert to .wav easily during the transfer. Wav files are not encrypted and yours to play with. The old, separate .wav converter also allowed unlimited conversions. Once the file is in your computer, it's all yours. You just can't take the same file off the Hi-MD again.

You got the rock-bottom price on the BMC-2's, especially if you got clips with them. I don't know anything about your old mic, but if it came with a Walkman it probably wasn't a full-range microphone--it may have been designed for interviews and speech, which would explain the emphasis on vocals. The BMC-2's probably have a very different basic microphone pickup. I would expect that the recording on both your old and new MDs strives to reproduce whatever comes through the microphone precisely. I use these clips: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller...u=217592&is=REG They slip around the tapered bottoms of the SPs and hold the mics perpendicular to the clips. When I clip them to the bottom edge of a shirt collar--the clip is vertical to the floor, the mic points sideways-- they pick up to left and right like my ears, which makes good binaural recordings. If your clips are parallel to the mics, then put them in a different spot on your shirt collar, or the lapels of your jacket, or your shoulders, or a hat. The SPs are small and black, and I hope your clips are also dark. You can slip the mic cord down a shirt, fold the cord over your top button and hide the mics under your shirt, then clip them to a (dark) shirt collar when the lights are down. I try to talk only during applause and then edit it out. There's no mic in the world that won't pick up your conversation during a show. Or your neighbors', for that matter.

It shouldn't be so quiet you can barely hear that there's a band. I've been to Rothko and that is a boomin' system. So I have to suspect that a) your mic is very low-sensitivity, or b ) you somehow had the RS attenuator turned down rather than up, perhaps if it got jostled in your pocket. If you had it all the way down you'd get silence. or c) In the dark you were somehow using line-in (white) rather than mic-in (red) or d) your headphones aren't very loud It's probably (a) because you say that the recording had vocals way up front. This would suggest a mic that's not picking up highs or lows. A mic like Sound Pro's BMC-2 or equivalent doesn't throw the vocals in your face, and the MD isn't adding any significant coloration to the mic signal. Don't change the RS settings, because you'll get static when you turn the dial. It's really just there to lower the signal, and if there was a better made one with fixed attenuation I would be eager to use it. For the light problem, there are a couple of makeshift solutions: one of those little keychain LED flashlights (get a white one, some colors blank out the MD display), a light-up pen (Staples sells them for $1.99), turn your back to the stage and do it by stagelight, or set levels outside the club (you can see if the meters are moving from traffic noise) and leave it on pause. Or get one of those RH-10's with the cool-looking OLED display when they arrive....

Start--Settings--Control Panel--Sounds and Audio Devices--Sounds. Change every useless sound to (None). Edit: Oops, not that easy. Try looking through Programs/Sony and Programs/Common Files/Sony for little .wav or .mp3 files. Or get on Sony support's Live Chat and ask them where they are. I'd love to know myself.

Sorry, I forgot that the R series has the slide meters. Yes, use it at about 2/3. If there's enough light to watch the levels bounce, you can play with it during the opening act. You can fine-tune in Pause or use the RS to change levels in realtime, but you may get static when you move the RS volume control. I recommend setting it and leaving it. I have the omnis on clips and I clip them to my collar. Before you leave the house, slip the mic cord down your shirt and fold the mics over the top button of your shirt so you can tuck them back in. The mic plug can come out a lower shirt button and run along your belt loops, and you can keep the MD in your pocket, camera case, etc. When the lights go down at the concert, fish out the mics and clip them to your collar--pointed out, left and right, if you're going to be listening via headphones. Higher up, like on a hat or glasses, might be better if you don't turn your head a lot, but the collar works for me. Purists record in SP, which is better. But I have lots of LP2 recordings I'm happy with. There's no way around the Manual Volume hassle. Sony seems perversely attached to making it difficult--it hasn't changed with NetMD or HiMd.

[This should really be its own thread, maybe a moderator can move it.] Your pre-amp is overloading because it's hypersensitive to bass. It's the curse of the MD. I don't know if you have Radio Shack in Belgium, but if you do, try the attentuator solution suggested above and settings: the Radio Shack Headphone Volume Control (pictured with my signature), with volume all the way up, which cuts the signal going into the MD. Mic-->RS-->mic-in. Then: Low Sensitivity, Manual Volume, somewhere between 15-20/30. You could also run Mic--Battery Box--Line-in for a loud show, but that will be a quieter recording. The battery box prevents the mics themselves from overloading with ultra-loud music, but doesn't address the bass problem with the preamp. Bass roll-off also lessens overload, but at a price: no bass. To hear bass roll-off, listen to the sound samples here, with a similar mic--battery box--plus bass rolloff. (It doesn't say whether they're line-in or mic-in.) http://www.giant-squid-audio-lab.com/gs/gs...redbattery1.htm To me, they're way too tinny. The RS solution is cheaper and it works better. You can hear how it sounds by going to Yahoo Mail and the box livefrommd with the password 1minidisc1 . Sound Professionals are great at mail-order within the US, and I can't see why international shipping would be any different except for the time lag. With the exchange rate on the Euro you probably can get extreme bargains.

Yes, exactly. Remember, it's running in the opposite direction of what it was designed for. I tried it on a NYC subway car and got a level of 6 bars without the attenuator, 3 bars with. I don't know the electronics of this, but I can tell you it works.

Get SonicStage 3.0. It's the upgrade from 1.5. http://forums.minidisc.org/index.php?showtopic=8304 You can try just installing it on top of 1.5 (it will ask to uninstall 1.5 during Setup) or you can be neater and uninstall 1.5 according to these instructions before installing 3.0. http://forums.minidisc.org/index.php?showtopic=8071 You can't record on the NE410, only download via USB, so you don't need WinNetMD at all, just get rid of it. And the NE410 is not Hi-MD hardware, so it doesn't have the Hi-MD functions. Sonic Stage, as you've seen, organizes a music library and lets you transfer it to the NE-410 via USB. Also try Simple Burner from the link under Software FAQ, too. It lets you pop a CD into the computer and copy it onto MD directly. Those are the two programs you'll need. http://forums.minidisc.org/index.php?showtopic=5552

Under Tools/Options in SonicStage 3.0, there's Transfer/Hi-MD, Set Transfer Mode, and it should be on Standard--same quality as recorded. Then save them as .wav files when SonicStage offers to do so. That preserves full quality. You can do whatever you want with the .wav files. Get dbpoweramp ( www.dbpoweramp.com ) and you can convert to lossless compressed formats like .flac , but you'll only be able to playback .flac on a computer. You can also convert to high-bitrate mp3 or .ogg, which are lossy but not bad.

It's hard to tell from his samples because he used bass roll-off and everything sounds bright and tinny, with the balance very skewed toward the vocals. But that's probably the bass roll-off. They do appear to be the same basic mic capsules other manufacturers use, and the built-on clips are a plus. It's a good price for a mic plus battery box. But: Unlike many recorders, I am a skeptic about battery boxes in general. The battery box is to prevent the mics themselves from overloading and improve their response. But except in rare and extremely loud situations, the MD's preamp overloads long before the mics do. And going mic-battery box-line-in produces a quieter recording. It doesn't say whether he recorded through Mic-In or Line-In. If you were to get these, I'd suggest spending the exta $15 so you can use the mics without the battery box. Then you could try mic-battery box-line-in and mic-RS attenuator-mic-in and see what you prefer.

What model MD do you have? NetMD refers to the generation of minidisc recorders before Hi-MD, the MZ-N** series. It's not software. SonicStage is still the interface from PC to MD. If you are trying to copy CDs to MD, Sony also has a more basic program, MD Simple Burner: put the CD in the computer, push Record, it goes to the USB-connected MD. http://forums.minidisc.org/index.php?showtopic=5552 WinNetMD, if that's what you're thinking of, is a non-freeware program that helped automate realtime recording from MD to PC on NetMD units (MZ-N**). It was very useful for old NetMD's if there was material recorded on the MD that you wanted to copy to the computer. But it's unnecessary if you have Hi-MD.