A440

You've got at least a triple whammy. First, NetMD's do not upload. Period. Anyone who tells you they can (as some of Xitel's hype seems to) only means you can record through their device in real time, which you can already do with your iMic. Second, SonicStage, Sony's quick download program, is for Windows only. It is possible it will run with VirtualPC on your Mac but you'd just have to try it. Search these forums for Sonicstage and Mac for more info. The only way you can "upload" to your Mac would be to record in real time from headphone-out on the MZ-N707 to line-in of your iMic and then to a sound-recording program. If you don't have one, the free Audacity is available for OSX. http://audacity.sourceforge.net/ WinNetMD, which is useful for partially automating that realtime recording--you can pick certain tracks to record, and each track records as a separate file--is also for Windows only.

Just to be sure, it would be great if you could run that test through the Mic input since Standard/LoudMusic are labeled as Mic AGC. And now you've really got me curious: does AGC get applied to line-in on the older MDs?

I've used CoolEdit Pro to look at the waveforms in three different songs where I switched between Standard and LoudMusic. There's no difference. That doesn't mean that Loud Music doesn't somehow provide extra headroom, but it was a mighty loud concert to start with and Standard didn't distort either.

How you record your band depends on what is actually in that soundboard mix. Does your whole band get mixed through the board? Or are some instruments (drums? guitar) depending on the sound from the stage alone? Some soundboard mixes sound like the vocals up front with the band in the next county. Also, do you want the sound of the band in a room, which is probably richer but more diffused, or the sound of the instruments directly into the board, which will be cleaner but perhaps sterile and not balanced the way a person in the room will hear it. The optimum solution for recording live is probably a mixture of board sound and room sound, with the proportions determined by experiment. If you're at a show by a major-label band, you'll usually see a pair of mics somewhere to record the (ambient) room sound. At sound check, you could run both the soundboard mix and ambient mics through a little outboard mixer and test various combos. Don't put your ambient mics on an audience member, or they'll pick up every cough and conversation. Put them on a pole sticking up above the soundboard where they'll be immobile and out of the fray. The Otterbox is a crushproof waterproof case, sometimes with mics and a battery box unobtrusively built in, for recording in near-combat conditions. Personally I prefer mics on cords with clips that can be used in various positions. A battery box gives you some headroom for loud music, but if you want to save some money you can use the RS Headphone Volume Control mentioned above. Even with the low sensitivity option (via menus in the MZ-NH900) you'll probably need some sort of attenuation (limiting the incoming signal) for percussion up close--either the battery box or the volume control. But you could try Low Sensitivity PLUS the Loud Music setting on Mic AGC and see if that provides enough of a buffer. If it does, please post something here. And just for the hell of it, if you want to try recording with your NH900 before the mics arrive, plug your headphones into the Mic jack (high sensitivity setting)--they'll work like weak mics.

First you'll need a microphone. Make sure it has a stereo plug (two bands around the prong, like the one in the pic under my signature) and not a mono plug, with one band. A Mic-In jack has a built-in preamp, a Line-In doesn't. To record through a mic via Line-In means you need both a mic and an external preamp, which is likely to be expensive unless you get lucky on Ebay or something. For the price of a preamp, you can probably find a good used MD with a mic jack.

I may have spoken too soon about skipping the Headphone Volume Control. I set my NHF800 on Low Sensitivity and Standard MIC AGC (auto level) for a Norah Jones concert, and the bass drum still overloaded the recording, just like on my old MZ-R900. Perhaps I should have used Loud Music on the AGC--but at a Norah Jones concert it seemed so unlikely. On the other hand, I know the Headphone Volume Control works and I may go back to it. Obviously more experiments remain.

My own test of Loud Music found little or no difference, check the Live Recording thread. http://forums.minidisc.org/viewtopic.php?p=29302#29302 To run mics through Line-In you would need a preamp unless the music is exceptionally loud. Mic-In has a built-in preamp.

I did a test, and I hear little or no difference. Went to see Oneida at the Knitting Factory last night--a great band, by the way, relentless loud minimalist Brooklyn update of Kraut-rock. Anyone in NYC should go hear them. MZ-NHF800, little SoundPro omnis, Hi-SP, Low Sensitivity and switched a few times in mid-song between Standard and LoudMusic on Mic AGC. Listening back through good headphones---Grado SR 125--the change is almost imperceptible. Level stays exactly the same. There may be a tiny bit more high-frequency airiness on the Loud Music setting, but that may be wishful thinking. I'd be curious about other people's results.

You definitely want a stereo male miniplug, or you'll only get a recording on one channel. Whatever cable you get is going to have to split the mono signal from the mic to two channels. Under the laws of physics, shorter is better, but self-noise from the mic is likely to be more of a factor in nature recordings. Various lengths is probably overkill. Just get one that's long enough--six feet?--so that the noise of the MD unit whirring away is not right up near the mic. Monster Cable has a good reputation for speaker cables, but I don't know if they make microphone cables.

Start with Audacity, which is free and pretty self-explanatory. http://audacity.sourceforge.net/ It may well do everything you want. If you need a professional-grade program, Adode Audition (formerly CoolEdit Pro) has more capabilities than I've ever needed, but it costs hundreds of dollars.

Since the NHF-800 remote also has the radio in it, it's probably the one we're stuck with until the next round of models. This is something Sony should have gotten right the first time instead of regressing. If Sony really had its act together they'd make a recorder's remote: REC button, TRACK button, Volume/Level buttons, Manual/AGC switch, and backlit level display along with Play, FF, REW and HOLD. No, I'm not holding my breath.

Buried in the menus on the NHF800 are two settings for Mic AGC, Standard and LoudMusic. Has anyone tested them?

If you're using a preamp, then why not run it into Line-In? Otherwise you're amplifying the signal twice, once with the little pre-amp built into the mic jack, and maybe the headroom problem is with the NH900.

Just to expand a little on Dex Otaku's explanation: Hz is frequency or pitch. Rolling off the bass at 69Hz means that notes lower than 69Hz will be muted, at 96 Hz would add the notes between 69 and 96. Every octave is a doubling of frequency. The A above middle C, the one orchestras generally tune to, is 440, the one below middle C is 220, an octave below that is 110, and then down to 55, and the A at the bottom of a piano keyboard is 27.5 Hz. So 69 and 96 Hz are within the same octave. But as Markr041 points out, if the mic is only picking up from 100Hz upward, it's a moot point. The frequency response of the MD player is 20-20,000 Hz .

I'm starting to think Sony really hates people who actually use MDs to record. I got the NFH-800 because I didn't want to be stuck with gumstick batteries or an external case. Duracells or bust. But be warned: on the NFH-800 Sony has gotten rid of the simple, reliable, hard to misuse, one-finger slider REC switch, so that I now have to push REC and ENT to start recording on the NHF-800. It's going to take some doing to start the recorder in a pocket. (EDIT: VIRTUALLY IMPOSSIBLE.) Record Volume automatically reverts to AGC and as far as I can tell it can't be set to default to manual. So its REC-ENT, then PAUSE, then hold down the Menu button for more than 2 seconds, then click down to REC SET, then click down to RECVolume. Yeah, right, I can do that in a dark club. And could the remote be any more useless? Bad enough that Sony never put a Record button on its remotes, but the NHF-800 also REMOVED the track-mark button. Meanwhile, I like the sound of both PCM and Hi-SP for the few comparisons I've done, though concerts will be the real test. (EDIT: AND HI-SP FLUNKS, SEE BELOW) Until I run out of old-school MDs to reformat I'll be using Hi-SP for time reasons. (ACTUALLY, BACK TO LP2.)

You shouldn't need the Radio Shack gizmo because all the Hi-MD recorders have mic sensitivity switches. [edit: SECOND THOUGHTS ON THIS BELOW] For the uses you mention you'd probably want omnis. Omni's (or binaurals) hear more or less like your ears. Cardioids are directional, which makes them useful for isolating a sound from surrounding noises--recording a band from a faraway seat in an arena, or close-miking a guitar in the middle of a band--but it seems you want a full all-around sound for most of your uses. Stereo mics will give you a far more realistic and listenable sound than mono, with depth, and you might as well get a pair that you can separate rather than a one-point or a T mic (two little mics in one enclosure). Putting them just six inches apart, like your ears, makes a world of difference in fullness, and offers you more flexibility in general--you can always put them close together, but you can't separate one-points. Don't get a mic that sits directly on the machine because you'll get machine vibration--you want it separated by a length of cord. If you're recording quiet ambient sounds you might want to put the MD inside a doorway or window and the mics outside, another reason for a cord. As price goes up you'll get lower self-noise in mics, which will help with those crickets. For the other sources you mention, basic binaurals will do the job and a higher budget will give you additional refinement. Sound Professionals and Microphone Madness are pretty much the same design and microphone elements, so check prices. Reactive Sounds advertises quieter enclosures, so if you're really into recording quiet ambient sounds, you might check them out too. And by the way, I was also considering Datavis but a lot of their feedback says that they tend to sell you something and then tell you it's out of stock. Call them first to make sure they actually have the unit before sending them the money.

The MZ-R900 lets you set it to Record from End as default. Here's how, from the Equipment Browser entry on this site: How to Set Rec-Posi: If you wish to avoid overwriting the currrent contents of an MD, do the following procedure. All new material will then be recorded from the end of the current contents. 1. While the recorder is stopped, press the jog lever, flip the lever repeatedly until "Rec-Posi" flashes in the display, and then press the lever again. 2. Flip the jog lever repeatedly until the "From End" flashes in the display and then press the lever. There is a Hold switch on the back of the MZ-R900. When you're recording, put it on Hold after you start to Record. You may also want to tape the battery slot shut in case that is opening in your pocket, a problem I had with the MZ-R900.

You can get fine recordings of music with basic little binaurals from Sound Professionals or Microphone Madness, clipped unobtrusively to your shirt collar tabs. They give a surprisingly accurate record of what you hear in the room, and they are better and smaller than comparably priced Sony mics. They would be ideal for a show at a little acoustic place like Passim in Cambridge, where you don't need more directional (cardioid) mics because you're virtually on top of the stage. They will also be fine for larger places. I've used them for everything from acoustic gigs all the way up to stadiums. If it sounds good to your ears, then it will sound good with those mics. Get what you can afford, but you don't have to break the bank. If you are just recording speech, you don't need as wide a frequency range as you do for music, which may be why your Sony condenser worked well for one function but not the other. Depending on how bad the acoustics are at your lectures, you may do better with the condenser than with the binaurals, because perhaps the condenser simply won't pick up some of the stray sounds. Also try changing your seat--lots of rooms have acoustics that vary quite a bit depending on where you are. Or if you can, put the mic near the podium (unamplified) or the PA, so most of the sound it gets is directly from the source. If your recorder doesn't have a Low Sensitivity switch, then run the binaurals through a Radio Shack Headphone 'Volume Control (search this forum) to prevent overloading.

Briefly: Deep bass freaks out the MZ-N707's preamp. I don't know why your level meter wasn't peaking, but the distortion is just how the MZ-N707 works. It's not insurmountable. First, get some decent mics. Basic binaurals from Sound Professionals or Microphone Madness or Reactive Sounds are fine, and if you can spend $150-$200 you can definitely get all the mic you need. Get the clips with them, because clips are a pain to find elsewhere. I clip them to the tabs of my shirt collar. You can clip them to glasses, a hat, whatever (just don't be turning your head a lot). Higher is better, but the shirt collar works for me because it's unobtrusive and you don't usually turn your body if you turn your head, so the stereo perspective isn't always swinging around. And you can slip the wire down your shirt, across your belt and into the MD that's hanging at your waist. Dex Otaku is absolutely right from the purist point of view, and he has given sound advice here and in a whole bunch of other topics. Mic-->Battery Box-->Line In works well for loud concerts, and one of the Preamp/Battery Box combinations from SoundPros or elsewhere gives you flexibility for eveything from quiet sounds that need amplification (Preamp) to loud ones that need damping (Battery Box). But for the less pure, perfectly workable el cheapo solution, which is absolutely hi-fi enough for me and my MZ-N707, get a Radio Shack Headphone Volume Control (it's pictured with my signature) for $6.59. Sound Pros sells the exact same product as a Variable Attenuator--attenuating (lowering) the volume. Turn its little volume control all the way up for anything but the loudest shows, and you will have a nifty recording. Try it, you'll be pleased. By the way, you're right that the MZ-N707 hack doesn't give you mic sensitivity--it's not in the hardware.

You'll have to experiment with inputs and outputs, but it's most likely that both line-out and headphone-out should go into the Line In of the MD. Mic-In has a dinky little preamp built into the MD to amplify the modest signal that comes through a microphone. Line-In assumes that the signal coming in is already amplified adequately, which it probably will be if it's coming out of a soundboard either as line-out or headphone out. If headphone out is too soft, try Mic-In, but it's unlikely. Line-In is a cleaner sound, so use it if at all possible. You probably don't want to have someone sitting there with the MD trying to anticipate volume changes during your set. Try putting the MD on Auto Rec Level and see how it works. If the level of the recording changes too much, or if it's too loud and overloads, then switch to manual and try various levels. Something should work as a basic setting for all but the most extreme louds and softs. Live music recordings are best with a mixture of soundboard and room sound, and probably comedy will be too--you want to hear those folks laughing. If you get a little mixer and a decent omni mic--put it above the crowd at the soundboard on a stick--you could mix soundboard and room sound together. Your lapel mic might sound unnaturally close, but it might also be a good part of a mix--you'll have to try it and see. You're right about using PCM for highest fidelity and then capturing it with a recording program, until Sony finally gets its act together and just lets us export files to the PC. A good free audio recording and editing program is Audacity, http://audacity.sourceforge.net. You can make .wav recordings with it, check the Preferences. Total Recorder is only $12 or $40 (with more features in the Pro version). Don't expect the first show to give you a perfect recording. But you'll get the hang of it fairly quickly.

Are you recording out of the headphone jack of your stereo? If you have a good amplifier and turn it up you should be able to get a louder signal. If you're going from a stereo headphone jack into your line-in jack with a stereo cord, you should be recording in stereo with SP, LP2 or L4 or mono in MONO. But it's possible that some TV programs are still in mono. Manual recording means you set the level, and the instructions are on page 31 of the user manual here: http://www.minidisc.org/manuals/sony/sony_...n505_manual.pdf Auto recording lets the machine set the level. You should try both and see which works best. How did you record a concert on the MZ-N505? With a preamp or battery box, or a powered mic? Just curious.

You should be able to squeak in just below $550 with a Sony NH800 Hi-MD recorder (around $250 at www.jandr.com), a set of basic or mid-grade binaurals and a pre-amp/battery box from Sound Professionals, Microphone Madness or the board's new contributor, Reactive Sounds. I get excellent recordings with just the SoundPro binaural mics, a Radio Shack Headphone Volume Control to limit the volume ($6.59) and my MD recorder. A pre-amp will give you more flexibility and fuller sound. Just make sure it's one that can limit the incoming signal as well as boost it, a pretty standard combination these days.

If you're not allowed to tape then you're probably not going to get away with a mic stand. But there are little binaurals that you can clip to glasses, a hat, a shirt collar, etc. You have to align them and then not move around much.

Since you've already got a NetMD unit for anything you want to do with prerecorded stuff, there's no reason not to seek out an older recorder with Mic-In. Look on Ebay for the Sony MZ-R700 or MZ-N707 (the NetMD upgrade of the MZ-R700), which have both served me for a whole lot of recording. You can probably find them for under $100 and they will do what you want. There are Sharps also, like the MT 190. Obviously on Ebay you have to look at feedback and really scrutinize the photo. But I got both units on Ebay and they've been just fine. Even older models, like MZ-R37 and MZ-R50, have diehard fans, though they are a little larger and only record in SP, not LP2 or LP4.

I don't know about your ideal, but you can cut-and-paste tracks pretty quickly. Highlight the waveform of the track, copy it, open a new file, and paste it. You can usually see where they break because applause looks different from music. Perhaps that's what you've been doing already . WinNetMD records each track as a separate file--1.wav, 2.wav, etc.-- so essentially it does what you want, but you're right--you do have to edit on the MD first. I just looked at the Audacity site and it's saying that the next version will "export multiple files in one step," so maybe it's getting closer to the ideal.