SimonMagus

I disagree. I've tried recording music in mono mode, and the result is no stereo definition, which doesn't exactly make for the best listening experience. I never use mono..although I might use it for an important spoken-word project...never tried it.

Seems to me that it wouldn't make much sense to have a developing encoder and frozen decoder; I mean, if you do live recording on an N10 with Type-S, you won't hear the added detail if you play it back on a Sharp MT880 for instance, right?

I totally see Bazirker's point, even though I am inclined to disagree with LP4 not standing up to "active listening"...it goes without saying that there's a definite difference between LP2 and LP4...but after getting a pair of EX70s after using the crappy bundled earbuds for a while I am TRULY surprised at the quality of LP4 on my Sharp MT880. I can hear some very good definition on treble sounds (cymbals), and bass is never a problem (even less so now that I have the EX70s :shock: ). Live recording, of course, leaves a lot to be desired - I'd never use LP4 unless at a lecture or spoken-word event - but with NetMD music or optical line-in recordings I have no problems..especially when you're travelling for long periods of time (like a year) and want to take 5 hours of music on one disc!

Thanks for the helpful comments, Leland (as I am still torn between the DR7 and N10...in a perfect world I'd just buckle under and get both - I have the cash, but something keeps holding me back! :roll: ) If I travel with the N10 I would rather not pollute the environment by throwing out AAs all the time...it sounds like you're saying it's not that hard to get at the internal rechargeable to replace with a backup gumpack while you recharge the old one...for instance? ANd which universal voltage-capability charger are you using? The Sony BC-7HT? I might go with the Sony since I already have the Sharp MT880 so as to get the best of both worlds... But I'd also like some opinions on the N10's live recording capabilities...can people tell the difference in quality between the N10's new ATRAC Type-R "highest version" (as per minidisc.org's equipment browser) and the previous version? I know Brian Youn mentioned he didn't hear a difference and didn't consider it important, but that's one person's opinion...and since I know Sharp is great for this, I'm hoping that the N10 might show an improvement, both for live recording and realtime music recording (I have heard that the new encoders do NOT work with NetMD). A lot to throw in to one message, I know...but I always appreciate hands-on user opinions

I don't own a Sony unit, but from my piecing-together of everything I've heard on the subject - I've heard that the N707 DOES let you do this, but Sony for some reason has dropped this on later units. Thing to remember - unless you want to continually screw and unscrew your N10 unit, it seems as if the "built-in battery" puts you at the mercy of the recharging station for long travels when you want to take MD with you. This could potentially be VERY unportable, as I see it.

What, exactly, is the "right" recording level? Ideally, if you're serious about live recording you want as much manual control as possible over this! If you want something like NetMD for live recording, that automatically normalizes sound with preset levels, you're going to get what NetMD gives you with prerecorded sources - a normalization that doesn't suit all albums (all albums are recorded at different levels, remember) or all types of songs. For example, NetMD doesn't do very well at all with CD albums that have noticably low or high recording levels. SImilarly, any automatic recording-level adjustment is going to give you something that might work for some situatuions but not for others. Nothing beats going out there and trial-erroring yourself to death until you get the feel of your equipment To answer your other question, a battery module with bass rolloff will take care of any loud sounds/excess bass you might have - the sound will be "rounded off" to prevent clipping in your recording.

As a proud owner of the SP TFB2 in-ear binaurals I can say they are a very, very good product; I have done numerous recording tests - from outside arenas to recordings done in my own house - and the range of these babies is really impressive. I'm looking to get the battery module myself - all my tests were done without it - but I should say that SP mode with these is truly a force to be contended with :shock:

I really don't know much about MP3 players, so I'm taking a bit of an educated guess based on what I have heard - but some people have cooed about MP3 players not having any moving parts (solid state). While this might be a bit of an advantage, I wouldn't be putting it through any airport X-ray machines while travelling, if you get my drift. Guess it all comes down to your needs and situation. Having said that, I think it's also worth considering that there are scads of MP3 codecs out there - and some of them, well, SUCK (I've heard "CD-quality" 128kbps MP3s with little or no stereo channel definition). In comparison, ATRAC seems to me to be much more solid.

Perhaps, but my first impressions are that the jog dial, combined with the internal gumstick battery don't make for incredible portability (unless you stay in your home city or close to your recharging stand). I mention the jog dial because in terms of my own future travels overseas and the recorder I might buy for the job, it seems to be a protrusion that might get jostled and/or damaged as opposed to, say, the DR7, which seems like a much "tighter" (i.e. buttons only) unit, not to mention it seems a little less fragile than the N10.

Yo. A couple of things...I am very interested in this topic of conversation, for specific reasons (if you can bear to hear my brief little story): I have an MT880 right now, and am flirting with the idea of getting a unit that is a mean-ass recorder for the best quality possible...my hunch is it might come down to either the N10 or Sharp's DR7...this would be used while travelling the world and recording ambient sounds with SoundPro's in-ear binaurals (real-time SP recording). I'm hoping to get some opinions IDEALLY from people who own or have experience with BOTH units, but of course I need all the informed opinions I can get. Brian Youn said at one point he didn't mention Type-S on the N10 because he didn't hear the difference in sound quality...but some people do, I guess. I'm really interested in hearing how the DR7's "advance-record" (up to 30secs before REC is started) works, and whether or not DR7 recording is supposed to be improved from the 770/880; I'm also interested in opinions as to whether the N10's new SP encoding really delivers superior sound quality in a field recording. I'd most likely be using a bass rolloff battery module in the field. And heck...I'm one of those freaks who even likes LP4 mode (even though I clearly hear the quality difference, I think it can be great for music playback)... Anyways, I know it might be a lot to ask such a diverse crowd...but these user forums have helped me out so much in the past - I'm really happy with my MT880 - that I thought I'd put this out there in the hopes of getting some more good opinions. peace

besides...just because recording conversations carries certain legal difficulties...that doesn't mean you can't act on your OWN agency (legal or otherwise) on the basis of what you find out...all you have to realize is that you're responsible for the forseeable consequences of your actions. I personally think the law (I'm speaking generally here, obviously, since I don't live in Cali) is STUPID in these regards...whatever is said or seen in the public sphere of lived human life is public property...but IMHO that stops once you walk through the door of your house or on to private property. peace