Chrissy

Thanks. To be honest, I've always preferred Sharp units to Sonys. They seem much more robust. If you know the 722, you'll know it's built like a tank, compared to people I've known with battered Sony units. I'd definitely spend the money on a pre-amp if I knew it was going to make a difference. Can I use a 907 with a pre-amp? Also, is there a website with comparison tables concerning signal-noise ratios for different units? I can ultimately strip the noise out using Cool Edit at home, but I don't want to have to do that! I am upgrading to a new portable recorder soon, as my 722's second rechargable battery is dead. I want to make the best choice, and mic input quality is very important to me. I've also heard that Sony's line out quality isn't so good either, is this true? I was considering getting Sony, but now I'm not so sure... Many thanks, Chris.

I have the Sony ECM-MS907 mic and a Sharp MS-722 portable MD recorder. I get an unacceptable level of noise whenever I record. I've taken out the mic and noticed that the level of noise stays the same, which suggests to me it might be the Sharp pre-amp. For example, I like to record ambient outdoor sound, but I often end up with more hiss than anything else. I really have to crank up the input on the Sharp, so, up comes the noise. Even recording my voice at home I had to have the input quite high. Are Sony recorders better than Sharp when it comes to mic stuff? Yes, I have the mic plugged into the 'plug-in power' socket. Yes, the battery in the mic is fine. I have a colleague who has the same mic but a Sony MD unit, and his recordings come out with less noise than mine. If anyone can help, I'd most appreciate it. I'm actually thinking of upgrading to one of the new Sony MD portables... Chrissy.

You can keep your I-pod. I've used MD for the last for years, recording my band, recording tracks to take to a studio, recording music to listen to, recording sound fx. I can't imagine doing anything like that with an I-pod. If my mate has something on MD for me, I just take the disc and whack it in my machine. Couldn't do that with an I-pod. 'Could I just just borrow your $400 I-pod while I copy that audio?...' ... Also, the I-pod is an MP3 player, so the data compression is going to be greater, therefore, more whistley, artifact-laden audio. Yuck. I'm not denying MD uses 'preceptual coding', but it's a lot less compressed than MP3. You say MD is on the way out, and I know at least two friends at the moment who are in the process of buying units.

Hi, my first post on here, although I've posted on Minidiscussion in the past... I was wondering if anyone on here can help me...: I have the Sony ECM-MS907 mic and a Sharp MS-722 portable MD recorder. I get an unacceptable level of noise whenever I record. I've taken out the mic and noticed that the level of noise stays the same, which suggests to me it might be the Sharp pre-amp. For example, I like to record ambient outdoor sound, but I often end up with more hiss than anything else. I really have to crank up the input on the Sharp, so, up comes the noise. Even recording my voice at home I had to have the input quite high. Yes, I have the mic plugged into the 'plug-in power' socket. Yes, the battery in the mic is fine. I have a colleague who has the same mic but a Sony MD unit, and his recordings come out with less noise than mine. If anyone can help, I'd most appreciate it. I'm actually thinking of upgrading to one of the new Sony MD portables... Chrissy.