bjsilva

For sale is a Sony MDS-JE520 deck with full-function remote in very good condition. I'm not sure how much it's worth, so please make an offer if interested (be sure to factor in shipping cost if not within reasonable distance to NE Philadelphia). I have the original box, manuals, etc.

Rode NT4 Stereo Microphone in very good condition for $300 shipped (to US), or best offer. Paypal preferred. It is a single-point stereo mic with a 90 degree XY configuration. It was used occasionally in a smoke-free home studio and occasional travel. It provides a smooth high-quality sound and can run on 9V battery power or phantom power. Comes with carrying case, dual-XLR cable, cable with 1/8" stereo plug, windscreen and stand mount. Perfect for portable recording applications! For more details about the NT4 visit Rode's website at: http://www.rodemic.com/microphone.php?product=NT4.

Brand new, in box, never opened Sony RM-PCM1 remote for PCM-D50 recorder. $35, obo.

I am selling a Rode NT4 stereo mic in excellent condition for $280 + shipping, obo. It has been used primarily in a home studio, travelled occasionally, and always in a smoke-free environment. It is perfect for portable minidisc recording or where the convenience of a single point stereo mic is appreciated. It has a cable with an 1/8th stereo plug and another cable with dual XLR. It runs on a 9V battery or phantom power, see link below for more technical details. http://www.rodemic.com/microphone.php?product=NT4

Audio Technica ATM10a condenser microphone for $50. This is a high quality omni directional condenser microphone ideal for portable applications, but would work nicely in a home studio setting. It can operate on battery power (AA) or phantom power. There is some wear and tear but the microphone works well. It was used by a former BBC sports reporter for interviewing top athletes. Specifications: ELEMENT - Fixed-charge back plate, permanently polarized condenser POLAR PATTERN - Omnidirectional FREQUENCY RESPONSE - 20-18,000 Hz MAXIMUM INPUT LEVEL - Phantom: 137 dB SPL, 1 kHz at 1% T.H.D., Battery: 123 dB SPL DYNAMIC RANGE - PHANTOM: 113 dB, 1 kHz at Max SPL, BATTERY: 99 dB, 1 kHz at Max SPL SIGNAL-TO-NOISE RATIO - 70 dB, 1 kHz at 1 Pa PHANTOM POWER REQUIREMENTS - 9-52V DC, 2 mA typical BATTERY - 1.5V AA/UM3, 1200 hours typical OUTPUT CONNECTOR - Integral 3-pin XLRM-type

I am regretfully interested in selling my NH1. It has all the original parts/cables and is in excellent condition. The only problem is that the battery charge is reduced. Honestly I have no idea what a used NH1 is going for, so please make an offer if you're interested. I will include five or six 1GB HiMD discs.

I personally am not convinced of the authority of ABX tests. Unfortunately since the right brain is not particularly precise and the judgement can be easily influenced by other factors, it completely eludes scientific testing in these matters. But this does *not* diminish the importance of it even a little bit, especially when we're talking about musical enjoyment. For those who are in fact "trained" to listen for compression artefacts, their judgement as to the transparency of compressed audio in ABX tests is just as useless since they're making an entirely left-brained qualitative judgement. I will happily admit that I would have a difficult to impossible time distinguishing between well-compressed audio and an "uncompressed" digital source. However, who am I to say what my right brain is hearing or not? Just because my left brain can't identify the difference doesn't mean my right brain cannot, and do I really want to risk missing out on one iota of musical enjoyment just because I follow our societies' obsession with left brain thinking? I think we need to remember that the vast majority of people listening to music on their iPod (or whatever) aren't *really* listening. They press play and then do something else or go travel somewhere in their mind, occasionally catching a musical line or series of words that stand out. What difference does it make to someone who "listens" like that?

What model do you have? And which HiMD discs - the newer translucent blue or the original opaque blue?

I don't think it has anything to do with the iPod - NetMDs were around before the iPod. Nor anything to do with competitive tactics - the percentage of people who were previously planning on buying a Mac but then switched and bought a Sony PC because they wouldn't be able to use their MD would amount to less than those customers who might consider buying an MD if it worked seamlessly with their Mac. It could be that Sony had underestimated how many of their customers are Mac users, hence the newer MDs becoming more Mac compatible. It could also be the typical view of Windows developers - there are more Windows than Macs and therefore more money to be made developing for Windows. This is obviously true, although there are plenty of companies who know there is much money to be made in the Mac market as well.

The EX71s are not so much bassy but lacking in mid-range, so the bass and treble stand out more. However, spending some extended time connected to a system with a decent headphone amp at high volumes seems to mellow them out quite a bit. I have a pair and occasionally do this for 4 or 5 hours. I've done it maybe 5 times now, but they still need some more. Probably another 5-10 sessions. I think it's easy to forget there are people like this, and I doubt you're particularly aged. I have a few audio files on my computer, none of which are there for listening enjoyment. I am happy to admit that I prefer realtime recording

Are you talked about an acoustic double bass vs. an electric (standard?) bass? And when you ask about how high of a decibel level a "bass" can go up to, are you talking about the acoustic double bass un-miked? Also, what kind of music?

Just to chime in here, basic software to upload/download recordings from an MD to a Mac could easily be written by a single competent Mac developer experienced in USB development in less than a month. I do low-level (i.e. hardware) and application development and find that most USB development on the Mac is not especially complicated (sometimes quite simple). A decent UI for a simple app can be created using IB and Cocoa in less than a day. Sony could have contracted with a Mac developer (such as myself) and the only reason it would cost them a lot of money is if the developer charged based on the scope of the product verses using an "hourly" rate. Chances are Sony used in-house developers who were not competent with Mac development or contracted with a firm who milked them based on their ignorance of Mac development.

Hi Regina, For the right combination between portability and quality I recommend an "all-in-one" stereo mic such as the Audio Technica AT822 or the Rode NT4, but if those are out of your budget the Sony MS907 can do surprisingly well. With recording classical music good microphone placement is extremely important - to get the right balance of room acoustics and clarity of the source (i.e. not too distant or close). Experimentation is essential. In your past experiences, unless you were using really low quality equipment it's likely you were not overdriving the microphone but rather whatever you were recording into (i.e. the recording level was too high). This is something you'll have to check on your minidisc before you start recording, and for most recordings you'll want to set the recording level manually (instead of automatic, which will alter the dynamics). Although a battery box may be useful sometimes, with proper microphone placement you will not "over-power" even the MS907 mic.

Anything that manages the recording level automatically will change the original volume characteristics of what you're recording. If this doesn't bother you, then go ahead and use it. If it does, the best way to ensure the recording doesn't clip is to find the loudest section before you record (which can be tedious) and set the recording level accordingly. Here's a link to some information about normalising. http://www.record-producer.com/learn.cfm?a=3015

When I first got an MD I was using the MS907. It was fine, surprisingly good for the price. A year or so later I got the AT822, which was a definite upgrade over the MS907. Now I use a Rode NT4. If you're not happy with the MS907, chances are that it is firstly because you haven't found the right location to get a good sound with your voice. Placement is extremely important, and you need to play around until you learn to access a decent mic location based on room acoustics, especially with classical music. I've recorded a (lyric) soprano with piano using the AT822, and the quality was good. If you're able to borrow the MS907, once you've gotten a reasonable quality recording with it then you can assess whether you need a better microphone. Dynamic range, frequency response, etc., will be things to listen for. An excellent microphone can sound poor if placement is not chosen well.