smilingcrow

Thanks all. I’ve decided to scrap the NH1 because of the battery issue and all that proprietary stuff et al. I picked up a new NH700 at a good price, and can’t really justify the extra expense of a NH900. I’m glad I started the thread as it’s made me aware of in-car power invertors. I picked up a 150W unit today for £20. It’s bulkier and more expensive than a simple DC voltage converter but far more flexible. I can recharge a laptop and even an NH1, provided I remember the cradle Happy charging.

I did a bit more detective work and came up with the following information on the power supply outputs: NH1 6V 800 mA NH700 3V 1,000 mA I’ve sourced a 1,500 mA car adapter which supports both voltages; I need it that high for my Zen Xtra. Is it okay to use a converter which is rated for a higher number of mA?

You're right of course, and I already have a thread open regarding the subject! I find it so hard to make equipment choices without being able to handle the bloody things, aaagh.

Thanks for all the replies. I read the online pdf manuals and noticed that the NH1 is 6V whereas the NH900/RH910 are 3V. Does anyone know what ampage the NH1 and NH900/Rh910 power supplies output? I can get a universal car adapter from Maplin for £9 that handles both those voltages and outputs 1A, not sure if that’s enough though? It comes with 6 interchangeable tips, which begs the question, are the DC-In connections on the Sony power supplies non standard? Another option is to get a Belkin AC Anywhere car adapter, which will be flexible enough to handle anything I throw at it within the unit’s power range. This gives you a standard 2 or 3 pin power socket (country specific) that you can treat like a wall socket. The 140W watts AC 230V UK version is £31 at Amazon. That will take care of all my charging needs without me having to worry about getting the exact voltage and amps matched. It’s starting to look attractive right now as I need a charger for my Zen Xtra and any other gear that I take camping with me. See link below: http://catalog.belkin.com/IWCatProductPage...oduct_Id=122375 The NH900 is starting to look more attractive to me, although it’s the same price as the RH910! I prefer the look of the NH910 due to the larger screen and can live with the remote not being an LCD. For use just as a voice recorder are there any significant disadvantages with the RH910 versus the NH900?

I have an NH1 on order but it’s just dawned on me that I may be away from mains power for quite a while whilst camping. Is there a generic car power adapter that I can use to charge the Sony? What do I need to lookout for when buying one of these units? i.e. amps, tip type etc. I have a car charger that charges AA & AAA, so I may have to return the NH1 and buy one of the other models that accepts AA batteries. I tried searching the forum but ‘car’ is too short a word for the search engine.

Thanks for all the input. One potential advantage of 2nd generation HiMD recorders, is that the recording level meters are much bigger than on the 1st generation units. For some reason the 1st generation units only used about half of the available screen width to display the recording level meters. Not sure if that results in tangible gains in the field, but it sounds a good thing in my book. After looking in more depth at the various units, I decided it comes down to personal preference rather than anything more objective. I managed to get a look and handle a NH1 and lost some of my enthusiasm for it. The remote seems to have as many minuses as plusses. Since I see no clear cut winner here I’ll be more influenced by price than I was initially.

Thanks, I'll check those recommendations out.

I want to use a HiMd recorder to keep a journal and record some interviews whilst travelling. I’m wondering what sort of microphone is good for recording speech? I want to keep the equipment as compact as possible and to that effect I’ve been looking at a couple of Sony’s: ECM-MS907 & ECM-719 They are both electret condenser mics; are they suitable for speech recording? Any other suggestions up to $150? I intend to use the mic pre-amp on the MD recorder rather than an external box. Any help appreciated as I’m not up on microphones.

I’m investigating buying a HiMd recorder as a voice recorder. My only hands on experience was with a MZ-NH700 which I disliked from an ergonomic perspective; the jog dial and small screen I found a hassle. Now that the NH1 is at a reasonable price and the 2nd generation units are available, I’m wondering if the ergonomics have been improved to my taste! After looking at the NH1 user guide it sounds very similar to the NH700 in general operation, except for the fact that it uses an LCD remote as the main control area. Is the NH1 LCD remote any easier to use than working with the NH700s controls? Is the NH1 more sturdy in construction than the NHx00 series MDs? As for the RH910 and RH10, they certainly look more user friendly with the larger screens. Are they easier to work with in practice? I’m only interested in these units as voice recorders, as I have other devices for MP3 playback. I’m also looking at memory card based recorders from Edirol & Marantz, but the MDs size and price makes them worth investigating. Any help appreciated as it would be nice to get this purchase right first time, without having yet another eBay sale

Thanks, I know the answer seemed obvious, but I wanted to be 100% sure. Crow

Can anyone recommend a supplier of binaural microphones in the UK? Also, am I right in assuming that the MZ-NH700 will work with microphones that don’t require external power? Crow

Thanks Concert Pitch, I’m aware that microphones don’t work with a line level input. My USB interface does have a microphone input, but it is not powered. My question was; does the Sony ECM-DS70P require an input channel that does provide power? I believe that the MZ-NH700 does provide power. I will almost certainly buy two separate microphones anyway, but I’m trying to ascertain what the electrical requirements of each microphone are first. It would be preferable if I have the flexibility of using either microphone with either recording device. Crow

Thanks. I’m looking at the spec on the Sony website and it talks about ‘Plug-In Power’. Does this mean it will only work with a powered pre-amp? I’d like to also be able to use the microphone that I buy with my USB audio interface, which doesn’t provide power via the mic-in. Crow

Thanks Dex, The Binaurals sound interesting. I have no experience of such things and I'll need to read up on them. Crow

Thanks, I forgot to mention that my budget is £30 - 50 and that I live in the UK. I'm just experimenting at the moment, so not looking to spend a large amount of money at this stage. Crow

I have an MZ-NH700 and want to use it for a number of purposes for which I need to choose a microphone. I’m not up on mic technology and could do with some help. The fist thing I’m going to record is ambient background nature sounds, such as the sea, wind etc. Secondly, I’m looking to interview people for a documentary. They are very different types of recordings, so I’m wondering if I can get decent recordings in both settings with the same microphone. The MZ-NH700 seems to offer the option to provide power to a microphone. Am I better off going with a mic that needs external power? Any advice on the type of microphone and/or a particular model that would suit my needs gratefully received. Crow

As a note, Total Recorder will only give you a ‘clean copy’ if the source file was uncompressed. Otherwise, it will give you a decoded version of a compressed source. While still a ‘digital copy’, it is not an exact copy per se. This is probably obvious to most of you, but I thought it worth mentioning to any newbies reading this. You can of course also use this software for making ‘digital copies’ of music that you download or stream from Napster et al. That’s why a future version of Windows has been touted to disallow this sort of digital copying. Not sure if that’s still part of MS’s plans. Crow

Thanks A440, I'm going to order one today. Crow

If I format a standard disc in HiMD mode and record from an analogue source, can I still transfer the data to a PC using the Sonic Stage/Total Recorder method or the custom software hack that I’ve read about on the forum? I assume that I can, but after years of working with technology I find it safe to assume nothing. Because of the limited capacity of discs formatted in that way I would be recording in Hi-SP mode. I’ll move up to PCM if needed when HiMD discs are more available. I ask because I want to buy an MZ-NH700 in the UK, but notice that HiMD discs are not available through normal channels yet and I don’t fancy the silly money that eBay merchants are asking. Reading the forums it seems unclear whether UK machines are shipping with a disc, so before I buy one, I want to make sure I can do something useful with it with standard discs. Crow

Thanks Aeryin, Good news about the levels meters. Hopefully Dex will show up and dish the dirt, or otherwise Crow

Sorry, posted in wrong section. Will a moderator please move this to the Find your Minidisc in the Knowledge Centre. Thanks Crow

I’m looking at buying either a MZ-NH700 (or 800/900) or an iRiver HD140 as a portable digital recorder. I want a lightweight device for recording interviews in situations where a laptop isn’t convenient. The iRiver is more appealing in many ways, but until I determine the quality of recordings it makes, I thought I’d check out the new Mindiscs as they seem to be the only competition at this price and weight. How good is the microphone pre-amp and the AGC on these units? I don’t suppose you get any metering on these units! The other option would be to use a battery powered external pre-amp (possibly with metering) and input at line level to the Sony. Anyone tried either of these scenarios and can you recommend a portable pre-amp? I’d rather not go down that road but will do so if I need to. With the iRiver I could use an external mic to S/PDIF converter box and still have complete access to the file as well, which is appealing. I’m grateful for any input as I’m new to portable audio recording. Regards Crow