greenmachine

You record line-in only? The inexpensive NH600 (not NH600D) might be the recorder for you. You will need a program called SonicStage for uploading and conversion to wav. LAME is the preferred choice for high quality mp3 encoding. There are three recording modes: PCM (uncompressed, 1411kbps, CD quality) , Hi-SP (256kbps, near CD quality) and Hi-LP (64kbps, significant quality loss, might be good enough for speech). PCM will upload in approx. 2-3x realtime, the other modes much faster, although the connection is sub-USB1.1.

Mechanically noisy? Please explain.

Analogue tape/cassettes definitely had their own sound characteristic, but digital media? I don't think so, at least not until errors occur. Maybe some brands are more prone to read/write errors, i don't know.

In theory, software transfer could be slightly better (and faster): Use of up-to-date lossy codecs, no resampling. The differences would be very subtle and hard to detect though.

To reduce bass, you propably need to set the cutoff point lower than shown in the pic, usually somewhere between 50 and 200 Hz. You'll definitely need to experiment to find the best sound for your playback equipment. The recording doesn't even sound too bassy to me. YMMV. Edit: Since you were asking for an example, a rough starting point, here is one: [attachmentid=1996] The cutoff is set to approx. 100 Hz with somewhat more than 6dB/oct. rolloff. Try to keep the unmodified higher frequencies on the 0dB line - if you raise it like in your pic, you'll risk clipping.

I admit not having read the description of the linked auction thoroughly enough. If the product works as advertised, it should be suitable for recording loud sounds indeed with its wide gain range (unlike the built-in preamp of most MD devices). I apologize for this misinformation. Still i believe a MD recorder with mic-in and line-in in combination with a battery box is sufficient for virtually any situation if you know how to use it. See the 2nd link in the previous post.

I can't give technical explanations, but speak from experience. When recording quiet sounds, the built-in preamp of a (Hi-)MD usually gives very nice, quiet enough (no significant noise) recordings. No additional gear necessary (except for microphones). Below a certain level setting (low sensitivity, approx. 10/30 for my NH700) you can't reduce distortion any further no matter how low you set the levels. This is the point where you should switch to line-in (via battery box). You obviously don't record quiet sounds via line-in, otherwise the levels will be very low and you'll get an incerased noise floor after normalization. If the to be recorded signal is strong enough to go line-in though, there should be no audible/significant noise unless you manually set the levels way too low. If your recorder lacks a built-in preamp, a battery box is obviously no substitute for an external preamp when recording quiet sounds. In my experience, a recorder equipped with a high quality preamp (like most (Hi-)MD recorders nowadays have) and line-in requires nothing but a battery box (and microphones) to cover the full range from recording quiet to very high sound pressure levels.

soundalike: The JB3 has not been designed for serious recording (particularly not from its analogue inputs). Any Hi-MD will give you much better quality unless you invest in good external preamps/analog digital converters and are willing to carry all that gear around. I have bought a JB3 a while ago as well and never use it for recording.

If the ability to use AA batteries (whether rechargeable or not) is important to you, the RH1 might not be for you. NH700 and NHF800 use AA's internally, NH900, RH910 and RH10 use 'gumstick' shaped batteries with external AA attachment. Recording quality is said to be very good for all Hi-MD models. Battery life is a non-issue most of the time (several hours). The RH1 is the only model to remember the manual record level setting. All Hi-MD lack a proper bass boost, but there's a workaround: http://forums.minidisc.org/index.php?showtopic=13741

How/where do you place the mic(s)? What kind of distance? What kind of room (size/shape)? What kind of piano? What you hear when playing is not what you get when you don't place the mics close to you(r ears). The sound will be different. Experiment with different mic placement. To be honest, since i'm most of the time listening with headphones, i can't stand mono recordings, it sounds as if the sound was trapped inside my head rather than around it, so i like the Sony mic recordings better so far. For a stereo mic with separable channels like mine, use a distance of approx. 15-20 cm (the distance between your ears) and experiment with barriers in between to simulate the sound shaping characteristics of your head. This way you'll get lifelike 3-dimensional recordings. Let yourself be inspired by this somewhat chaotic site: http://www.sonicstudios.com/ Good luck, thanks for sharing your beautiful music and let us know about your progress.

It works only if the battery is in a good condition. I would't rely on it. For tips how to keep your rechargeables in good shape, go here: http://www.batteryuniversity.com/ Rechargeables are usually the better choice for recording (better high current handling), but they need to be maintained to perform best. Anyway, back to topic. For further questions, please use the search and/or open a new thread.

So, what do you think about the sound quality? Have you listened to it with headphones?

Since a brand new one isn't much more expensive (currently 180 USD plus shipping, minus MDs at Minidisco), maybe you need to re-think the price. Just a suggestion.

The best example is the headphone attenuator connected between the mics and mic-in. Although it lowers the voltage, you'll be able to record loud sounds with less distortion (or in other words, louder sounds with the same amount of distortion), because the preamp will get a lower signal and thus won't overload too easily. If too much attenation s used without external powering, the mics won't get sufficient power and distort. Using line-in bypasses the preamp and thus will give plenty of additional headroom. A higher voltage will improve the mics' performance particularly at very high sound pressure levels.

The preamp usually overloads way sooner than the 'underpowered' mics themselves. Switching to line-in will make the big difference. Although it is true that the mics will perform best close to their maximum voltage (usually around 10V for electret mics), the importance of the voltage is often overestimated. Nevertheless it is necessary to power the mics externally because there is no voltage at the line-in directly from the recorder.

There is no general 'better' or 'worse'. It all depends on your personal perception/habits. Some people may prefer one, you the other. There is no perfectly linear headphone yet (and propably never will be), but even if there was, some people might find it 'flat and uninteresting' or something like that. Reading reviews might give you an average opinion, but your hearing still may differ. You won't know which one's better for you unless you try them. If you can't try beforehand, good luck with your choice. Hope we've confused you enough now.

That's one of my auctions, hehe. It's a real stereo mic with separable channels, omnidirectional pickup pattern and full frequency response. I build these by myself. I can't recommend myself but there seem to be lots of satisfied customers. If you're interested, you can send me a PM and i'll make you a special price. Talented musicians need to be supported.

He told you only half the truth. While it may have an extended frequency range, particularly in the lower region, it is a one channel (mono) mic. also without an extension cord, you will pick up a great part of the recorder's motor noise. Personally, i would'n t want to go back to mono, especially not for such precious music.

i like chopin. very nicely played.

Specifications tell nothing about perceived sound quality. Try before you buy.

Are you using a N910 or RH910? N models are downloaders only, you won't be able to upload via usb connection. http://forums.minidisc.org/index.php?showtopic=7070

The 'box' in the auction is actually a preamp, which is not really useful for recording rock concerts, it will overload and produce plenty of distortion. A battery module on the other hand doesn't preamplify but enables line-in recording for a clean recording of high sound pressure levels. The mics look rather large, no so good where stealth is required. Also the shipping costs would make the set rather expensive. You can find a sample recording of one of my standard mics + battery module here: http://forums.minidisc.org/index.php?act=m...si&img=1519

If the rh1 had failed/stopped during the record, the nh1 wouldn't have gotten a signal either. Not really the most reliable backup method, better than none though i guess. Not sure, but if you have recorded in pcm, just use high bitrate mp3. Much better compatibility, particularly for 'outsiders'. Looking forward to hear that sample.

Not sure what you mean with 'normal', but you cannot play drag n' dropped files on the unit. 2nd gen himd like the rh910 have crippled mp3 playback, so either use sonicstage to transfer 'as is' and use the eq for compensating for the lack of treble or convert them to an atrac mode/bitrate of choice. It's all in the manual.

Hi, since the RH1 finally allows proper mp3 playback, some of you may wonder about how to rip and encode your CDs in the currently most efficient way. This link contains all the information you need: link