cbud

What kind of mac do you have? How much memory, etc.? How slow is it? I can upload PCM to a PC at about 1.5X.

Uploading PCM via USB 2.0 on a PC is only about 1.5X speed. If I was you I would just buy a high quality cable and do it real time using the mac. Virtual PC is going to require a nice Mac and will run SonicStage slow. What kind of mac do you have? To improve the quality of the analogue signal you can buy a non-apple soundcard, such as the Griffin iMic (USB) or the Echo Indigo (CardBus). These cards will alow you to record at higher bit-rates and help decrease system backround noise. The quality will still be quite good via analogue.

My errors occur when no editing is performed on the unit. Splitting tracks up helps the situation.

Dell Dimension 1GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 400MHz (2x512) Pentium 4 Processor 630 w/HT Technology (3GHz, 800FSB) Windows XP Home Edition SS 3.1 USB 2.0 RH10

There are low sensitivity omnis from Core Sound. But, I think A440 has the stealthy option, which only comes in cardioid. I have the Low cost regular sensitivity binaurals. They sound great at aucostic shows. But they will over load the pre-amp at almost every loud concert, unless you are far away. I plan on also buying the low sensitivity omni mics, not the stealthy cardioids, for loud shows. I really don't see why anyone would pay more for mics, in my limited experience, the quality of my recording depends more on the PA system and the drunks around me, then my mics.

If you are using Apple PowerMac G5s, they have built in digital inputs. So, If your DAT has a digital output, your recording could remain all digital. If the DAT does not, analogue from a DAT into a Mac still sounds great, especially at 16bit 48khz. Do you have a PowerMac or an iMac? iMacs don't have digital in-puts. What type of DAT do you have? Most have digital outputs if you have the proper cable. Why are you using an amp before you go into the G5? I go from my Sony DAT home deck (analogue) into my G4 and don't need an amp at all. The RH-10 is good, but you will need to add a PC into the mix, which will add money and time. Uploading from a MD via USB is faster then real time, but not by much (~1.5 in PCM mode). Then you have to transfer it to the Mac, which can be a pain. In the end, realtime with the DAT will be faster then USB with the MD, and if it is digital, it will sound the same, if it is analogue, it will still sound great, I doubt you would tell the difference. When recording, the MD tends to add track marks where it seems fit. So, you might have to go back and reorganize track marks anyway. I do all track mark editing after I convert to WAV. I would stick with the DAT. You can record in higher sound quality and you most likely have an optical out (unlike MD) and can go straight to the G5. If you need to record for more then 120 minutes (DAT Max) without swithcing tapes, then MD might be the choice.

I think that the software can be a little confusing. 256 kbs should be ATRACplus even though it not might say it in your import settings. Once imported though, if you look at the track properties, it says ATRACPlus. Import, look at the track properties and see what it says.

Did you have a battery box? Did you go mic-in or line-in? Doesn't the attenuator prevent plug in power from going to the mics?

Great, I guess i am the only one with this problem. I have a brand new Dell which I bought specifically for my Minidisc (dedicated Mac user). So, i don't think it is the computer. Anyway, a little update on this not so serious but annoying problem. I had a track fail to import the other day. Tried everything, ejecting disc, quitting SS, restarting computer, but still, the track would error. It would play fine when the MD was disconnected from the computer, but it would error if I tried to play it connected to the computer (via SS). So I used the MD to cut the ~15 min track into 5 separate 3 minute tracks and imported again. It worked fine this time. l can't believe I am the only one with this problem.

What type of mic are you using? The power coming from a minidisc to a mic is practically nothing. Giving a condenser mic more power helps it's performance. So, yes, turn it on.

Apple is not moving away from Firewire. Firewire 800 is the fastest way to transfer data via an external hardrive. All Power Macs come with FW 800 and most Powerbooks do too. The iPod is now USB 2.0 only because that is the standard on a PC. But, I would recomend an external hardrive with both Firewire and USB 2.0 because you can then connect to a most PCs. Firewire 800 is super fast.

When uploading live recordings into SS 3.1 from my RH10 I will occasionaly get (5% of the time) a track that was not uploaded with an error message (some internal error). 50% of the time if I try to import it again it works and the other 50% of the time I have to quit SS, remove USB cable, eject disk, re-insert disk, and then upload that track. Out of ~15 live concerts recorded (over 300 tracks) they all in the end uploaded fine, but some needed mulitiple attempts. Anybody else having this problem? Anyone know why?

Does anyone know where unity is on the MZ-RH10? It should be 15/30, but is it? How can I figure it out? Would it be the same for both mic-in and line-in?

The Rode NT4 works fantastic. I use it with my RH10. The ECM-MS957 is the high end single point stereo mic from Sony, but if you compare the specs with the Rode NT4, its a piece of crap. The Rode blows it way. If you look around, you can find it for $350. I bought the NT4 mainly because of its max. SPL of over 140 db. I record really loud music at bars. The NT4 does a great job of reproducing the sound. I believe the recording sounds better then actually bieng there. Really loud music can be difficult to listen to and enjoy. The only way my recordings could sound better would be if the band's PA sounded better. I think that the two most important things in recording live music is the quality of the sound coming from the band and the quality of your mic. These two things limit the quality of the recording way more then your recorder will or if you go mic-in vs line-in.

Be careful of battery cover on rh-10. I broke mine the otherday. I can still snap it into a secure position but the hinge is busted. I don't even know how it happened.