KJ_Palmer

Some early N1's had problems reported, though many (including mine) have performed flawlessly for many years, and a new one would undoubtedly be fine. The N10 is more up to date and may be slightly better sounding than the N1. To be honest, any modern NetMD, Sony or Sharp would be fine and reliable. How about the N910 or the Sharp DR580/80.

Hi. Unfortunately the timed track marking feature of the Sharps is only through the mic input, not the line/optical in. At least I haven't found a way round it. However, the higher-end Sony's do have timed track marking via analogue input as well as mic in (at 5,10 or 15 mins). You'd be looking at the R909, N1, N10, N910, etc. In fact, even the N707 has it (I just checked)! See, Sony's aren't all bad... And, no you can't hear a track mark in the middle of a song.

Don't worry, you can use the same old mic with your new Hi-MD recorder. The debate is about whether you can record with a mic to the maximum (PCM = CD standard) quality, which no-one knows at present.

Very amusing pic walrus. However, sorry to say but I solved the problem using a £2 springclip mic adaptor from my local Maplins (electronics store).... :rasp:

I think this NH1 pic shows that most, if not all buttons are on the main body (including a menu button) of the NH1. And the digtial amp affects only the playback (output) stage, not the recording, so the NH800 should be as good as the NH900 for recording purposes.

No problem, you're very welcome. Yes, the track marks are copied over when using the optical link. The sponsors for this site, minidisco.com, audiocubes.com are good sources for much minidisc equipment, as are Sony Centres etc...

Yes, the JE-480 deck would certainly be fine for your needs. You might also try looking for a MXD-D5C which has a built-in 5 disc changer, or an MDS-JE780 or JB980 deck which have keyboard inputs for easy titling.

What I meant was, if you plan to do any recording on old MD devices, sooner or later you may not find it easy to obtain the blanks, so it might be a good idea to buy some up now while you can. No big deal really...

Haha - she'd likely kill me if she knew how much 'disposable' income I've spent on this little hobby... I've been a bit better lately, but God help me when Hi-MD comes out. :wacky:. Then again she's had the benefit of getting some old units of mine. And I have to do the recording as she won't touch that side of things...

CJ, well the uploading issue is very thorny indeed. Mostly down, I think, to Sony's copyright infringing worries (or paranoia - as a major record company?). For me, and probably most users MD does what I want it to very well, within it limits, so we're pretty happy with it. Unfortunately the new Hi-MD devices seem to add even more levels of alleged piracy-defeating DRM protection, so the situation might even worsen in the pessimistic view. Anyway the N10 is a fine 'flagship' recorder, top quality; old but not really outdated. The ATRAC encoding on the N10 would be as good as on the N920. The N920 would just sound that little bit better through the headphone out I guess because of the digital amp. The E810 is, I believe a playback only unit. I can't really comment, but overall I have a very good opinion about the sound quality and build of higher-level (Japan-made) Sony equipment.

Great, enjoy the gig CJ. I'd buy the N920 myself if I didn't have too much MD gear already... BTW, you can get MD decks with optical outputs for the best 'uploading' quality, not to mention the new Hi-MD units which are tantalisingly just around the corner... Anyway, let us know how you get on... :cool:

I'd personally go for the N920 as the latest Sony recorder, as I like the Sony sound. The DR77 would undoubtedly be just as good though, in a Sharp-y sort of way. The DR80 might not be so good if you want to use a line or optical in. These are located on the charging stand (there is mic-in only on the main body).

Trouble is, never owned any other SP only units that I liked, and I'm happy with a mix of SP and LP2 recordings. Love to have an R50 or an R91 I guess, but probably won't get round to it now...

You can keep all your old MDs - they'll play back perfectly on any Hi-MD unit. There's even the option to record to the old formats using the NetMD software. I suppose they'll stop making regular MD's someday, so stock up if you need a supply.

Maybe: 1. Your battery is dead. The R55 uses the NH14-WM gumstick batteries (I believe) which are easily obtainable. 2. The battery or other contacts might need cleaning. Open the battery compartment and dab them with some alcohol (eg. cassette cleaning fluid) on a cotton swab. (or both).

If it's a stereo mic, make sure the jack is pushed all the way into the mic input socket. If it's a mono mic, you can still record equally into both channels using the mono recording mode of your N710.

I suppose my blue MZ-E300 is my 'favourite' SP only unit. Nothing special about it, but does the job...

Live recording on Hi-MD will work in the same way as for standard MD. If you're unfamilar with that, then the simplest scenario is: Plug a mic into the mic-in jack, press record, pause to adjust rec levels and play to begin. On a 1GB disk, you can record up to 94 minutes uncompressed PCM (the highest quality), about 8 hours at Hi-SP (256kbps) and so on. You can use a standard (re-formatted) minidisc which gives you 305MB or about 1/3 the capacity. You should get a maximum of 7-10 hours recording time depending on the model. Check the Hi-MD FAQ for more info. Mics cost anything upwards of $10, though expect to pay around $80-100 for a decent one. Avoid Sony mics, they look nice but have a limited frequency range. Take a look at the sound professionals for some examples.

Have you not considered a standard minidisc deck, Dave? As you won't be benefitting from Hi-MD's new functions over MD (which are really in the computer realm), and you will benefit from timer recording, this seems to make sense. I'll be keeping hold of my standard stuff even when the HiMD units come, as they'll still have the edge for radio recording. And be playable on the new equipment...

clarkeda, I believe we may get the the full 256kbps bandwidth sometime fairly soon if the BBC gets their act together and install this duplex/multiplex thing. There have been the odd occasions when I've noticed some heavy compression artifacts on Radio 3, but generally it's been OK or even pretty good. I mostly tape from Through the Night or Morning on 3 with a deck/timer. Which shows do you like? DAB seems to have reached a saturation level in the UK as far as the number of (poor-quality) channels go. Hopefully their flagship will get the quality it deserves, though this may need some pressure from listeners...

No, only the very first MD recorder, the MZ-1 had an optical output. That was back in 1992, you may be lucky to get one from eBay (at a price). These days only the higher end decks have optical/coaxial out, like the Sony MDS-JB980.

Hi. I'd say use HiSP = ATRAC3+ @256 kbps. Even with high bitrates, compression with 2 different codecs (MP2 and ATRAC) can result in more data being thrown away than the bitrates suggest. To my ears the quality of the DAB broadcasts are enough to warrant using high bitrates for recording. You could even use linear PCM (lossless), but I think that HiSP would be enough for a compromise. Currently, with standard MD I record DAB radio from BBC Radio 3 (mostly 192 kbps). I use SP mode (292 kbps) for the initial recording, keep this as a master, and make compilations of the masters at LP2 (132kbps).

Glad it worked out for you heth, I suppose I'll have to start watching TOTP now :laugh: ... Cheers

The IM-DR420 would be a fine choice. Rather worryingly these units seem to be disappearing and may have become discontinued, so if you know where to get one, I'd snap it up. Don't go for the similar looking DR410 or 400 - these don't have a microphone input. An alternative would be the Sharp MD-MT290, or in fact most Sharps with a mic-input. The Sony MZ-N710 would be OK in the budget range, but perhaps not quite so good as the Sharps for your purpose. Best to stay away from Sony mics - they look good but have a too limited frequency range for music (typically 50Hz-15kHz). You want a mic with a range of at least 20Hz-20kHz. Vivanco make such a mic, or go to sound professionals..

No, fine unit though it is, I'm afraid the MD-MT15 came out before USB PC connectivity and long play modes (MDLP) were introduced. It can only record and playback standard modes (SP and mono).