ratbagradio

Convert your audio to WAV. Audacity can read that.

I'm sure many have their own systems of cataloging their mini disc collections. Since I'm just starting out with mini disc and I'm a podcaster I want to be able to archive old shows as well as a lot of the crude audio I recorded in the first place. I used direct mp3 recording before and was either storing on CD, uploading to GSpace(ie: using a Gmail account) or simply deleting old audio. In podcasting how you name your file is very important as in the file naming protocol a slip up can throw out the order the files as they arranged in a computer or device folder alphabetically or numerically That usually means you employ something like 20070119RRN1 for the file name and work up your ID tags with dating in mind and maybe subject/title But working the date tag as your main marker. so that it is [DATE] [PODCAST NAME] [sHOW NUMBER] Since there are a lot of options with minidisc labelling I'm a bit lost as to where to start. Surely this is a topic addressed by many? I use a MZ NH700 and I employ it for live recording. I'd also appreciate some pointers on storage systems -- boxes and the like. -- for protection and easy access. I live in a mini disc backwater here in Australia and so there is no easy tete a tete on such matters. I also wonder what system people use for marking in the field as I haven't mastered those fiddly bits yet. On radio we are taught to label each disc with voice but that doesn't explain how to tag each recording you make over any period while the audio is still in the machine. By date? Subject? By order? After using mp3 devices to r4cord -- iriver ifp 700 -- the options available from mini discs is a bit overwhelming.

Thats' the point -- the Hi MD a great recorder but as a listening device from downloaded shared mp3 format the transfer rate is slow compared to flash players. I'm seeing what its like to use it to listen to the podcasts I subscribe by downloading a fill up and using the MD the same way as I use the iRiver T30. Since I would be using it for listening to mp3 files which are already quite squished -- is there a optimum setting on my Sony MZN-H700 which I can employ to facilitate a faster transfer and increase my storage capacity on the disc when quality is not an issue? How low can I go and how do I set that? OR is transfer rate a product of other factors? Even with adjustments is the time reduction involved worth the effort Essentially --as with podcasts and I guess mp3 format generally, it's throwaway audio in the same way that radio is and I guess the MD format, while offering so much better audio quality is something else, more archival. I cannot imagine creating a record collection by say, only relying on iTunes music store downloads -- but while thats' cheap, what about the sound quality? dave riley

As I suggest elsewhere the iRiver ftp has no where near the sound quality as a MD of which it is a very crude copy. Its ONLY advantage is that it takes a plug in power microphone. That it records direct to mp3 format is its major limitation as an audio recording device for music. It's handy for podcasting -- such as grabbing a lecture or a quick interview -- but for sound quality relative to MD as a recording source for music, forget about it. The software sucks too and plays up often with Windows XP I've found(this is an often-occurring bug) and then it won't be recognised by any computer as hardware UNLESS you install the software which is major drawback if you need to use different machines or are travelling --so the recording material is stuck inside the device until you get to your pc where the software is installed.(Unlike MD format where you take out the audio files anytime you move remove a disk) But podcasters love it! And thats' primarily because: they are ignorant of or biased against HiMD(basing their opinion on earlier models)they use the iRiver ifp because it is a cheaper device than newer HiMd models (although second hand or on eBay this ceases to be an issueI reviewed my options and considered whether to purchase another iRiver ifp OR a Sony Hi MD. I am so happy I went with the latter purchase. The price on eBay was the same so I deliberated long term even passing up some good buys while I delayed. But the one connection worth noting is that BOTH take plug in power mics and that was my practical first consideration. I saw myself as a particular microphone user. Most other devices require a preamp setup for mic-ing. So the microphone source you follow may facilitate your decision --and there is such a wide range of inexpensive plug in power electret mics for MD or the iRiver ifp models(check out Visivox [Canada]or Giant Squid[uSA]--I say that, and I'm in Australia --although I gather GreenMachine offers some created in Europe) And remember: ifp 700s aren't made anymore.(And that was for a good reason esp in regard to the software!)

As I've noted in this forum previously I began exploring Sony MD -- MZN-H700 -- as a recording medium for podcasting. Contrary to what so many of my podcasting colleagues tried to tell me I found the MD with the latest version of Sonic Stage to be an excellent medium for recording and uploading the audio to my pc. Since I prefer to RECORD AWAY FROM MY COMPUTER -- all the rigmarole, hardware and problem solving that goes with workstation recording doesn't interest me. As far as I'm concerned it's me, a mic and my MD generating content. Simple, direct,without any problems... such as the many that are presented by the computer interface (sound floor being the most evident).And it has automatic gain control! Who needs a mixer! I own a iRiver 785 Mp3 recorder/player but after being exposed to the sound quality on offer from the MD format -- really, there's no question about my preference in way of recoding rig. Since I had to go away camping for the past two weeks, I knew I would not be able to get to a computer so I loaded about 30 hours of podcasts onto mini discs and worked my way through the lot without a moment's complication--and the sound was much better than what I get from my iRiver. It was a touch inconvenient in that syncing the audio to the MD took much longer than I'm used to -- mp3 on the pc to mp3 on the device -- but I find that the setup on the MD makes for a much easier exploration of the directory for each disk. You see, I bought the MD for recording and never thought I'd actually use it as a listening device. But with the new year ahead I've got my recording rig together: Visivox SCM-Broadcast-PROSony MD -- MZN-H700 Sony ECM DS30P - microphoneThe Visivox gives me a dual mic setup and I can use either mic independent of the other on my MD recorder. I record interviews live or as phone conversations using a speaker phone; I record lectures, talks, rallies and other out door gatherings as part of news reporting -- so I'm working up my rig for the best portability and relevance. Does anyone else record with news gathering/reportage in mind? I'm keen to be pointed in the direction of microphones I should explore as I can use the Sony ECM close in (such as when I'm speaking)and I'm exploring the use of the Visivox for talks/lectures and out and about sound grabs by using one of the mics in the pair. For person to person interviews and phone ones I get to use the two mics in the Visivox SCM-Broadcast-PRO setup to good effect. When working in close I cut down ambient sound by relying on the SONY ECM --such as those times when I'm walking and talking and interviewing while walking...(yep! it happens so often!). But now that I am one: what do they call a miniDiscer? Visivox SCM-Broadcast-PRO Sony ECM DS30P - microphone

Well, I downloaded the SS 4.4 and got to work on my MD -- Sony MZN-H700 -- as I have to negotiate the learning curves because I'm new to minidiscoteching. I found it so darn easy and straightforward to use that I wonder where these other podcasters are coming from. And I got automatic GAIN control! How cool is that! In processing I have to go MD >>> WAV >>> EDIT(in Audacity) >>> Mp3 but all of this was one click/two click business. Pretty seamless. The SS software is very powerful and leaves the crap offered with the iRiver Music Manager for dead. So I ain't bias, I tell you... I also ran this query regarding Audacity: To which I got this reply FYI:

I have just installed Sonic Stage version 2.1 as this is my first attempt to upload from my MZ NH700.(So I'm working from the manual in fact.) So I gotta ask, being such a newbie: do I uninstall my 2.1 version and install the 4.0? Does it team with the NH700? Is that the way I should go? dave riley I've just got myself a new MZ-NH700 and I'm connecting and uploading for the first time after installing Sonic Stage 2.1 Do I NOW uninstall it, download the Sonic Stage 4.0 and proceed? I mean is it OK to use the 4.0 with the MZ-NH700? dave riley

I was keen to explore further an earlier thread From iRiver to hi MD for podcasting in which I suggest that podcasters seem biased against Mini Discs Recorders and I wondered why. I then posed a similar question on the podcasting forum at Yahoo Groups which generated this thread: MiniDiscs bias? Tell me why? I'm no expert on MD, as I'm very new to MD use, but it does seem that there's a set knee jerk attitude in this regard than may be not be as informed and up to date as it could be. The respondants listed many MD features that they found annoying and problematical for everyday podcasting. I've done a search and found a couple of podcasts that rely on MD as their recording tool-- but this phenomenon is sure to be rare. Any thoughts or rebuttals to some of the criticisms raised on the Podcasting List? dave riley

I've had a chance to play with the device, A440, and I have had problems with working out the accessing menu but I found this forum's FAQ very useful as the manual is...well...almost consciously obscure. Especially when I had a low battery and couldn't access REC-SETas a consequence. Thats' not in the manual. But the sound!...it's ten on to Mp3 level recording. Nonetheless, I could not find anywhere on the web a straightforward newbie/dummy level introduction to working the HI MD.I'd even been trained on a pro level console (Low MD) minidisc as part of my panel operators course at a local community radio station and the logic is hard to grasp. (And why anyone would want to edit on a minidisc when they can use a computer to do the job -- seems almost archaic.) But as for recording ease they beat the iRiver to a pulp. I think I can sit on this one I purchased nicely for a few years before outlaying bigger bucks for a latest model some day. The irony is that I woudln't have got into minidiscs -- from my podcasting roots -- if I hadn't decided that plug in power microphones were the way to go. You can't use these mics on so many other devices (although on the ifp 700 you can) or your computer, so I have been guided by coincidence as much as anything else.

I respect that milomind and know where you are coming from. But i note the irony that theres' this podcasting attitude out there that is kind of glued to the terminal as though thats' the only tool box that has ever existed. In my case I had never had a MD in my hand,let alone owned one or knew what they did. I don't think I'd ever seen one -- I mean consciously -- until I went looking for them a few months back. But an mp3 player is universal. My household owns four -- primarily as listening devices. Even when I got into podcasting and started doing research -- and read all the available books & such --= no one mentions the minidisc hardly at all. I think Tod Cochran's book does though. And then people get disparaging because I recorded direct to Mp3 format -- on my ifp iRiver -- such that I was supposed to be trading convenience for quality. And the very idea of recording away from your computer ! Well you must be a nutter! Why do that? What that does, you know, and the dynamic is already well advanced -- is to encourage podcasting to ape radio as in the whole broadcast studio concept where the environment is controlled such that nothing is supposed to be left to chance. While there is a place for that -- I note that there is this rigid paradigm being unconsciously orchestrated that is in the long run quite constricting -- that in fact fails to recognise the major reach out, mobility and flexibility the MD and similar recording devices allowed radio.

Don't mention ifp firmware. The ifp 700 is a pain in the rear in that regard especially relating to one of my pcs driven by Win XP.But I have an iRiver T30 for listening and it is simply the best device I have ever had.(I even used to record on it with a battery driven mic) 'Tis a pity that they didn't develop the ifp 700 attributes more but we live in a listening rather than a recording world. Really, more generally, we need an MD podcasting group for mutual support as podcasting pushes a lot of boundaries that mini DisCers would appreciate. But the disdain or ignorance of MD among podcasters is rampant. I came to the MD through my radio work. For instance a podcast for your band is a great reach out tool...and with such sites as ODEO and platforms like Blogger you pay nuthin...zero. The only mindisc sharing site I know of is the FreeSound Project (mainly in wav of course). I luv that.

I'm not great shakes in way of mics but I'm using the Visivox SCM-PRO – which I bought for $55.00 USD This has a wide pickup arc and comes as a pair of mics so you could place them six feet from one another to pick up the discussion in the classroom and feed it into the two channels. Visivox http://www.visivoxtechnologies.com/ is a Canadian company and I'm in Australia and I also use a Sony electret which captures any hand noise. My mistaken buy I think.I'm sticking with Visivox in future. I'm amazed at the sound quality. I recorded a talk which a mate of mine broadcast over radio and he was praising the sound.(I was chuffed). These have a lapel clip option and no stand -- but you could clip them to anything really--like the back of a chair . There's a review here of it as a soundscape vehicle: http://www.godsownclay.com/Microphones/visivoxpage1.html VISIVOX SCM-PRO STEREO Recording Microphone. Designed for fast and reliable recording anywhere, with NO hassles! Just plug into the side of your Minidisc, DAT or Cassette recorder and you are recording in full HI-FI Stereo. The Visivox SCM-PRO features five foot individually placed mic elements for Left and Right channels. Flexible microphone cords are summed at a convenient junction where one cord is terminated in a 3.5mm mini-plug for input to your recorder. Interchangeable microphone elements may be upgraded or changed out at any time. You saw it here first! Requires no batteries and takes advantage of the power in your minidisc, DAT or Cassette recorder, a system known as "Plug in Power" a standard feature on most all minidisc, DAT, and Cassette recorders.

I'm a podcaster who has been recoding on the iRiver ifp 785 which is agreat little machine. No longer made it nonetheless offers MD style plug in power with a mic/line in jack. I planned to record a two day conference later this but my problem was that the iRiver offered no more than 8 hours of recording time. And the computer interface on the ifp is such that you have to install the software on every computer you use to upload the audio. So I thought:(i) I do need a backup recorder.(ii)Should I hunt down another ifp? (iii) Or should I seek out another recording mode? (iv) What are my options? Considering the price range I was limited to (approx $AUD200)-- relative to with the ifp or its replacement -- I purchased a new SONY MZNH700 on eBay. The logic makes sense --as I get a backup or replacement recorder with a recording time only limited by battery charge. But I find the HiMD a bit different and also a similar to the Mp3 player/recorder I own. There is a bit of a learning curve to grapple with and the manual isn't the best DIY I've dealt with. It's taken me months to get used to the iRiver mp3 and I expect the same will be required for this HI MD format. I've been recording all my shows on the iRiver primarily because I hate the sound floor on my computer and the sterility of the interface at that workstation. In fact podcasting's major handicap I think is this default culture which presumes that you are trying to replicate the radio broadcast studio in your own home. And for this reason the discussion and the habit in podcasting has tended to be warped by a sedentary approach. For this reason the mini disc seems to have been neglected. I assume that's the reason. I know there are few like me who record only on their iRivers in preference to the pc or mac. This also means that podcasters have locked themselves out of the rich culture and exchanges that have been fostered around MD technology and use. It's rather bizarre really...as though the contemporary podcaster thinks they have re-invented the wheel. The irony is that accepted paths, rig wise, for podcasters are very narrow indeed such that it tends to fall to debate about hardware addons -- mixers, mics, and such --and of course folk aren't thinking plug in power when they're talking about inserting a microphone into their pc or mac. I mean its a different world even though its supposedly chasing the same thing: sound recorded well which later may be mixed or edited. And of course all that Mp3 audio you gather has to be stored on your computer unless you cut a CD to move it elsewhere. It's true that if you are seeking to record voice only the iRivers will do but then a lot of other issues kick in. Having said that it's strange that there hasn't been much discussion here in these forums about podcasting. Why is that? Is it because that like my radio colleagues MinDiscers are disparaging of the sound quality attainable in the highly compressed Mp3 format? I can see that -- but the main gift of podcasting -- or audio sharing like that -- is the voice and really you have a lot of leeway with what you can do with speech. Because what podcasting gives the producer of the audio is a great capacity to SHARE their output. The irony is that there are all these podcasters out there trying to up their input quality at the workstations by fiddling with all their widgets and add ons, when theres' this great technology available -- the MD -- which resolves a lot of the issues they get caught up in...if they'd only get off their backsides and go record elsewhere. It seems to me, and I hope someone will correct me if I am making a mistake, that pairing the mini disc with a device like the iRiver ifp and tooling up with microphones that work in both (I use the Visivox SCM-PRO and the Sony ECM DS30P (a msitaken buy I think)-- is a way to create flexible rig options on a budget--especially as you'll always need a backup recorder for those times something goes wrong. WHAT I WANT though, is a course in how to use the MD --is there such information on the web I can access? If someone could design a course such as on sites like this: http://nuvvo.com/ Mini Discs would be recognised more as a recording option. dave riley _________________________________________ Ratbag Radio Network: http://ratbagradionetwork.blogspot.com/ Create audio for RRN: http://www.odeo.com/create/studio Email/GoogleTalk RRN: ratbagradio@gmail.com Skype RRN: "ratbagradio"

Maybe I missed what you were after -- but why don't you go Split Track -- ie make two separate mono tracks from the one stereo track.... Delete the contents inside the new formed second track (SELECT ALL.DELETE) then copy the original and now top track into the emptied second track. ( Begin at START then PASTE) Then go back to the original and click MAKE STEREO TRACK.It should, synch as the tracks are bought back together. If not --split again and drag the second new track into place by the move tool.

(1) YES. The iRiver ifp does have a bulge which prevents the mic sitting flush against the Mp3 player's chassis so I had to carve back a twin split audio jack to go into the iRiver and I plugged the mic into that. With out this handiwork the mic pulls out of the line in socket and you loose your recording.You can use an extension cord of course but I wanted to use the whole iRiver as a microphone -- and it looks snazzy with the mic poking out of the player (even with the linking bit in between -- I'll atatck my logo to that like the mainstream media does) (2) The iRivers may have a built mic but nothing near the quality that you can get with a plug in one with the options of various recoding attributes. I have another (mono) muti directional mic which I use to record talks and lectures; and do sound tour., This one is for out and about interviews. But Hey! I've decided to go down the mini disc road anyway (for most situations)and I'll use the iRivers as backup and thsi mic also with my future MD --perhaps the Sony MZ-NHF800 dave riley

It's strange that there are all these communities "out there' in the world approaching audio recording from very different perspectives. I began from a level of total audio ignorance when I became interested in podcasting. So I have had to learn as best I can by negotiating a very sharp learning curve. But because podcasting has been so much a computer based activity -- both to create,edit, upload and download -- its potential and creativity can become limited by its own hardware and software which function also as a blinker. The focus is on creating a Mp3 file and sharing it --so there's supposed to be a straight line in the DIY. But I decided early on that I didn't want to create audio sitting at my computer -- I think thats' sterile and uninspiring. I wanted to at least walk and talk --and explore different ambient contexts. So I explored various ways I could record on Mp3 'players' -- initially with an iRiver T30(using a battery powered mic) and now with a iRiver ifp 795. The advantage with the ifp is that it has plug in and play power -- so I got myself a Sony microphone, the ECM-DS30P --and had to be a bit creative in the way I employed a jack to attach it to the ifp which won't allow the mic to sit flush on the line in port. But then it struck me that I've had my head in the wrong place: Mp3 is a listener's medium and not a creator's. That may seem obvious -- but I fear that a lot of newbie podcasters, like me, fall into this trap so they'll be stuck at their computers talking into the screen making up the time of day. When I started out with web audio in mind I didn't know what a minidisc was, but when I began a broadcaster's course at my local community radio station -- I was introduced to the wonders of MD for the first time. The station has an audio setup which isn't computerised just yet --so it relies on non HD MD technology. This hands-on stuff was very impressive as it was very flexible even though audio sourcres came from CDs,LPs, cassettes and MDs.Being a panel operator is quite an exercise as you switch from format to format and que your playlist. The station has to edit on the MD players themselves -- but after employing Audacity & WAV formats on the PC I miss the ready ease to cut, paste and fiddle which the computer editing programs offer so easily. I understand that with High MD I can edit my audio on the computer because HMD allows me to upload the stuff I record via my computer's USB port. That's right, isn't it? But once my audio file is in the computer how can I edit it? Can I use Audacity --which handles Ogg Vobis, Wav and Mp3 (at least) -- to edit the audio and convert it to Mp3? OR...Do I have to use this Sony program -- to facilitate the business? If I upload to the pc and am forced to use an Mp3 format to do that (with compression less than 128kbps)I'm not ahead of what I can get from my iRivers. While some trade off in compression is to be expected -- all I'm after is a looser format (such as Wav)* with which to do my editing. Can I get that from HMD? At the moment I have my eye on a Sony MZ-NHF800 Mini Disc Player --- thats' not going to disappoint me in thsi regard is it? With a MD as my core recording device the iRivers can be my backup --and I'd then be real happy with that setup. dave riley *There are traps in editing Mp3 files in Audacity if you compress each time you save the file -- you can loose a lot of quality if you move out of "Project" mode.

java script:emoticon('', 'smid_12') :ok:Point taken. But for the moment I am planning to use it mainly on my Mp3 recorder. Whiel I look around for a suiatbelk mini disc. I've coem into the reod9inf activity through podcasting and since I've stated with the lcoal ethnic community broadcaster have been exposed to the wondersa of mini disc recording. So I am fousing on cross usage hardware -- like this mic perhaps? The station by the way is still on non HD mini disc players which is a bummer... and it will soon add computeristaion. So I'm ken to relate to these changes too. So I'm trying top learn as fast as I can...while i also get used to booth operations.But my primary interest as a niche is field recording and editing. This is my second mic (when I get it) My fisrts is a caoch capataisn mic -- which is rela walk and talk as it is mono and a headset mic. dave riley

I'm planning to buy a Sony Microphone ECM-DS30P as I can get it at a good price. But I cannot find much information about it on the web. You'll find info about it HERE I want to use it for out and about talk/interviewing. My guess is that it is a new addition to the SONY range (?) that is designed for talk rather than captuirng mabient sound -- and that it may not as yet be availabe in some countries (?) So is anyone familiar with it? dave riley FEATURES: Frequency (Hz) 100 - 10,000 Output level (dB) -40.0 Uni-directional Electret condenser microphone Plug-in power for compatible Sony recorders, requires no battery Direct plug in type for easy use Structure to prevent vibration