thepootleflump Posted December 5, 2004 Report Share Posted December 5, 2004 Anyone know what the current old gen minidisc decks are like. I have an old MDS-JE500 and was thinking of replacing it with one of the latest JE480/780/980 decks. Basically my sitting room hi-fi is silver so want it to fit in nicely. I'm tempted to get the JE480 because it is cheap £90 (approx. $180 US) and will do until or if Sony lauch a Hi-MD deck. It'll be used mostly as a player for my minidisc accumulated over the last few years but will occassionally be used to record material via the optical input. Opinions welcomed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KJ_Palmer Posted December 5, 2004 Report Share Posted December 5, 2004 I've had the JB980 for about a year and a bit, and I couldn't be happier with it (well, unless it was a Hi-MD deck...). If you can afford it, it's probably worth while over the JE480, especially if you want the better build and extra features - keyboard input, higher quality components (and sound) and so on. If it's more of a stop gap for you until Hi-MD decks come out (no guarantee they will) you could do worse than the JE480, especially at that price... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thepootleflump Posted December 5, 2004 Author Report Share Posted December 5, 2004 I might sit tight for a few months to see if Sony actually come out with the Hi-MD decks. I can record new material to old SP via my MZ-NH600D which will give some improvement over the old MDS-JE500 deck and just use that as a player for the lounge. I guess I can live with the fact it is not silver for a couple of months and hopefully things will be clearer on the Hi-MD deck front. I can't see why Sony wouldn't release Hi-MD decks, can't be much more effort over knocking out the existing range and might help to sell the Hi-MD brand. We shall see. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aeriyn Posted December 6, 2004 Report Share Posted December 6, 2004 I wouldn't pay any more than 140USD for any of the JE series decks; IMO they aren't really worth it anymore. If you need an MD deck, its going to be for the editing features, and the JE series are lacking in those features. The JB series is good, and of course the ES are also good. But I had a JE330 and it was really almost useless for anything involving live show recordings or such (although it can have a DIY optical out put into it for like 30 bucks). If you absolutely have to get a JE series deck, check out the JE630s, they have most of the JB functions and generally go for about 130ish on eBay. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluecrab Posted December 13, 2004 Report Share Posted December 13, 2004 Aeriyn states: If you absolutely have to get a JE series deck, check out the JE630s, they have most of the JB functions and generally go for about 130ish on eBay. ===================== Actually, from what I've been seeing, they're going for more like 200. I'd like to get one for titling purposes - they do have the PS/2 input, but I'm balking at the 200. I have 4 decks and none have the PS/2 input, like to get it...but not for 200! If you see one for 130, let me know, might be interested at that price. Thanks, Bruce Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thepootleflump Posted December 13, 2004 Author Report Share Posted December 13, 2004 If you need an MD deck, its going to be for the editing featuresWell actually no, it's so I can play minidiscs on my hi-fi. I'd like to get one for titling purposes Why not use your computer. I've used my Hi-MD recorder to title tracks since getting that, much easier. We'll I'm still thinking about getting an MDS-JE480. Since most of my music is now recorded through my Hi-MD recorder I'd only use it as a player. I wonder what the sound quality is like compared to the MDS-JB980 which is twice the price. Oh, thought I'd say my MZ-NH600 makes much better optical recordings than the MDS-JE500 which sounds shril in comparison. I guess thats ATRAC 4 verses a much newer DSP. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christopher Posted December 13, 2004 Report Share Posted December 13, 2004 Are you comparing SP recordings made from the JE500 to SP recordings made on the NH600, or are you comparing SP from the JE500 and Hi-SP from the NH600? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thepootleflump Posted December 14, 2004 Author Report Share Posted December 14, 2004 SP to SP not Hi-SP, both played back in the MDS-JE500. The recording made on the portable have a much richer feel about them and are audiably closer to the original. It is no real surprise I guess, the JE500 uses a fairly early generation ATRAC. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christopher Posted December 14, 2004 Report Share Posted December 14, 2004 True. What're your thoughts on SP and Hi-SP? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thepootleflump Posted December 15, 2004 Author Report Share Posted December 15, 2004 Very difficult to say really. They definately sound slightly different but I would say they are very close. Without doing a three way test with the original it would be very difficult to tell which was most accurate. Based on listening I would say that to me normal SP has the edge over Hi-SP. The music seems to have more atmosphere and a slightly smoother or warmer feel to it which tends to be my preference in general - I don't particularly go for clinical. Actually I've been sitting here swapping between the two on the same recording and would say that normal SP sounds quite a bit better! Could it be that Hi-SP is more accurate but I just prefer the sound of SP? What is your opinion? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christopher Posted December 15, 2004 Report Share Posted December 15, 2004 I'm not sure yet as I still haven't recieved my NH900, but it seems like more people favor SP. There is a ton of thoughts about this here: http://forums.minidisc.org/viewtopic.php?t=5950 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aleko Posted January 6, 2005 Report Share Posted January 6, 2005 (edited) Hi every one.Do you apreciate any diference in sound qualitybetween a MD deck and a HI MD? Edited January 6, 2005 by Aleko Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thepootleflump Posted January 7, 2005 Author Report Share Posted January 7, 2005 Hi every one.Do you apreciate any diference in sound qualitybetween a MD deck and a HI MD?←Yes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aleko Posted January 8, 2005 Report Share Posted January 8, 2005 Ok, so then I´ll have to get one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Embio Posted January 9, 2005 Report Share Posted January 9, 2005 Based on listening I would say that to me normal SP has the edge over Hi-SP. The music seems to have more atmosphere and a slightly smoother or warmer feel to it which tends to be my preference in general - I don't particularly go for clinical.←sounds very similiar to the vinyl vs. CD argument to me, no? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pete_w Posted January 9, 2005 Report Share Posted January 9, 2005 For anyone in the UK - Argos have the MDS-JE480S deck going for £64.99 atm http://www.argos.co.uk/webapp/wcs/stores/s...roductId=106347 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maia Posted February 8, 2005 Report Share Posted February 8, 2005 I have one the new JE series, the 480... I really miss the keyboard input and the optical output (though it can *easily* be added). It a nice deck for the price, but you get what you pay for obviously. I wouldn't recommend the 780 though, since the 980 is just a few more bucks... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dex Otaku Posted February 9, 2005 Report Share Posted February 9, 2005 sounds very similiar to the vinyl vs. CD argument to me, no?←No.SP has been around for 12+ years and the encoder has been through many revisions.HiSP may have certain technical advantages over SP [mostly due to higher-resolution transforms] but since we are now using only the first generation of the encoder, there is probably a lot of tuning that can still be done. I'm fairly certain that HiSP will eventually catch up to, if not exceed, SP in terms of quality, but at the moment SP still has a slight advantage, mainly due to its maturity. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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