doctorfrog Posted December 15, 2004 Report Share Posted December 15, 2004 I recently lost my iriver flash player, and am now in the market for a new music player. I see that NetMD units can be had for $100 up, which is what I want to spend. I currently have an MZR-500 which I love, but the volume doesn't get very high and I'm concerned I might lose it as well. Seeing as how Sony no longer offers Minidisc recorders that take digital or analog line in for a low price anymore, this device is rather valuable to me. Are there any advantages a new low-end NetMD unit has over my MZR-500, other than fast transfer and track titling? I'm a pretty patient guy and don't really mind recording in real-time, but it would be nice to transfer at high speeds. Probably the biggest obstacle to my getting NetMD is the Sonicstage software. I know it has to convert mp3's to ATRAC in order to get them on the minidisc. Does convert mp3's on the fly, then transfer them? Or does it insist on duplicating my entire mp3 collection and storing them on my hard drive? If it does, can I delete the ATRAC files, and still have Sonicstage 'remember' where my mp3's are so I don't have to reintroduce them to the program? As an aside: That iriver flash player really spoiled me. I could use it as a portable hard drive, it had a radio, a fantastic amplifier, 5 band EQ, and voice and radio recorder. All this for $100. I'd get a new one, but want to move beyond its paltry 128MB capacity without spending more. For those still clinging to Minidisc, there is definitely life after Minidisc! Also, though it has surely been said time and again, damn Sony for what they did to a great format. I feel worst for the engineers who designed such great machines only to see them strangled by corporate paranoia. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bananatree Posted December 16, 2004 Report Share Posted December 16, 2004 If you can handle the real-time recording, I say go with it. NetMD will convert all your MP3s to atrac as you want to transfer them. Although I believe you may have the opportunity to convert them all if you want. If you really are looking for some (relative) speed, try the Nero image burner trick. You can essentially burn your MP3s to a music CD on your HDD. Then use simple burner (it converts and deletes on the fly), to transfer the "CD" to your MD. Then dismount and delete the disk image. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doctorfrog Posted December 16, 2004 Author Report Share Posted December 16, 2004 Thanks for the reply! I'm considering the $100 orange Psyc unit. Seems to be the default cheapie. Since I already have a bunch of Minidiscs, it works out ok. Since Sonicstage converts on the fly, can I tell it where I want the ATRAC files to be stored? Can I tell it to keep the ATRAC's of certain mp3's, and get rid of others? Also, is it possible to just tell Sonicstage to fill a minidisc full of random mp3's, or ones I haven't listened to, or other 'intelligent' features? The unit I am interested in is here. Any thoughts on it? It is actually a bit thicker than my older MZR-500, and looks kind of cheap. That doesn't bother me too much, but I was wondering if maybe the amp on it was weak or if there were any other complaints. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fat Tires Posted December 16, 2004 Report Share Posted December 16, 2004 Maybe you should look for a decent higher model MD recorder from last year on a clearance rack. You may be able to find a MZ-S1 or a MZ-N510 for less than $100. Wal-Mart and Sears are rumored to still have some on their shelves. I've also seen very low prices at Target, but I doubt that you'd find a MZ-N510 there now. Both of these models have a Line In/Optical port on them, in addition to the USB port. I personally own a N510 and I love it, I bought a NE410 prior to the N510 and I'm very glad that I returned it. You may feel that the R500/NE420 is a good one, and it may be, but a MZ-S1 or MZ-N510 on clearance would be a much better choice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doctorfrog Posted December 16, 2004 Author Report Share Posted December 16, 2004 I'll definitely be looking at a few stores for clearance stuff, but the selection of Minidisc players is so low there isn't much to pick from. I could kick myself for not buying the 510 when I had a chance a few years ago, since I figured that Sony would always have a cheaper portable that takes line-in. Turns out they did quite a few things with Minidisc that didn't make sense to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fat Tires Posted December 16, 2004 Report Share Posted December 16, 2004 Have you considered eBay? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doctorfrog Posted December 16, 2004 Author Report Share Posted December 16, 2004 I'll take a look on ebay, but there are a number of things I don't like about it. I really doubt I'll find any worthwhile deals there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fat Tires Posted December 16, 2004 Report Share Posted December 16, 2004 Good luck regardless. Maybe you can check on the forums here and at http://www.minidisct.com/forum/forumdispla...p?s=&forumid=13 as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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