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? ? ? ? field recordings? ? ? ? what would you suggest for..

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horizon

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...recording general coversations and enviromental ambience?

i'm lookin to pick up mini disc recorder and just dont know what't the most efficent in these areas

i know most of what i want will be determined on the microphones

but what models of what brands are proper for general field recordings?

i'd basically like to incorporate conversations or background noise into some of my musical compositions and don't need any other functions that good loud and clear recording and functions specific to such tasks

please

any help and knowledge will be greatly appreciated

thanks

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it wasn't about you being true

or it being true

and you didn't come off harsh

i just thought it was silly to suggest i dig through other posts when you could just type a few little light letters reffering to a few models

i think that would be more easily accesible

and i have been browsin other posts/threads

i thought it would be nice if someone could type directly with me on what i was lookin for

i'm not at all knowledgable or experienced with md and a lot of what's discussed is over my head

i can't grasp it all in a week

so yeah, i'd appreciate if somone

anyone

could just suggest some things on the functions i mentioned

and no

i wouldn't mind repeating myself if it helped someone

and i wouldn't view it as incessant

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Sorry, I tried to reply a couple of days ago but I was having trouble accessing the forums and my post didn't get accepted. As a US user, it is sometimes confusing to read about models that aren't easily found here. For recording, there are only a few models that are being sold currently new. Even buying used on eBay, you need to be careful that that model you buy has recording capability.

A lot of the units on the US market today that can be found in the big box retailers are NetMD USB only models. These won't work for analog recordings. Even some of the Hi-MD models don't have line-in or mic jacks.

Of the Hi-MD models the Sony NH800 or NH900 would offer the most elegant recording solution. Not only can you record at higher compression for more recording time or with no compression at all (PCM) for highest quality, but there is also software that will allow you to upload your recordings digitally back to the PC over the USB port and convert them to wav files.

Net MD allows you to download music to your MD with the USB port but doesn't permit uploading recordings back to the PC that way. You have to record your music back to your PC using the headphone out on the MD and line in on the PC in real time. Most of the new NetMD players I've seen don't have line in or mic jacks. If you can still find the Sony sports model on clearance, the MZ-S1, for about $70, it could be a neat solution because it is so inexpensive, works with NetMD, and it has a line in (no mic jack). If you can record through a mixer or sound board this might work for you.

If you don't want to go Hi-MD and you need a mic jack, look for a used Sony or Sharp model on eBay. Research these thoroughly on the equipment browser section of this website to make sure the model has the features you want. Be wary of the older Sharp models that can have UTOC ERROR problems. Hope this helps!

Bill

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thank you so much txgitarman

you know

i have a mz-n505 that has a optical line in

but it won't run off of batteries for some reason

it works fine with with the dc in

maybe i could see about gettin it fixed

it should work as well as a mz-s1 in that situation

i'll have to look into it's problem maybe

what's the cheapest "mic in" model out there that you know of?

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New, the only mic-in model that I've actually seen in stores with a mic in is the Sony NH800 at around $250:

http://shop2.outpost.com/product/4193463

On eBay, you should be able to find a used MD recorder with a mic-in for much less. I actually bought a Sharp MT15 for only $36. Unfortunately, it stopped working soon after I bought it. I see a lot of used MD's going between $50-$100. I recently purchased a used Sony G750 model for $50, but I haven't received it yet. What I do is search the ebay listings and then go check out the models on the equipment browser section of this website to verify that they have a mic input. One point of confusion is that some people on this site talk about a cheaper Hi-MD model called the NH600. This model apparently has a mic jack but in the US, the model that you will find is the NH600D which doesn't have a microphone or line-in jack.

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The original question was about recording conversation for use in other compositions. If you want a faster-than-realtime upload to make .wav files out of the recordings, then you need to get one of the few available Hi-MD models: NHF800, NH900 or NH1. Those are your only options. I'm very happy (except for the two-fingered Record button) with the NHF-800.

If you're willing to do an analog, realtime recording into your computer from your headphone out jack, you'll do fine with a Sony MZ-N707, MZ-R700 (or G750, same thing plus radio remote), MZ-R900 or whatever else looks good on Ebay (check the equipment browser to make sure it has a mic jack: Sony 7xx, 9xx, 1 and 10, while Sharps are even more confusingly numbered. Get a pair of basic mics and you're good to go.

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