serpenscaput Posted January 27, 2005 Report Share Posted January 27, 2005 this is my plan: i want to do some field recording. i don't care about listening to music or the radio on the md, .. i just want to record and then upload it to the computer (will need software as well) to play with it. is an md even the best choice for my needs?also, i am poor. poor, poor, poor. so this has to be as cheap as possible. i can handle a real-time upload if it sames me money.also, i need to get a mic set-up appropriate to whatever md i get. does anyone have any recs either there or on software? i've been going through the forums but am still a little confused.thanks! i appreciate any help you can give me!p.s.: i'm in the usa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
henning Posted January 27, 2005 Report Share Posted January 27, 2005 haha. I just wrote a similar question....but I guess that the MD is the best choice if you want the recordings to sound ok (and cant afford a DAT...). some mp3playerthings could work, however then you must load it in to the computer after 50minutes of recording or something like that... with a MD, you can just change the disc. thats what I need so thats why I use MD for fieldrecordings.you will loose some soundquality when you record it to your computer though. I havent reallly noticed that loss myself, but so they say... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
serpenscaput Posted January 27, 2005 Author Report Share Posted January 27, 2005 ok, i'm sold on getting an md. now i just need to figure out what kind to get..........<long silence, crickets chirping in background. somewhere, a dog barks>any suggestions? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christopher Posted January 28, 2005 Report Share Posted January 28, 2005 Welcome to the forums. It's hard for us to really give you a recommendation if we don't know your maximum budget, eh? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
serpenscaput Posted January 28, 2005 Author Report Share Posted January 28, 2005 i have about $200 budgeted for md and set-up gear. feasible?Welcome to the forums. It's hard for us to really give you a recommendation if we don't know your maximum budget, eh?← Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christopher Posted January 28, 2005 Report Share Posted January 28, 2005 Hrm. It is feasible, but you can't go Hi-MD. If you wait for the second generation of Hi-MD, perhaps the first generation will go down slightly, but probably nothing that would be good for your price range.So it looks like you're going to have to delve into the regular MD format. Will it be $200 for unit and microphone? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gingervoodoo Posted January 29, 2005 Report Share Posted January 29, 2005 i have about $200 budgeted for md and set-up gear. feasible?←Hey, its not feasible to buy hi-md new for $200, but i just sole my black hi-md with all accessories for about $190. I was looking at the US ebay and if you're prepared to go for a unit that someone's had for a while i reckon you could manage it. Just find your person on ebay and sign up to www.autionsniper.com, they'll place your maximum bid for a few cents seconds before it ends. i wouldn't win anything without it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LowMD Posted January 29, 2005 Report Share Posted January 29, 2005 If you're willing to put up with realtime transfer, then you can use virtually any older MD model with a mic jack (check the Equipment Browser on this site). I've used MZ-N707 and MZ-R700, both fine for live recording. Other people love Sharps for live recording. You'd have to find older models on eBay, but plenty of folks got MDs and then didn't use them much. Read the listings carefully, look at the pictures, check the feedback and see what you can do. But here's the "but" on realtime uploading: your computer has to have a decent soundcard, which rules out most laptops. Preferably you want a line-in connection. If you don't have one, but do have a USB, you can add a line-in connection via USB with a Griffin iMic for abougt $35. You're doing an analog transfer, not a digital one, but the quality is pretty darn hi-fi. Still, if you can scrape up the extra $100, you could get a NH-700 or NHF-800 (depending on where you live), a pair of basic binaurals from Sound Professionals or elsewhere, and have an extremely convenient recording setup for about $300, complete with uploading.Audacity recording/editing software is free for the downloading, just Google it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aeriyn Posted January 29, 2005 Report Share Posted January 29, 2005 MZ-R900/R700... 50-80 dollars these days since Hi-MD is the thing to have now if you're a minidisc user.Go with the R700 if you're only using this for recording; the gumstick batteries might be a disadvantage to you if you aren't concerned about smallest size.Next step, get a chaintech AV710 sound card which is 25-30 dollars. This will allow you to have a line input and you can fake a line output on your MD by turning off all DSP effects and cranking the volume to 2 notches below max (max volume will likely distort).Sound Professionals has a basic binaural mic setup for 100. Also, if you can find one used, the Sony mid/side stereo mic that I can't recall the model number of (it's pretty popular amongst the MD tapers) also works well.All of this should be around 200 dollars US. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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