javertim Posted February 11, 2005 Report Share Posted February 11, 2005 The pinned topic at the top about uploading without Hi-MD suggests getting a MD deck with digital out and a soundcard with digital in. Well, I've done a few searches of these boards as well as online (Minidisco, CompUsa, eBay, etc.) and haven't been able to find anything. Can anyone point me in the direction of some hardware?Thanks. :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christopher Posted February 11, 2005 Report Share Posted February 11, 2005 What's your maximum budget? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tylendel Posted February 11, 2005 Report Share Posted February 11, 2005 i have basically the same question... i have a decent stealth recording rig (SP-CMC-2 > SP-SPSB-6 > Sharp MD-DR7) and i've been doing more live recording than i originally thought i would be. up until now i've gotten by fine transferring things with an iMic, but i think i'd like to make a little investment and try to go for digital transfers. i've been keeping an eye on MD decks on ebay and most of the ones with digital outs appear to be going for about $90, give or take. (seems to be mostly sony JE510s on there though) my husband says our soundcard has digital ins and outs, i think it's a soundblaster audigy (it has to be at least a couple years old though) but i'm guessing that doesn't work so well for transfers as i've never seen one mentioned in a show's transfer info. i don't really want to spend more than about $200 on the deck/soundcard together, preferably less. but pretty much all i'd be using it for would be to transfer live recordings, so all i really want is the digital transfer capabilities. what would you suggest?or if that proves too expensive, i've also been staring at Neuros HD recorders... but there seems to be little to no information on how well those work in live recording / transferring situations. ah, decisions... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LowMD Posted February 11, 2005 Report Share Posted February 11, 2005 Tylendel, another alternative would be to get a Hi-MD recorder--NH-700, NHF-800, just a little over $200--and upload your stealth recordings digitally with SS 2.3, which is proving to be pretty reliable. That would work for new hi-MD recordings, though it won't upload your older MDs. If you have a transferred recording you like, please upload a song into the mailbox at livefrommd (at) yahoo.com, with the password 1minidisc1. I don't think there are any cardioid recordings there yet, and it would be great to hear one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
javertim Posted February 12, 2005 Author Report Share Posted February 12, 2005 (edited) Basically, I don't have a maximum budget ... I just want to find some options and see what the price-range is. I am a college student, so a combination under $500 would be nice, but I may be able to save up a little more than that. Still, I'd rather know the the full extent of what this could end up costing.Also, I have a friend who said he used to run his portable MD player into his stereo and then run the stereo into the computer. He told me that the connection of the player to the stereo created a "digital out" that he was able to use to record into the computer. The only thing is, he hasn't had this setup for a while and isn't quite sure how to get it to work again. Basially, I'm just looking for a way to get a more exact version of the recording in my computer, as it is on the MD itself. I feel that no matter where I set the levels on both my player and my computer's line in, I end up with a computer recording that has some minor clipping on the louder parts. Now, minor distortion on the computer version isn't too terrible, but it is very annoying when I've gone out of my way to make a crystal-clear recording that DOESN'T have clipping. And I'm not quite sure why this topic was moved, as I was essentially replying to a pinned topic in the "Live Recording" forum anyway.Tim Edited February 12, 2005 by javertim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dex Otaku Posted February 12, 2005 Report Share Posted February 12, 2005 Basially, I'm just looking for a way to get a more exact version of the recording in my computer, as it is on the MD itself. I feel that no matter where I set the levels on both my player and my computer's line in, I end up with a computer recording that has some minor clipping on the louder parts. Now, minor distortion on the computer version isn't too terrible, but it is very annoying when I've gone out of my way to make a crystal-clear recording that DOESN'T have clipping. Many decks have optical outputs, but not all. I would suggest browsing eBay for decks, and using the minidisc.org's equipment browser as a reference for what decks actually have what features. You would need a sound card or USB adapter with an optical input. I don't really have specific suggestions on this, but there are USB adapters for well under $100USD that have optical in- and outputs on them.Copying via optical means is done in realtime, just so you know.Asdie: for making analogue copies, it helps to calibrate your sound card's input. If you have a netMD, you can take a WAV file of a 1kHz tone at 0dBfs [the highest level, digitally speaking] or -1dBfs, put it on an MD, then use that [since you know it's as loud a signal as can possibly be recorded on the MD] to set your recording volume before copying anything. Done properly, this will prevent clipping from ever occurring in your dubs.And I'm not quite sure why this topic was moved, as I was essentially replying to a pinned topic in the "Live Recording" forum anyway.It was moved because the topic of this thread has absolutely nothing to do with live recording, and has everything to do with you looking for a new MD unit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tylendel Posted February 14, 2005 Report Share Posted February 14, 2005 If you have a transferred recording you like, please upload a song into the mailbox at livefrommd (at) yahoo.com, with the password 1minidisc1. I don't think there are any cardioid recordings there yet, and it would be great to hear one.←cool, i uploaded an mp3 there.i have heard good things about hi-MD, but i'm not sure if i'm ready to part with my Sharp yet... and i would like to be able to transfer some of my older MD recordings, i had a hard drive crash on me and i lost several transfers, so i figure if i'm going to re-do them it'd be great to be able to do it digitally.again, too many choices! hmm. thanks for the input though! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aeriyn Posted February 16, 2005 Report Share Posted February 16, 2005 Deck: MDS-JE630 or MDS-PC1 (there are others that work as well, but these are good ones)Sound Card: E-MU 0404That should run well under your max budget. Check eBay for the MD deck and post a WTB ad on head-fi.org FS forums to get used 0404 sound card. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
javertim Posted February 22, 2005 Author Report Share Posted February 22, 2005 (edited) All right. Thanks for all the help, guys. However, I have one more question. I just realized that my Sharp MD-DR77 has a "line out," and I always thought it just had phones-out capabilities. Therefore, could I just run a cable from my portable's line out / headphones jack into the "digital in" on the soundcard? I don't have a digital in on my current soundcard, so the suggestions therein should prove most helpful, but if I can just use my portable's line-out for real-time digital transfer, that would save me a lot of money as I wouldn't have to buy a standalone deck.Thanks again! :-) Edited February 22, 2005 by javertim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrsoul Posted February 22, 2005 Report Share Posted February 22, 2005 (edited) Try something like the Creative Audio Audigy cards with the input boards on the front. I got mine for under $100 after rebate from Best Buy last summer. It has optical in and out, RCA inputs (analog) as well as coaxial in and out, mic input and midi in and out. You will not be able to connect to a "digital in" on the card unless you have coaxial or optical from the MD and you have neither. It will be an analog input that is converted to a digital stream by the card/input board. The benefit of the Audigy board is that everything is upfront and you get a better connection with the RCA inputs (you will need a cable that goes miniplug to RCA but those are easy to find). But this is just one suggestion. It's what I use as a backup to SS and with my no Hi-MD recordings.But, you will need a deck if you want digital to PC connection. Even with your line out it still is analog out. Edited February 22, 2005 by mrsoul Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
javertim Posted February 22, 2005 Author Report Share Posted February 22, 2005 Thank you everyone for your help. I just have one more question before I make my final decision. Below, I have linked a product that I found at CompUSA today:http://www.compusa.com/products/product_in...0994&pfp=SEARCHNow, it looks like all I need to do is find a MD deck that has Coaxial output capabilities. I can use the equipment browser to do this. I'm hoping this product is suitable for what I want to do and that it will, indeed, allow me to make a digital computer recording of my minidisc material. Can anyone give me some input as to this inquiry? I'm still getting used to the way audio works, exactly.Thanks again! :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrsoul Posted February 22, 2005 Report Share Posted February 22, 2005 (edited) Why not look at something like this:http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/Se...68176&CatId=107and get a MD deck with optical output. The optical output is more common than the coaxial outputs. Seems I only remember 1 or 2 decks with coaxial outputs and they also had optical in/out. With this Catalina card you have optical input and output at a $40 price tag. Get a 530 or 520 series deck off ebay with optical output and you are set. You could get all this for less than $100 if the MD deck ebay price is right... Edited February 22, 2005 by mrsoul Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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