Rec. From Ms-md702 To Cdr Via Emu0404

[Andrew]

Hi everyone,

I'm new to the forums here and not sure exactly where to post this question, but hopefully this is the right spot.

I have a rather old MD, the Sharp MD-MS702. I need to transfer several minidiscs recorded on this unit to PC and from there onto CDR via an EMU0404 soundcard.

From what I've read, there is no digital out on this MD. Is that correct? If so, is there any way around this? I read something about a getting a "component deck with a digital out" but I don't know what this means.

If not, what would you suggest would be the best way to make the trasfer via analog in terms of bit rate and frequency settings?

Basically, I'm going from MD to PC to CDR and I want the best possible quality possible on the CDR using the equipment I have, the MD-MS702 and the EMU0404 soundcard.

Apologies if these are stupid questions.

Any help much appreciated.

[dex Otaku]

Component deck with digital out - see the equipment browser on http://www.minidisc.org .. We're talking about home and professional MD units that have optical SP/DIF outputs on them.

As far as going the analogue route is concerned, I'd record in the highest resolution your sound card will support with a sampling rate that is a multiple of 44,100. For example, I use 88.2kHz and 24 bits for recording from most analogue sources that are destined for CD.

Record in high res, do your editing, then as the final step resample/requantise and then dither/noise shape if necessary [any bit-depth conversion basically must be followed by noise shaping].

[Andrew]

Thanks for your response.

I haven't actually received my EMU0404 yet, but the specs say "Sample Rates: 44.1, 48, 96, 192kHz from internal crystal or externally supplied clock". So I guess that means 88.2 is out.

What soundcard do you have that allows recording at 88.2?

And I'm assuming it would be undersireable to use one of the sample rates that's NOT a multiple of 44.1. Correct? And why? Is this because my MD recordings are at 44.1 or because CDRs are at 44.1 or both?

Also, I can't seem to find an explanation of dithering/noise shaping in the forums. Can you give me the jist of it and why it's necessary after a bit-depth conversion?

[dex Otaku]

It's odd that it doesn't support 88.2kHz, but that's not really a bad thing.

The reason I suggest multiples of the sampling rate you'd end up at [44.1kHz] is that resampling [converting from one rate to another] can cause distortion of several kinds, and resampling between rates that are not evenly divisible can cause -more- distortion.

Really, when it comes down to it, if you're only doing one resampling then it doesn't make a huge difference. Also, if you're not doing a lot of editing it may be more advisable to just stick with the rate you'll end up at - 44.1kHz.

I only suggested it in the first place because it's one of my "avoid adding distortion as much as possible even if it makes you seem obsessive-compulsive" guidelines.

Dither: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dither

Wikipedia has excellent entries on many topics related to digital audio, btw.