Hi-md Recorders And Interview Recordings

[stryguy]

Hi, I produce interview clips for broadcast on public radio in some local markets here. If I told you the device I currently tape my interviews with you'd probably laugh. I know I get a strange look from the local recordstore teen when I ask if they have any metal casset tapes instock. "Metal? he replies. I think all of ours are plastic."

LOL Ok perhaps some of you didn't even get that joke.. But that's why I'm here. I'm looking for your expert advice on moving into the all digital age of recording and what I want to record isn't a bootlegged concert. Not that I haven't done enough of that in my younger years.

So here's what I'm looking for.

Manual Recording levels. Preferably ones that you can change while in the middle of recording and ones that won't BEEP when changing them.

AGC (automatic gain control) Not entirely necessary but it's sometimes nice when doing that interview on a crowded street. It's hard to get someone to stand around for 5 minutes while you adjust levels.

All digital transfer from MD to PC. I understand the HI-MD's are the first to offer this.

Headphone monitoring. I'd like to be able to hear what's being recorded while it's being recorded rather than having to guess or play back partials.

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I got the geist from reading some posts here that all the HI-MD's record the same quality level. What wasn't really described is information about the features listed above. Any help is appreciated. Anyone with experience using these devices for interviewing I'd love to talk to. I've read reports that said these devices fail at recording sometimes and often won't write out the table of contents and screw up that priceless interview you just thought you recorded. Any info on that is appreciated as I can't exactly have that happen.

So help me move from the tape age to the digital age

Thanks in advance

[greenmachine]

MD recorders are pretty delicate magneto-optical devices, they should better be left motionless while recording, they are likely to produce silent spots or crackling sounds when not treated very carefully. Maybe a hard-disk- or flash-based recorder would serve your purpose better for rough street recording.

[ozpeter]

The radio station I'm associated with uses an NH900 for interviews and I'm using one as a backup for classical music recordings. Minidisc has been popular in radio for many years, but the NH900 and its related models do have dire ergonomics, while making excellent recordings.

Manual Recording levels. Preferably ones that you can change while in the middle of recording and ones that won't BEEP when changing them.

Yup, that's possible, but the NH900-type models revert to AGC when you press 'stop' - you have to rummage through menus to get the manual level back again. Once on manual level you can safely pause, and at any time you can adjust the level with the large wheel. Dynamic range is sufficient that if you choose a cautious level, you should be ok to normalise it in the computer afterwards. You'll quickly get to know what is a good working figure using a known mic.

AGC (automatic gain control) Not entirely necessary but it's sometimes nice when doing that interview on a crowded street. It's hard to get someone to stand around for 5 minutes while you adjust levels.

Two selectable ones on the NH900 with varying recovery characteristics.

All digital transfer from MD to PC. I understand the HI-MD's are the first to offer this.

Yup, via USB and Sony's SonicStage software. Current versions seem pretty reliable but note that even your own recordings are subject to Sony's Digital Rights Management (DRM) procedures. Mandatory reading is this link on this site.

Headphone monitoring. I'd like to be able to hear what's being recorded while it's being recorded rather than having to guess or play back partials.

Well, you can monitor on cans but it's not very loud - in many situations you'll find it hard to hear what's on the monitoring above the level of the environment.

You'll find other threads here where the alternative to minidisc have been discussed - the real alternatives you'll find don't come cheap.

[himd_user]

Manual Recording levels.  Preferably ones that you can change while in the middle of recording and ones that won't BEEP when changing them. 

AGC (automatic gain control)  Not entirely necessary but it's sometimes nice when doing that interview on a crowded street.  It's hard to get someone to stand around for 5 minutes while you adjust levels.

All digital transfer from MD to PC.  I understand the HI-MD's are the first to offer this.

Headphone monitoring.  I'd like to be able to hear what's being recorded while it's being recorded rather than having to guess or play back partials.

-----------------------------

I got the geist from reading some posts here that all the HI-MD's record the same quality level.  What wasn't really described is information about the features listed above.  Any help is appreciated.  Anyone with experience using these devices for interviewing I'd love to talk to.  I've read reports that said these devices fail at recording sometimes and often won't write out the table of contents and screw up that priceless interview you just thought you recorded.  Any info on that is appreciated as I can't exactly have that happen. 

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I use my sony Hi md MZ-NH1 for "man on the street" recording all the time.

Works great, upload to PC via USB afterwards, then convert to WAV or use

himdrenderer to convert to mp3, then optionally load that file into cooleditPro to

audio edit / filter / etc, and re-save the editted file.

I can record with it in my shirt pocket while walking around.

I can record with it in my front jeans pocket while walking around.

I can record with it while holding it in my hands walking around (normal arm

motion is okay).

Works great. Never had audio problems from "shock". In fact the disc

only writes (spins up) every so often, there must be a large RAM buffer at work

inside.

Audio problems are only within the PC s/w sonicstage! This s/w crashes/hangs for some people, and audio can fail to transfer from deck->PC. Usually salvageable because

you can usually still "play" the audio, just not transfer it, so worst case, you have

to record it via deck playback -> line in to PC -> real time record into PC audio s/w.

You can monitor via headphone while recording. Not a problem. Usually

AGC works Great. In fact I have recorded in very noisy places and it tracks

very well. (Like, very noisy pubs or concerts!) Microphone placement

ensures the interviewee is picked up well.

The pesky thing is that the AGC has behavior to reset itself to "On", so it takes

practice to know when to modify this setting, that's all.

Manual recording level can be set w/o any beeping in recorded audio. THough,

usually you set it at the start, and just go. Set it lower than any expected loud

spikes in volume, and amplify in PC audio s/w later. Noise floor is very low, so

amplifying later is okay.

Few weeks ago I hooked the deck up to my DVD player's headphone output

and recorded audio from a movie, using AGC. Also okay, came out perfect.

So you can likely TRANSFER all your analog tapes to digital if you want, just hook

your old deck "headphone out" to new himd "mic in" with AGC "on" and record

away. Easy way to transfer analog -> digital when out in the field.