Which Minidisc Player?

[Toe]

I'm looking for a mini disc player to record musical ideas. Quality is not a big issue, I used a cassette walkman till now but I keep forgetting which piece of music I recorded on which tape -> I want something digital, so I can transfer to computer. I looked at a few sony products but they all seem to be lacking two things:

- An internal microphone, I want it to be as portable as possible.

- A way to adjust the input recording level. I record both loud rock band sessions and rather quiet acoustic guitar (the second reason I want to get rid of my tape recorder, live band recordings are totally overmodulated).

Any ideas?

[Christopher]

Welcome to the forums - what's your maximum budget?

[Toe]

Hello I was thinking of buying used. Maximum would be around 200 Dollars.

[D-EJ915]

Hmm...uploading to computer...that means it has to be a Hi-MD unit, I don't know if the RH710 has a mic input...but that may be the ticket. You can get the RH910 for under 200 though and that'd perform as you want.

[Toe]

Hmm...uploading to computer...that means it has to be a Hi-MD unit, I don't know if the RH710 has a mic input...but that may be the ticket.  You can get the RH910 for under 200 though and that'd perform as you want.

←

Hello, thx for the answers, they really helped alot to narrow down the choices. My problem now is that both RH910 and RH710 don't seem to be on sale here in Germany (where I live). I have more or less the choice between:

- new RH10 which will be released soon (but expensive)

- or buying a used older HI-MD unit which would be NH700, NH900 or NH1. How does recording quality compare to RH10 or RH910?

I have no idea if the cheaper RH910 will be released soon here in Germany after they made all the money they can with the RH10.

[Christopher]

There really isn't that much of a difference between the RH10/RH910 in recording ability. I would go after the RH10 because the backlit display would be much more functional in live recording situations - if that's relevant to you. Otherwise, the only major differences between first and second generation (aside from aesthetics and battery life) is mp3 compatibility with second generation. If you can get a first generation NH900 or NH1 for a good price, go for it.

[Toe]

I had a look at a few prices at online stores and ebay and it's more or less RH10 vs NH700. Both NH1 and NH900 cost about as much as the new RH10 (or even more), so not really worthwhile. Buying used is not really an option either as the RH10 is too new and the NH700 is only slightly cheaper on ebay compared to a new NH700.

[A440]

NH700 is ideal for you. The RH10 has a far better display--lighted for recording in the dark--but if you can live without that and the NH700 saves you a lot, you'll be happy with it. It records and uploads, and it runs a long time on one AA battery. You'll need an outboard microphone as you would for any MD recorder--but an outboard mic is a good thing because a built in mic would pick up all the whirring noises of the MD unit.

Look at the Live Recording FAQs. The preamps of all MD players are hypersensitive to bass, but they can be tamed with an attenuator: a headphone volume control from your local electronics store. With an attenuator if necessary, you can record anything from boombastic rock to birds in the trees.

[Toe]

Thank you, that really helped alot (ordered an NH700, display is not really important, as I will be recording legally, I'm a member of the band I record ). Now I only have to try and find an attenuator. Something like this? http://www.fotokoch.de/ue/23900.shtml

[A440]

I can't read German, but that looks like the right sort of thing. The attenuator I use is under my name--jack, volume control, plug--and yours looks similar. You'll have to try it--they're not made for this use, and it's possible it's got the wrong resistance. But an English user found that the headphone volume control from Maplins did the same job as my (American) one from Radio Shack, so if that's a headphone volume control, it should probably work.