Recording Questions? Which Is Best?

[Jonesyl1]

Hello all. I just registered here. I'm looking to buy soon and i am trying to find what would be best for my needs. I've wanted a minidisc recorder for awhile now, and I'm finally going to buy one for myself as a graduation present. Undergrad in Music Business, and English minor. I would greatly appreciate any help offered.

I am a true audiophile, I actually want a MD recorder for its portability, to just record everyday, interesting sounds that i hear. Therefore i will need something that is best suited for on the fly recording, with variable mic sensitivity, and input adjustment while recording. I anticipate a lot of quick recording needs where i will hear a sound and try to record it as fast as possible. I would also like the convenience of easy information tagging, and computer compatability. I iwll undoubtedly use it for live music reording as well, but I am really more concerened with general sound recording. Think sound design. (oh yeah and battery life will be important too).

I am expecting to spend around $200 for the recorder, but I would probably spend more if i thought it was worth it. I intend to buy a good hand held mic, hopefully for less than $100 with 20-20,000hz frequency range.

I know that many versions of minidisc recorders are available, and that the newest isn't always the best. So i thought i would ask the experts here. Again, I would sincerely appreciate any help available. I have no brand loyalties or anything like that, I simply want the best quality for the purchase.

Thanks.

[A440]

In this case, the newest format is the best. Hi-MD, unlike previous MD's, records in uncompressed PCM and uploads to your computer. Previous MD's only record at best in SP (compressed) and don't upload. They're lovable--I've still got two of them--but they're pretty much obsolete.

Although everyone who uses MD gets annoyed by their quirks, overall they are extremely impressive gadgets.

For the moment, Hi-MD is a one-brand market: Sony. The recording quality and available settings are the same on all the Hi-MD's--what varies are features, display, battery and the built-in headphone amp. There's a Browser tab at the top of the main page that lets you compare features with all the available models.

I have a first-generation Hi-MD (from last year), the MZ-NHF800. I chose it because it takes a regular AA battery (or rechargeable AA battery) rather than the rechargeable gumstick in the fancier, thinner NH900. Most of the gumstick models (except the NH1, which only runs on its rechargeable battery) also accept an outboard AA, but it's bulkier that way. I'm very fond of my NHF800, and have recorded everything from a cappella church music to salsa to thrash metal to peeper frogs in the yard. You can still find the last of the MZ-NHF800 at www.minidisco.com.

Kurisu, this board's administrator, is just as fond of his MZ-NH900.

For about the same price, you can also get one of the second-generation units--the MZ-RH series. The choices with mic input are the MZ-RH910 and the MZ-RH10, which has a lighted display on the unit if you're recording in the dark. If you have friends with older MDs, the RH series (unlike the NH) doesn't record in the old MD formats (SP, LP2, LP4), although it does play them back. That probably won't matter to you, since those old formats don't upload to the computer anyway. (Tradeoff: the RH series imports mp3s without re-compressing them.)

Basically, a Hi-MD will reproduce as good a signal as your mic puts in, plus a tiny bit of noise from the mic preamp. The preamp noise is completely negligible in moderate to loud recordings, slightly noticeable if you're recording very quiet things. (Mics have self-noise too.) To do the best job on the quietest sounds, you'd probably want to get a pocket preamp and record through line-in. The mic preamp also has problems with loud bass-y sounds--you can alleviate them with a $7 attenuator.

If you want to do a quick recording, there's perhaps a 1-2-second delay between pushing Record and starting--not bad.

All the recording controls are through menus. Mic Sensitivity can be set to default to High or Low (and changed in the menu). The annoying thing about Sony is that you cannot set Recording Volume to default to manual; it always reverts to Automatic Gain Control. Manual volume purists quickly learn the four-click menu sequence to switch. If you're trying to record ambient sounds on the fly, though, AGC might not be so bad. With manual volume, you can change volume as you record, though except for the RH10 it's not always easy to read the (unlighted LCD) display.

There's a little learning curve, and then suddenly you're making great recordings.

[Jonesyl1]

Thanks for the reply. That was quite helpful. I'll probably go with the RH10, I'm kinda struck by it. Any mic recommendations?

[A440]

Stealth is my priority for mics, so I'm using little binaurals, Sound Professionals BMC-2 .

If you want a handheld mic, and you're not worried about stealth, you could look at www.soundprofessionals.com, www.microphonemadness.com and perhaps a pro musician's store like www.samash.com or www.guitarcenter.com .

One-point stereo mics--two channels in one enclosure--don't give you as enveloping a stereo recording as two mics that you can separate like your ears.

You can get in-ear binaurals from Sound Professionals or Microphone Madness that are stealthy and pretty close to what-you-hear-is-what-you-get.

Self-noise is one of the most expensive things to cure in a microphone. Super pro models like Schoeps are quiet, but way out of my budget.

Two other things:

1) Forget about the little mics attached to the plug that sit on the recorder. You'll get lots of whirring and clicking from the MD unit.

2) Sony mics are not the best price/quality ratio.

[greenmachine]

One-point stereo mics--two channels in one enclosure--don't give you as enveloping a stereo recording as two mics that you can separate like your ears.

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I appreciate very much that you point this out every time, people need to get aware of that simple fact, there are too many flat, almost monophonic sounding recordings with stereo mics around which could have been improved easily by separation.

[Reactive]

This is a good point indeed. I will post a few recordings of the mono plug in mic, and the stereo plug in mic for comparison, nothing like letting your ears be the judge.

Gerry

www.reactivesounds.com

I appreciate very much that you point this out every time, people need to get aware of that simple fact, there are too many flat, almost monophonic sounding recordings with stereo mics around which could have been improved easily by separation.

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[tenorman]

Stealth is my priority for mics, so I'm using little binaurals, Sound Professionals BMC-2 .

If you want a handheld mic, and you're not worried about stealth, you could look at www.soundprofessionals.com,  www.microphonemadness.com and perhaps a pro musician's store like www.samash.com or www.guitarcenter.com .

One-point stereo mics--two channels in one enclosure--don't give you as enveloping a stereo recording as two mics that you can separate like your ears.

You can get in-ear binaurals from Sound Professionals or Microphone Madness that are stealthy and pretty close to what-you-hear-is-what-you-get.

Self-noise is one of the most expensive things to cure in a microphone. Super pro models like Schoeps are quiet, but way out of my budget.

Two other things:

1) Forget about the little mics attached to the plug that sit on the recorder. You'll get lots of whirring and clicking from the MD unit.

2) Sony mics are not the best price/quality ratio.

←

I have purchased nearly a dozen stereo mics and by far the best of the bunch are the modified Core Sound Binaurals with battery pack and bass roll-off that I bought about 5 years ago. They are fairly sensitive, omnidirectional, with about 6 feet of separation. They are not ideal for stealth and are not as inexpensive as many of the other mics I have purchased, but they outperform all of the others.

If you want a wide dynamic range you really need a mic with its own battery, especially if you are using a Sony recorder. The Sharp old-style MDs supply about twice as much "plug in power" to their Mic Input as do the old-style Sony MD recorders.

I have to say that the unidirectional tie clip mics that Sony puts out (ECM917 was one of them) give a very good single point stereo sound with an internal battery and no need for bass-roll off in a very small package.