Best Recorder

[zippysquirrel]

Okay, I am looking for the best minidisc player, in the $100-$200 range, for bootlegging concerts. NetMD is nice, but not necessary. MDLP is a must.

I have an N707, and I recorded a show no louder than anything I got with my old player.

I had an R2 and R3, which turned out to be much older than I had realized. The nice thing was that they had a variance inside the player, so it would turn the mic sensitivity down for the concert all on its own. This may have been annoying with an acoustic guitar, but the concerts at the Garden came out excellent.

Does anyone know of any of the newer players that still have this feature all to themselves, or did Sony tank that idea?

I am aware of the Radio Shack dohickey. I don't want that.

So, what is the best player to just plug in a mic and record a concert?

[dex Otaku]

You're talking about AGC, auto gain control, and all of the recorders have it, though it has changed from generation to generation.

The NH700 [1st-gen HiMD]'s AGC is very gentle - forgiving, even. I'd say it's among the best "general purpose" compressors I've ever used in a recorder.

The RH10's [2nd-gen HiMD] appears to be completely different. I haven't really tested this yet, but on some recordings I made last weekend [first ones I'd made with the RH10 with its AGC on] it appears to be -extremely- reactive, with a much lower threshold than the NH700's and a much faster attack time. It sounds horrid, actually, on these recordings. As I said, I haven't really tested it yet.

As far as a recorder to buy, here's [my] stock advice:

* you can't upload digitally from any MD or MDLP source [i.e. any pre-HiMD recordings] using a portable [you can dump MD/MDLP sources in realtime digitally from home and pro decks that have optical SPDIF outputs]

* models with the 'D' designator in the model do not have line or microphone inputs, so stay clear of them

* Gen.1 HiMDs seem to be the most versatile as the have full backwards-compatibility with MD and MDLP discs, and the only function they lack from Gen.2 HiMDs is native MP3 playback; The NH900 has a line-out the better to help dump any older recordings you have by the analogue route, and it also takes both gumstick and AA batteries; the NH700 'budget recorder' has all the basic features and does an excellent job, though it lacks a line out [headphone out works, but runs at a lower level]

* if you're looking on eBay or elsewhere, use the minidisc.org equipment browser to compare models