New to Minidisc, buying first player

[RobA]

Hey guys. It's time for me to replace my five year old 32MB mp3 player. I talked to a few of my friends and one of them recommended me to get a Minidisc Player. I've been looking them up and reading FAQ's for the past few days and I'm impressed. I've decided on this one from best buy http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?sk...d=1099394446773

Look good? What sounds cool is putting 320min on 1 disk. I have a winamp playlist of 89 songs, think they will all fit? I also listened to some samples of LP4 music, could tell no difference between it and original music.

[The Low Volta]

welcome to MDCF,

if you are only interested in playing music from your PC on a portable device, you could just as well get a decent MP3 (HDD or flash based) player as they are much easier to use mostly

but if you want to go MD (well, some ppl like me just dig the removable media ) you should check out the HiMD format... gives much more space on the discs (check out the equipment browser)

the NH600D can be found very cheaply (cheaper than the price of the one you linked) and is pretty good

but remember, all models with a D or an E in the name are download/players only... if you'd like to record stuff from a microphone (the thing where MD really is unbeatable) you should have a look at the other models

over-all, the RH10 or the NH900 are the best models to get in my honest opinion

hope this helps

mods, please move this to the find your minidisc subforums...

[Ishiyoshi]

*thread moved to its appropriate section of the forum.

[RobA]

I've looked into Hi-MD players, but they are all over 200 bucks. The reason I'm getting an MD is to save money. I don't mind having to carry a few disks with me and that actually sounds better than every running out of space on an mp3. I think the best buy one, NetMD, for 80 bucks in a good deal. Almost positive now that I will get it.

[Roamer]

You can find the nh600 well under 200$.

A quick ebay search gave me this one :

http://cgi.ebay.com/Sony-MZNH600D-Hi-MD-Mi...1QQcmdZViewItem

but you can eventually find them cheaper if you search further.

The nh600 doesn't have a remote or fancy features, but you get better capacity with HiMD.

But the choice is yours ...

[RobA]

That's alright, I'm gonna stick with the one I found on bestbuy.com. I don't want to spend over 100 dollars and don't want to buy online.

[theblueraja]

I've looked into Hi-MD players, but they are all over 200 bucks. The reason I'm getting an MD is to save money. I don't mind having to carry a few disks with me and that actually sounds better than every running out of space on an mp3. I think the best buy one, NetMD, for 80 bucks in a good deal. Almost positive now that I will get it.

The 600D goes for about $85 average on ebay.. plus shipping. It's $94 on Amazon. Since money is an issue, I would really recommend The DH710... here on Amazon.com for $120 You certainly will love the space HiMD offers on a disc. For me the DH710 feels sturdier than the 600D, but that's just my opinion.

I hope you join the MD world... it's not the POPULAR thing to do.. but it sure is the BEST thing

[raintheory]

Theres a HiMD NH600D on eBay currently at $48.55 ... 25min left..

http://cgi.ebay.com/New-SONY-MD-Walkman-MZ...1QQcmdZViewItem

[RobA]

As I said I don't need a hi-md and I'm not buying online. If you know where to get an hi-md for under 100 bucks in a store, then be my guest.

Edited October 7, 2005 by RobA

[Imagebboy]

As I saod I don't need a hi-md and I'm not buying online. If you know where to get an hi-md for under 100 bucks in a store, then be my guest.

If you go to your nearest bestbuy, the have that model (MZNH600D) for under $100 bucks. It used to be $150, but they are currently being clearanced. It should be $99 or below depending on how badly your current Best Buy wants to get rid of it. Ive seen it as low as $69 at my neighboring towns Best Buy.

Since you are upgrading your old player, a Hi-MD unit will mean longer time between upgrades. Because Hi-MD has only been out a little over a year, it means your at the front of the MD technology and with that model, you wont break the bank. The other good thing about that model is the jog dial lets you easily scroll through those play-lists you have.

Edited October 7, 2005 by Imagebboy

[RobA]

If you go to your nearest bestbuy, the have that model (MZNH600D) for under $100 bucks. It used to be $150, but they are currently being clearanced. It should be $99 or below depending on how badly your current Best Buy wants to get rid of it. Ive seen it as low as $69 at my neighboring towns Best Buy.

Since you are upgrading your old player, a Hi-MD unit will mean longer time between upgrades. Because Hi-MD has only been out a little over a year, it means your at the front of the MD technology and with that model, you wont break the bank. The other good thing about that model is the jog dial lets you easily scroll through those play-lists you have.

Ok, just to let you know I'm not upgrading anything, I have never had an MD before.

But anyway, bestbuy has that hi-md player for under 100? The online search of best buy only lists 2 players, one for 80 and one for 240, neither of which are the one you mentioned. But if they have that one, thats awesome! A Hi-MD player would be great, then I could buy one of those 1GB disks from best buy while I'm there. I just found the one you mentioned here http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detai...376700?v=glance it looks sharp. I really hope best buy does have it. Thanks for the info!

[Imagebboy]

Ok, just to let you know I'm not upgrading anything, I have never had an MD before.

I was only refering to how you said you needed a portable audio upgrade from a 32MB MP3 player.

That model should be nice for you. If I am correct, I believe it comes with a 1GB disc in the package. Without spending $200-$300 its a one of the greatest. But yeah Best Buy should have it. Best Buy and bestbuy.com have always had poor communication, as often the stores and online store have differnt products. But I hope you can get ahold of one! have fun! and dont forget these forum guys for help, they are the best!

[RobA]

I was only refering to how you said you needed a portable audio upgrade from a 32MB MP3 player.

That model should be nice for you. If I am correct, I believe it comes with a 1GB disc in the package. Without spending $200-$300 its a one of the greatest. But yeah Best Buy should have it. Best Buy and bestbuy.com have always had poor communication, as often the stores and online store have differnt products. But I hope you can get ahold of one! have fun! and dont forget these forum guys for help, they are the best!

I just called my local bestbuy, they said they don't sell any minidisc players.

[Imagebboy]

You may have to go in and check for yourself.

I worked for best buy for 3 years. Theres so many things I cant stand about that place. One of them is how quicly they will hire a 15 year old that has no idea or area of expertiese in the department they are in. I guess Im saying theres a good chance you talked to someone that was just brushing you off. Best buy does carry it. My friend bought that model we are talking about from best buy just a week ago. AND best buy sells blank MDs, wich I just bought a 15 pack yesterday! So they should deffinetly have MD products.

And as a bestbuy rule, if they dont have it in stock, they check other stores for the item and have it sent to them so you can buy it at your local store. So it is possible. Just (crosses fingers) try to talk to someone that knows something.

[RobA]

You may have to go in and check for yourself.

I worked for best buy for 3 years. Theres so many things I cant stand about that place. One of them is how quicly they will hire a 15 year old that has no idea or area of expertiese in the department they are in. I guess Im saying theres a good chance you talked to someone that was just brushing you off. Best buy does carry it. My friend bought that model we are talking about from best buy just a week ago. AND best buy sells blank MDs, wich I just bought a 15 pack yesterday! So they should deffinetly have MD products.

And as a bestbuy rule, if they dont have it in stock, they check other stores for the item and have it sent to them so you can buy it at your local store. So it is possible. Just (crosses fingers) try to talk to someone that knows something.

But do you all best buys sell them?

[Imagebboy]

But do you all best buys sell them?

Yes, they most definetly should. The local store for me (im in a small utah college town for school right now) is whats called a 24k store.

Best Buy stores are rated in differnt numbers. The higher the number, the bigger the store and more products it carries. 24k is the smallest best buy store layout they make. And if this po-dunk town with the smallest best buy layout has 3 differnt MD players to choose from, you better believe the other stores would have it. And like I said, you can pay for it in the store today, and have them pull it from another store if you cant find it on the shelf. It takes about 3 days to get to your local bestbuy where you can pick it up without paying shipping, etc.

Its a great model for the price, its gonna be great when you find it. Let us know!

Edited October 7, 2005 by Imagebboy

[RobA]

Yes, they most definetly should. The local store for me (im in a small utah college town for school right now) is whats called a 24k store.

Best Buy stores are rated in differnt numbers. The higher the number, the bigger the store and more products it carries. 24k is the smallest best buy store layout they make. And if this po-dunk town with the smallest best buy layout has 3 differnt MD players to choose from, you better believe the other stores would have it. And like I said, you can pay for it in the store today, and have them pull it from another store if you cant find it on the shelf. It takes about 3 days to get to your local bestbuy where you can pick it up without paying shipping, etc.

Its a great model for the price, its gonna be great when you find it. Let us know!

Ok I'll drop by best buy when I get the chance and hopefully they will have MD players. I just called the 4 closest ones to me and all claim to not sell them (actually 3 said they dont sell it and one just pu tme on hold for 10min), but I'll take your word for it.

edit-Good news! Just called the 5th store and they claim to have tons of them, ranging from 60 bucks to 100. I'll check them out, thanks for all your help.

Edited October 7, 2005 by RobA

[ninjaturtle]

Ok I'll drop by best buy when I get the chance and hopefully they will have MD players. I just called the 4 closest ones to me and all claim to not sell them (actually 3 said they dont sell it and one just pu tme on hold for 10min), but I'll take your word for it.

edit-Good news! Just called the 5th store and they claim to have tons of them, ranging from 60 bucks to 100. I'll check them out, thanks for all your help.

Welcome to the forum!

Hope you are able to get the 600D, it is a great base player for people new to MD/Hi-MD format.

I'm about to upgrade to the MZ-RH10.

Hope you enjoy, d.

[darkangel]

I just called my local bestbuy, they said they don't sell any minidisc players.

try radioshack...just in there a few days ago and they carry a suprising number of MD units, just call befoire you walk in...they had and NH-600d for $100

[RobA]

try radioshack...just in there a few days ago and they carry a suprising number of MD units, just call befoire you walk in...they had and NH-600d for $100

Thanks. I just called about 10 radio shacks with 20 miles. On the 5th one they had a 420D on sale. Then I kept calling, on the 10th I found one with a 420D at $50 and a 600D at $100. It's 16 miles away, I got the directions on mapquest. Thanks man, I'll stop by there when I get the chance.

[RobA]

Got another question guys. I'm reading some reviews of the 600D and people said they like it because it can just go through an album at a time. Is there a way to make sure that it DOES NOT do that? I want it to treat all songs as if they are on the same album. So if I have random play on, it will random play all the songs on the disk, not just ones with a specific album name.

[A440]

Yes.

If you turn Group off (with a button) and put it on Shuffle, it will shuffle through all the albums.

[theblueraja]

Thanks. I just called about 10 radio shacks with 20 miles. On the 5th one they had a 420D on sale. Then I kept calling, on the 10th I found one with a 420D at $50 and a 600D at $100. It's 16 miles away, I got the directions on mapquest. Thanks man, I'll stop by there when I get the chance.

Interesting.... because Radioshack.com has ZERO minidisc products. You would think a corporate web site would have even more than your local store stock

[RobA]

Yes.

If you turn Group off (with a button) and put it on Shuffle, it will shuffle through all the albums.

A button on the player that I must click everytime or a button in sonicstage that I click before transfering so it will never happen?

[The Low Volta]

^^^^

a setting on the recorder that is remembered by the player I guess or the play-by-group-function is the actual setting that needs selection and all tracks is standard, as when I select shuffle on my NH900 it automatically uses all tracks and not just one group/artist/album/...

[RobA]

Thanks and one more question. If i just turn the player on and start on song number one, will it automatically play continously from 1 to 2 to 3 and so one no matter the album/group name?

[darkangel]

Thanks and one more question. If i just turn the player on and start on song number one, will it automatically play continously from 1 to 2 to 3 and so one no matter the album/group name?

yes, this is the case with my 600d...as a side rote, if you end up really likein gour player, consider getting it a remote, such as the rm-mc40elk or 35elk

[RobA]

Thanks to everyone for your help. I've decided to order it online at amazon.com which I will do when I get the chance (probably sometime next week). I'll let you know how it turns out. Oh yeah and one more question. Should I use the 64kbps rate or 44kbps rate? Is there a noticable difference?

Edited October 11, 2005 by RobA

[ninjaturtle]

Thanks to everyone for your help. I've decided to order it online at amazon.com which I will do when I get the chance (probably sometime next week). I'll let you know how it turns out. Oh yeah and one more question. Should I use the 64kbps rate or 44kbps rate? Is there a noticable difference?

Yes for me, it sound more like 128k in MP3 format. 64K is fine and you should get around 33hours of music on a 1-gig disc or 10 hours(after reformat to HI-MD mode) on a 80 minidisc.

Also you should look into get some Rechargeable Alkaline(GrandCell, or Rayovac) or High capacity Ni-MH.

One more thing about what brand of media to get. Memorex is fine but I have a few discs that started to squeal after some time of usage IMO, so I would stick with 80 minute or 1 gig Sony discs.

Enjoy, d.

Edited October 11, 2005 by ninjaturtle

[RobA]

Yes for me, it sound more like 128k in MP3 format. 64K is fine and you should get around 33hours of music on a 1-gig disc or 10 hours(after reformat to HI-MD mode) on a 80 minidisc.

Also you should look into get some Rechargeable Alkaline(GrandCell, or Rayovac) or High capacity Ni-MH.

One more thing about what brand of media to get. Memorex is fine but I have a few discs that started to squeal after some time of usage IMO, so I would stick with 80 minute or 1 gig Sony discs.

Enjoy, d.

How's 44kbps? Anything noticable?

[ninjaturtle]

How's 44kbps? Anything noticable?

Been awhile since I tried it and would say yes, plus I remember not have enough room for my tag info because I have really long titles and artist names.

[A440]

It's going to depend on what kind of music you're recording--piano, female voices and sharp percussion are very tricky for compression. It's also going to depend on your headphones, where you're listening, etc.

Really, though, Hi-LP puts 10 hours on an 80-minute disc and 34 hours on a 1GB disc. That's a lot of storage. Is it really worth degrading your music any further?

[RobA]

It's going to depend on what kind of music you're recording--piano, female voices and sharp percussion are very tricky for compression. It's also going to depend on your headphones, where you're listening, etc.

Really, though, Hi-LP puts 10 hours on an 80-minute disc and 34 hours on a 1GB disc. That's a lot of storage. Is it really worth degrading your music any further?

Nope its not worth it, I was just curious. Currently I have 224 songs to put on it when I get it. So yeah, I'm gonna go ahead and use 64kbps.

[RobA]

It turned out great guys, I love the 600D. Thanks to everyone. I recieved it last night, installed sonicstage then transfered 227 songs over. I'm not sure what speed it recorded at but there is about 560MB left.

[greenmachine]

How do you like the sound quality at 64k?

[RobA]

Well I'm not sure what speed its at. But whatever it is at, it sounds great. I notice absolutely no difference.