First Time Buyer: Please Help Me decide

[Big Yin]

Hi everyone. Excellent forums.

I'd really appreciate a little advise from you. I've read a lot but all the technical stuff is way over my head and I'm still confused as to the best minidisc for me. There's just too many to choose from. I hope you can help (apologies if this as a bit long).

My needs are as follows:

1. To transfer CD to MD with excellent sound quality - through headphones as a portable unit and through a home Hi-Fi system. Quick transfer rates would be a nice feature but not essential. Sound quality is paramount. I'm confused as to how Hi-MD compares to Net-MD in this department.

2. I do not envisage using it at all for any MP3 music. Purely for transferring CDs to it. So ease of use with computer etc is irrelevant.

3. If at all possible, to transfer music from MD to a small flash MP3 player for sports use - without the use of a PC as I don't have one at home. I hate computers so would really like to avoid using one for doing this. I know you can transfer from CD directly to MP3 as long as the MP3 player has line-in, so can you do the same with MD?

4. Proven durability. I don't need any fancy stuff like LCD displays, or "sexy" appearance etc. I just want a player that's robustly built, really dependable with excellent sound.

5. Not essential, but good mic recording would be good.

6. Removable battery. AA would be good (not an external pack), but as long as the battery can be easily removed and installed without having to send anywhere, as is the case with ipod.

I'm attracted to Hi-MD because of the amount you can store on a single disk, but so far I've been unable to really clarify if the sound quality suffers as a result. Would I be better with Net-Md or Hi-Md for my needs? I'd be really grateful of some help. I don't want to make a first MD purchase that I regret.

[Zombi3]

Hi-MDs can hold a lot of songs, as you've read. However, they do not suffer because of it. In fact, Hi-MD players can (depending on the model) play much, much Higher bitrates than a standard Net-MD. The model that seems to be in your alley to me would be the MZ-RH10. Nothing too fancy (except for the sexy OLED display) and allows for good Mic recording. Also, Transfering stuff from an MD to anything is next to impossible, since it does not output mp3 or wav formats. So sadly, no transfer from MD to an mp3 player. Unless of course, you get creative like my friend and I did when we figured out a way to transfer stuff from my Minidisks to his iRiver without the use of a computer.

[attachmentid=1246]

Review and Pictorial of RH10 can be found here.

Edited December 18, 2005 by Zombi3

[A440]

Run, do not walk to Minidisc Canada and get an NH700 at this ridiculous price.

http://www.minidisc-canada.com/shopdisplay...iniDisc+Players

It's last year's model and it's everything you need. It has superb microphone recording, runs for maybe 10 hours on one AA Duracell, and does all the transferring of any other Hi-MD.

Unfortunately, you can't transfer directly from MD to an mp3 player. The computer has to do the converting. Easier to just rip your CDs again.

The next-generation units (RH-) all have gumstick batteries, and while they are removable and rechargeable, you'll have to use an outboard pod for maximum battery life.

These cheap ones have Australian AC adapters, because that's where they were imported from, but it's no big deal: you can get a generic 3V adapter or run it from the battery.

Hi-MD is better than NetMD because it is capable of uncompressed PCM sound--NetMD at best was SP, which was very high-fidelity but still compressed. PCM needs bigger disc capacity: 90 minutes of PCM on a 1GB disc, compared to nearly eight hours of Hi-SP, which is likely good enough fidelity for portable and possibly home use, and 34 hours of Hi-LP, which is fine for portable use. Unless you're in a very quiet place with very good speakers or 'phones, you're not likely to hear much difference between PCM and Hi-SP.

Look in the Browser tab on the www.minidisc.org homepage to compare models. Note that models with a D are for downloading, not mic recording. I have an NHF-800, which is the NH700 plus a radio in the remote; I never use the radio. I've been using it just about constantly for a year and it's going strong.

Make sure you don't use the software that comes with it, also a year old. Get SonicStage 3.3 from Downloads here.

Edited December 19, 2005 by A440

[Big Yin]

Thanks very much for your help Zombie and A440 - I really appreciate it. Unfortunately I think the RH-10 is a bit more than I want to spend. The NH700 seems good though. However, I'm in the UK so that rules out Sony Canada. I'll have a hunt around though.

A440, you said:

"Hi-MD is better than NetMD because it is capable of uncompressed PCM sound--NetMD at best was SP, which was very high-fidelity but still compressed. PCM needs bigger disc capacity: 90 minutes of PCM on a 1GB disc, compared to nearly eight hours of Hi-SP, which is likely good enough fidelity for portable and possibly home use, and 34 hours of Hi-LP, which is fine for portable use. Unless you're in a very quiet place with very good speakers or 'phones, you're not likely to hear much difference between PCM and Hi-SP"

That's pretty technical but I get the jist. It all seems a bit vague and non-commital though, if you don't mind me saying. The bit I've highlighted doesn't fill me with confidence. I definitely need something that will sound good for home use. Could you elaborate a little please.......have you tried listening to your NH800 through a Hi-Fi system?

Regarding transfering MD to MP3, could you briefly explain to a ludite why it is possible to transfer from CD to MP3 player without the use of a PC, but not possible to transfer MD to MP3 player in the same way? I'm curious.

I suppose maybe I just need to go and buy one and be done with it, but I'd be very grateful of any further advise to help me decide.

[A440]

I do most of my home listening through Grado SR-125 headphones, which are quite accurate. Hi-SP rips of CDs sound fine through them, and I'm pretty picky. But it's hard to guess what your stereo system is like or what your ears are like. Hi-SP is compressed--it's not CD-quality sound. Conceivably you could detect the difference. Practically, I doubt it.

Hi-LP is another story. There I can detect the difference with headphones. But when I'm out walking around or listening to music in the car, I use Hi-LP and it's fine.

I don't know how you transfer from a CD player to an mp3 player without a computer. CD music in is .wav files. They have to be converted into mp3s, usually in a computer. Do you have an mp3 player that does that?

Maybe the problem is just terminology. Transfer, to me, means faster than realtime. If you want to record in realtime from your CD player to your MD player, no computer is necessary--just connect CD out to Line-in. But it's a lot quicker to start Simple Burner, put a CD in the drive, and let Simple Burner transfer it to MD. Takes about 3-4 minutes, as opposed to the full length of a CD.

For mic recording, MD is an affordable miracle. As a portable player, its only disadvantage vis-a-vis the iPod is its size. If an iPod or mp3 player sounds good through your home system, MD will probably sound better.

[Big Yin]

Big apologies A440 for not acknowledging you last response - I've been away from the PC over Christmas. Thanks for your help. I now have a clearer idea what I need/want, so I'll be going down to the January sales hopefully to find myself a bargain Hi-MD.

Thanks again.

[tommypeters]

Thanks very much for your help Zombie and A440 - I really appreciate it. Unfortunately I think the RH-10 is a bit more than I want to spend. The NH700 seems good though. However, I'm in the UK so that rules out Sony Canada. I'll have a hunt around though.

I'm not sure if they sell abroad, but many shops do - check out Minidisc Canada and their 1st Gen Hi-MD Bundles. Also, since it's an Australian unit the voltage is the same as in Britain, so you can use the original AC adapter. Even cheaper would be Minidisc Australia, but for now they don't ship internationally - I was lucky getting my units shipped (NH1 & NH900) before they stopped (Aussie rules made them remove batteries from the packages and ship them separately, making it too much work for them). The shipping may be a bit steep, since it's sent by courier post (which seems be because of a mis-understanding on Minidisc Australia's part - they say the can't get a verification the parcel has been recieved without it being courier post, Australia Post says otherwise...)

Edited December 27, 2005 by tommypeters

[tekdroid]

Big apologies A440 for not acknowledging you last response - I've been away from the PC over Christmas. Thanks for your help. I now have a clearer idea what I need/want, so I'll be going down to the January sales hopefully to find myself a bargain Hi-MD.

Thanks again.

Another vote for the MZ-NH700. Especially at the prices they're selling for now, and the pretty remarkable battery life with a high-capacity rechargeable. The prices now are so low (the Australian-sourced units, anyway) that you'd be mad not to pick one up if you can