sallyreeve Posted February 15, 2006 Report Share Posted February 15, 2006 I'm fairly new to minidisc, and not at all technically minded so please be gentle with me. I have tried to look through some of the threads but they all seem to start at a point much further down the line.I am learning to play acoustic guitar and hope soon to get into electric. I sing too, and play in informal groups. I recently bought a new laptop for my work, and hoped that I might be able to use that for recording but it's looking to be an expensive option £200+) and pretty complicated. Plus the laptop is big to lug around.I did used to have a minidisc recorder (a Sony Net MD) but I got frustrated with the problems of transferring what I'd recorded from the MD to computer - ideally I want to be able to share my recordings on MP3 and / or CD. A friend was keen to get a MD and as he offered me what I'd paid for mine on EBay, I sold it to him.So now what I have is a hi spec laptop, an acoustic guitar, an electric guitar with amp and leads and just a £5 microphone suitable really only for speech recording. I'm prepared initially to shell out up to £200 on the necessary equipment to give me simple recording of live music, no sophisticated mixing features required at this stage although the capacity to do that later would be a bonus, and the capability to transfer my recordings onto CD or MP3 without too much hassle or loss of quality. Is that a realistic goal? I'm happy to buy stuff on EBay and wait a few weeks for the right thing to come along. My budget would have to cover the cost of a microphone, any software I would need and the MD recorder itself.Please can anyone suggest the best way forward for me?Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KrazyIvan Posted February 15, 2006 Report Share Posted February 15, 2006 M Audio makes an interface that runs on FireWire or USB for a computer. It has several inputs like 1/4" jacks and XLR. Price is about $250-$300 USD IIRC. I don't know if they ship to the UK but just so you can get an idea:http://www.zzounds.com/item--MDOFWSOLO Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A440 Posted February 16, 2006 Report Share Posted February 16, 2006 Unless you need portability, recording directly into your computer, with the device above, might be your best solution.For the most basic minidisc route, which will make you stereo recordings that you can easily upload, you need: A Hi-MD recorder: (NH700 if you can find an inexpensive one, RH910, or any other MZ-NH or MZ-RH model with a RED mic jack). Recordings on Hi-MD can upload, unlike NetMD. (You still can't upload your old NetMD recordings from the Hi-MD unit, though.)A good stereo microphone, probably onmidirectional (also called binaural) rather than cardioid. There are US manufacturers, like Sound Professionals and Microphone Madness, but you may also be able to find homemade ones from England on Ebay--make sure you can hear a sample recording. An attenuator (Maplin Headphone Volume Control VC-1, just £3) to prevent loud music from overloading the microphone preamp. A more expensive option is a battery module to record through line-in, also from places like Sound Professionals and Microphone Madness. And possibly a mixer if you want to record the band directly rather than as the sound in the room. You'll be recording through the stereo mini-jack on the MD, so you may need a cable out of the mixer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobt Posted February 16, 2006 Report Share Posted February 16, 2006 Haven't heard lately from minidisc australia, but they had several packages for reasonable prices, some made it to minidisco and minidisccanada, reasonable prices, although you may want to upgrade the mic. Another option is plugging your line in into the line out of your mixing board if you have one.Good luck,Bob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sallyreeve Posted February 21, 2006 Author Report Share Posted February 21, 2006 thanks all - I'll go and play around with some of those ideas.Sally Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A440 Posted February 21, 2006 Report Share Posted February 21, 2006 If you want mics, you can now get Greenmachine's handmade ones in Europe. http://greenmachine-audio.95mb.com/de-mic.htmlAnd try Ebay for the NH700--there are some brand-new ones available there at good prices, at least in the US version of Ebay. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Low Volta Posted February 21, 2006 Report Share Posted February 21, 2006 greenmachine shipping to the rest of the world is very cheap as well, so even outside Europe this is a very good deal!! search for the thread (made by A440) on greenmachine's business... the guy even offers MDCF discountPS: his mics are also brilliant Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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