Advice needed

[Borlag]

Hi all,

I currently own 2 portable MD units (Sony MZ-R70 & Sony MZ-R501) and Sony ECM-719 microphones, both of which are capable of recording. Now the actual problem is which of the units would produce the best audio quality (lossless preferred). The connections on the MZ-R70 are these: mic for plugin power & line in (optical), and for the MZ-R501 it only has a line in (optical. Should I use the oldest model and ditch the battery from the microphone, or should I try the microphone on the optical line in jack, which to my understanding should work with a standard stereojack microphones also?

Also, my computer's soundcard has only analog linein and that has led me into the third choise; Sony MZ-NH700/s, which would also allow me to transfer the audio via USB (I'd only record with the microphones). In my local store I could get that for about 250€ and it's definitely a price I'm willing to pay if the quality of recording would be greatly improved.

Oh, and I'd be recording live music in club sized venues as well as arena sized venues.

[A440]

Your best bet is to record now with the R70 and wait a month or two for the introduction of the MZ-RH1. As with all things minidisc, it's a confusing situation.

Right now, Hi-MD (NH700) is the only way to get lossless recording, using its PCM mode. It is also the only way at the moment to get recordings you can upload faster than realtime to your computer. Hi-SP, the better of the new compressed modes, also provides fairly good fidelity.

If you need it now, look on eBay for the NH700. I have recently seen new ones being sold there for 70 GBP. You should be able to do better than 250€ at any rate.

On the R70, you only have one recording mode: SP. It records for the designated length of the disc--74 or 80 minutes. It's compressed but good sound. On the R501, you also have LP2 (twice the designed length) and LP4 (four times as long), but the sound quality suffers.

Also, can you get a recording--try recording your stereo--through the line-in jack of the R501 with the microphone powered? Or is the signal too quiet? The line-in jack needs a strong signal; a mic-in jack is preamplified by the unit.

When the RH1 is introduced, it will handle all your needs: PCM recording, uploading and--its new feature--uploading of recordings made in the old MD formats of SP, LP2 and LP4. Announced list price is about $300, so save your 250€ budget for that.

Oh, and the mic. The 719 isn't horrible, but its bass response only goes down to 100Hz, so you won't be capturing the lowest two octaves of bass. You'll probably want to upgrade that sooner or later. Look at the Affordable Mics thread.

[Borlag]

I'd like to have the system all set up as soon as possible so that I could do couple of testrun tapings at local clubs before trying the bigger bands at arenas, which would happen in about 2 months time (3 shows in 2 weeks).

The MZ-RH1 sounds good but my problem has been for awhile now that the stores here don't always sell the latest models and getting microphones especially has been very difficult, even when ordering online (no creditcard so bank transfer or billing only).

I've also spotted some used NH700's in a finnish equivalent of eBay, and it looks like I could get one for about 50-80€, depending on the age and condition of the deck. I just always prefer to buy things new so I know exactly what condition it is in, not to mention the guarantee.

[A440]

Try www.ebay.co.uk for a new MZ-NH700 for 70 GBP. Maybe since you're in the EU you could get something shipped. And for mics and a battery box (for loud music) I'm sure you can work something out with greenmachine.

If they're only 50-80€, you could always get three of them...